Turntables, Arms & Cartridges

When taking over as CEO of SME in 2016, Stuart McNeilis never expected to be leading a project to restore a 70-year-old turntable design. However, with a history in the aerospace industry and a passion for restoring classic cars to 'concours condition', he was perhaps the perfect man for the job.

The process of creating the Garrard 301 Classic and Advanced turntables stretched out into an 18-month project, researching every single component of the 301. Along the way, the journey has included surprises, including discovering the family-owned firm in Hampshire that made the original 301 mats for Garrard is still going strong. McNeilis recalls 'the rubber formulation and moulding process were written in pencil in a notebook, and the company insisted on proof that SME owned the Garrard name before they would make any samples'.

In addition, all the original metalwork and fixings had to be re-used. As McNeilis says, 'the quality of modern items simply wasn't acceptable to SME. Consequently, all the originals are sent to have their cadmium plating removed, before coming back to SME for re-plating in zinc. Every single nut, bolt and washer is finished by hand'.

McNeilis suggests that a 401 Classic may be on the cards but, more excitingly, he has just received the samples of the first part that will form the basis of a completely new flagship Garrard idler drive turntable. Sadly, for anyone hoping for a new SP25, his answer was definitive: 'Absolutely not!'.