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Turntables / source / UK

Garrard

Garrard’s 301 and 401 idler-drive turntables often return to service through specialist restoration. New plinths, tonearms and cartridges can form part of those rebuilt installations.

Design & approach

Garrard’s current operation is owned and run by SME. Its 301 transcription turntables are restored and built to order in house. Many examples in this directory have additional restoration, tonearm or plinth credits, so the Garrard name identifies the deck while the installation record also recognizes the people who returned it to service.

Maker background & design sources ↗

Equipment index

Products in the rooms

Browse all Garrard equipment

Venue equipment records, including their original model uncertainties. Shared-system entries retain the full recorded context.

From the maker’s world.

Products, process and directly attributed installations.

Product video / Larry's Vintage Audio & Vinyl

Garrard 301 Turntable Complete Step by step Rebuild and Setup.

A directly attributed product, design or installation film. The original publisher is credited below.

Product video / Audio Grail 301

The First Garrard 401 Ever Made - Rare Push-Button Version

A directly attributed product, design or installation film. The original publisher is credited below.

Hear it in the rooms.

Equipment, commissions and collaborations.

Berlin / Germany

Bar Neiro ↗

Historical equipment

Bar Neiro lists Garrard in its source / playback setup. The equipment details below reflect the venue record.

  • Turntable: 301; A23 Hommage mat

Inside the system

Neiro’s Garrard source and Shindo electronics feed a large Altec-based horn system, with a Fostex T90A handling the additional high-frequency role identified in the equipment list. Efficient horn systems are a plausible partner for relatively low-powered valve amplification, allowing substantial output without treating amplifier wattage as the only measure of suitability.

Read the system story ↗

Tokyo / Japan

Bar Martha ↗

Reported / tentative

Bar Martha’s equipment list includes two Garrard 301 turntables alongside an EMT broadcast deck.

  • Turntables: 2 × Garrard 301; EMT 930-ST (Garrard / EMT)

Inside the system

Bar Martha’s Tannoy Autographs are paired with a rotating selection of McIntosh and custom valve amplifiers. Garrard and EMT decks feed mixing and preamplification stages, so the installation combines record handling, signal control and speaker drive as distinct functions.

Read the system story ↗

Denver / United States

ESP hi-fi ↗

Historical equipment

ESP hi-fi lists Garrard in its source / playback setup. The equipment details below reflect the venue record.

  • Turntables: 401, restored by Audio Grail (Garrard / Audio Grail)

Inside the system

ESP separates the main-floor Klipschorns from the lowboy Cornwalls behind the bar. Restored Garrard 401 decks and the Condesa Carmen feed Line Magnetic single-ended amplifiers, making the source, control and power stages unusually visible parts of the venue’s concept.

Read the system story ↗

Kansas City / United States

XO Kansas City ↗

Historical equipment

XO Kansas City lists Garrard in its source / playback setup. The equipment details below reflect the venue record.

  • Turntable: 401

Inside the system

At XO Kansas City, the equipment record identifies Possibly Klipsch Three-way horn cabinets, possibly Heresy family; model unconfirmed. A horn-based approach can provide useful dynamic headroom, but aiming the speakers and balancing direct sound against room reflections remain central to shared listening.

Read the system story ↗

Los Angeles / United States

In Sheep's Clothing ↗

Historical installation

The original system paired two Garrard 301 mechanisms with Vinylista plinths and 12-inch Thomas Schick arms.

  • Original turntables: 2 × Garrard 301 with 12-inch Schick arms in Vinylista plinths (Garrard / Thomas Schick / Vinylista)

Inside the system

The original Arts District installation and the later NeueHouse residency used different equipment. The original system combined Klipsch speakers with Audio Note and McIntosh electronics; the residency is recorded with Graham LS5/8 monitors and EAR amplification.

Read the system story ↗

Further reading