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Garrard Zero Z2000B

quadaptor

quadaptor

Active Member
After several searches I've concluded people seem to either love or hate Garrard tables. I recently acquired a very nice Z2000B table and after cleaning up the old grease got it working correctly. I don't know much about these tables and would appreciate hearing anybody's experiences with the Z2000B. The arm has a Shure M91ED cartridge with a shot stylus. Is this a good cart for this table and who makes a decent replacement stylus? Many thanks to all.
 
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Wow, you turntable guys are some of the most prolific users of AK. So, I thought I'd bump my thread up before it fell to deep into the black hole of threads gone by.
 
I posted about my 'new' Carver amp yesterday [in 'Vintage Solid-State' section], and am also being ignored.

You must get a JICO stylus for your M91ED. Their 'SAS' model is best, but we do not know what your budget is. All other brands of stylus on the market are crap.
 
Don't know anything on that table, but that cart is nice. What is your budget?
 
Only problem with that arm/cart combo will be tracking warped records. Used to have the Zero 92 with that cartridge and couldn't play badly warped records because of the arm's high mass. The arm/cart would lose contact with the record on upward warps and then drop down back to the record.
 
Basically the Z2000B is the last (albeit somewhat value engineered) iteration, of the well known Zero 100 with its Zero tracking error pantographic tonearm.

One major area in which it differs from it's predecessor is its drive mechanism: The Z2000B is a belt drive turntable, while the earlier Z100 is an idler drive.

If the tonearm is performing up to task, that is to say if it is properly lubricated and there is no excessive play in the bearings, it's quite a fine delivery mechanism for that Shure M91ED cartridge you've got on it.

I'd take care to make sure of a solid connection between the cartridge sled and the tonearm. I used a tiny roll of blue-tak on my Z100 to tighten up this area.

Otherwise,
Let us know how you're enjoying it thus far...

Oh, and here's your JICO SAS link:

http://stylus.export-japan.com/product_info.php?products_id=1025
 
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Actually, it's a hybrid drive, with both idler wheel and belt. Others also made these combos to combat the BIC belt drive changers until they could engineer their own completely belt drive changers.
 
typesix said:
Actually, it's a hybrid drive, with both idler wheel and belt. Others also made these combos to combat the BIC belt drive changers until they could engineer their own completely belt drive changers.
Click to expand...

I think that's true, but I thought they made an all belt driven Z2000B (thus the B). There was a later version of the Zero 100 that was belt driven.


BTW, Here's how one fellow upgraded his Z2000B

http://garrardmatters.freeforums.org/my-garrard-z2000b-t558.html
 
Don't be too quick to assume you're being ignored. Sometimes the model in question isn't so common, and it takes a while for those familiar with it to find/see the thread. I have several Garrards, for example, but none of them are the Z2000B, so I don't know enough about it to comment meaningfully on it.

Some of those hybrid belt+idler combinations (the Thorens TD-124 is another like that) sound very good, though, so it might be worth some effort to get yours fully up to spec.

Please let the rest of us know more about your TT. It might increase interest and (eventually) responses, if we had more exposure to it and could learn more about it.
 
SFBayArch said:
I think that's true, but I thought they made an all belt driven Z2000B (thus the B). There was a later version of the Zero 100 that was belt driven.
Click to expand...

The belt drive was the Zero 100SB. The Z2000B was a belt-driven idler. (OOPS! Typesix beat me!)

The pantographic arm was a really clever concept but the execution could have been better. All the pivots were just loose-fitting rivets in holes. Brand new there was a wee bit more play in the pivots than was ideal and it can become really excessive in old heavily used turntables.

John
 
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boreas said:
The belt drive was the Zero 100SB. The Zero 2000B was a belt-driven idler. (OOPS! Typesix beat me!)

The pantographic arm was a really clever concept but the execution could have been better. All the pivots were just loose-fitting rivets in holes. Brand new there was a wee bit more play in the pivots than was ideal and it can become really excessive in old heavily used turntables.

John
Click to expand...


That's the one. It was the Zero100SB. I guess the Z2000B has a bit of TD-124 in it...
 
No, I didn't feel ignored. I just that at the rate you turntable guys put up posts a thread can get buried deep very fast. The table is in great used condition, it just needs a stylus. I got interested in Garrards when bought a Fisher console with a Type A Mk II table last Fall. As far as I can tell the table uses a belt and idler wheel. The wheel appears to make contact with the platter, but the belt that drives it also wraps around the center of the platter. I've only had the table since Thursday night so this is still very much a journey of discovery. I'll let you know how it sounds as soon as I find a stylus or a better cart than the M91Ed. Many thanks for all your comments.
 
quadaptor said:
...I'll let you know how it sounds as soon as I find a stylus or a better cart than the M91Ed. Many thanks for all your comments.
Click to expand...

Good luck finding a better cartridge than the one you got with your TT.
There's another thread on this page will attest to that. In my opinion, the cartridge was the jewel of your acquisition.
 
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SFBayArch said:
Basically the Z2000B is the last (albeit somewhat value engineered) iteration, of the well known Zero 100 with its Zero tracking error pantographic tonearm.

One major area in which it differs from it's predecessor is its drive mechanism: The Z2000B is a belt drive turntable, while the earlier Z100 is an idler drive.

If the tonearm is performing up to task, that is to say if it is properly lubricated and there is no excessive play in the bearings, it's quite a fine delivery mechanism for that Shure M91ED cartridge you've got on it.

I'd take care to make sure of a solid connection between the cartridge sled and the tonearm. I used a tiny roll of blue-tak on my Z100 to tighten up this area.

Otherwise,
Let us know how you're enjoying it thus far...

Oh, and here's your JICO SAS link:

http://stylus.export-japan.com/product_info.php?products_id=1025
Click to expand...

That's not quite true. The little known (these days) GT 55 was actually the last attempt with that tonearm design. While it's quite a bit less massy due to being made of magnesium, it still has all the sloppy bearing points. Much better table than the Zeros, but I still wouldn't play a valuable record on it.
 
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