jeremyjustic
Analog
Hi guys , so I spent some time messing around with the 401 this weekend (my weekend is Tuesday and Wednesday) and had some success so I thought I would share with you guys.
First, I was in the leather store the other day and picked up a scrap of black leather about 1/8 thick. I cut myself out a mat and started comparing the stock rubber mat with the leather. at first , using the mat shinny side up, I thought the mat gave the sound a more natural, organic sound, had a nice effect on timber, I did notice however it had a strange effect on the highs, it was very slight but I could notice a smearing of the highs, the cymbals sounded more like a tsssssssssssssssssss, rather then a tsss tsss tsss tsss, if that makes any sense. I was pretty disappointed with it , I thought the stock mat sounded much cleaner and precise. I started to think the problem was with the platter resonating , and sure enough , when I plucked the platter with the leather mat on it rang pretty good, back to the stock mat , it rang much less then the leather. I did some more reading and decided to try the leather suede side up , this made a dramatic improvement over the shinny side up. helped focus the highs and was an improvement over the stock mat.
well not wanting to stop there , I started checking into the platter o-rings I have read so much about , looking at the ones available on ebay , I decided to check local and see if I could source them in town. well sure enough I found them local for much less then the ones on ebay. brought the platter with me and ran over there. well the ones recommended online for the 401 are the 5.33mm dia ones. looking at that size in person it was obvious that they were too big to fit in the groove and rode on the strobe notches on the platter. I got that size and the size smaller.(not sure exactly what size dia the smaller ones are , its what the guy pulled out from the back) well when I got home I put the larger ones on first , when giving the platter a pluck I could notice less of a ring but thought the smaller ones would be better. well sure enough I put the smaller diameter ones on and it really made a dramatic difference. I guess because the smaller version rides directly on the platter, instead of riding on the strobe notches, more surface area is covered.
here you can see the difference between the thicker and thinner o-rings
so after a day of messing around with this , I have come to the conclusion the the leather mat , Suede side up with the two smaller diameter o-rings is the best sounding set up of the bunch. I am very pleased with the sound , the highs are nice a clear , precise and sweet. overall the presentation has really improved, I am thrilled to death with the results and would recommend this as a cheap , fun, diy project for any Garrad owner
First, I was in the leather store the other day and picked up a scrap of black leather about 1/8 thick. I cut myself out a mat and started comparing the stock rubber mat with the leather. at first , using the mat shinny side up, I thought the mat gave the sound a more natural, organic sound, had a nice effect on timber, I did notice however it had a strange effect on the highs, it was very slight but I could notice a smearing of the highs, the cymbals sounded more like a tsssssssssssssssssss, rather then a tsss tsss tsss tsss, if that makes any sense. I was pretty disappointed with it , I thought the stock mat sounded much cleaner and precise. I started to think the problem was with the platter resonating , and sure enough , when I plucked the platter with the leather mat on it rang pretty good, back to the stock mat , it rang much less then the leather. I did some more reading and decided to try the leather suede side up , this made a dramatic improvement over the shinny side up. helped focus the highs and was an improvement over the stock mat.
well not wanting to stop there , I started checking into the platter o-rings I have read so much about , looking at the ones available on ebay , I decided to check local and see if I could source them in town. well sure enough I found them local for much less then the ones on ebay. brought the platter with me and ran over there. well the ones recommended online for the 401 are the 5.33mm dia ones. looking at that size in person it was obvious that they were too big to fit in the groove and rode on the strobe notches on the platter. I got that size and the size smaller.(not sure exactly what size dia the smaller ones are , its what the guy pulled out from the back) well when I got home I put the larger ones on first , when giving the platter a pluck I could notice less of a ring but thought the smaller ones would be better. well sure enough I put the smaller diameter ones on and it really made a dramatic difference. I guess because the smaller version rides directly on the platter, instead of riding on the strobe notches, more surface area is covered.
here you can see the difference between the thicker and thinner o-rings
so after a day of messing around with this , I have come to the conclusion the the leather mat , Suede side up with the two smaller diameter o-rings is the best sounding set up of the bunch. I am very pleased with the sound , the highs are nice a clear , precise and sweet. overall the presentation has really improved, I am thrilled to death with the results and would recommend this as a cheap , fun, diy project for any Garrad owner
