Garrard 1025

Got a dirty, dusty old Garrard 1025 in the basement. Is it worth cleaning up and fixin'? Haven't heard it, is it a good TT?

Info I'm finding says its one of the Autoslim/AT6/AT60 family members. Its not at the top of the range either. Fairly simple and reliable mechanism, not too difficult to refurb but its not one of the better tonearms and it has the basic 2 pole motor. Having owned something with that motor, I can tell you they hum and it transmits into the record somewhat. Its a good project if you want to play with refurbing record changers, but frankly its not particularly special. This comes from someone who has ended up with a small fleet of Garrards, and who owns an AT6 and an AT60, so I'm certainly not overly negative about that family of machines.

The two pole motor in the 1025 generates a basic motor vibration frequency of around 60Hz while the more expensive AT6 and AT60 and others with four pole motors have a basic motor vibration frequency of under 30Hz. The two-pole motor units aren't really suitable for a hi-fi system with even mediocre bass response. Also the arm on the 1025 isn't as well balanced and as easy to adjust for tracking weight as the more expensive Autoslim-chassis Garrards. It probably has a ceramic cartridge, which wouldn't be a hi-fi cartridge like a typical magnetic (and the two-pole motor may cause hum in a magnetic cartridge).

The Garrard 1025 was intended for use in low-cost phonographs and such.

Good Info

Thanks for the heads up. Since I'm a nubie I'll use it as a project without worry about ruining something amazing.