A. The computer-designed True Tangent Tonearm keeps the stylus at a constant
90° tangent to the record groove, by means of an articulated head. The angle
between the head (holding cartridge and stylus) and the shaft of the tonearm
changes with each groove. Thus, while the tonearm swings in an arc over the
record, the stylus is kept at a constant, true tangent. Tracking error is
eliminated, with its consequent problems of record wear and harmonic distortion.
B. Made of modern, low-mass magnesium, the GT55's tonearm weighs an astonishing 14 grams. It rides on jewel vertical pivots and horizontal ball-bearings.
Inertial drag and friction are reduced to absolute minimum levels.
C. Anti-skating protection on the GT55 is provided by a unique, patented system.
Completely non-mechanical, it operates magnetically, and varies in proportion to the actual skating force across the surface of the disc. It is calibrated for elliptical and CD4 styli.
D. Cueing rate is variable, and the cueing operation is damped in both directions by the main cam of the turntable.
E. The GT55 is the only belt drive multiple play turntable with a DC servo motor. Both the motor and the belt-driven automatic mechanism are completely new. The speed of the motor is continuously governed and regulated by an electronic servo system.
The automatic mechanism is smooth and silent in both single and multiple play. It is also completely disengaged from the tone arm when the record is playing.
F. Speed control is variable ±3%, and is electronically governed by the servo which controls the motor. Read-out is monitored by an illuminated stroboscope.
G. The platter is four pounds, die cast and dynamically balanced for smooth, precise rotation. It is driven by á flexible belt, which insulates it from any possible motor vibration.
H. The precision controls are conveniently grouped, and include selectors for single or multiple play, as well as a repeat-play option for use in either mode.
Garrard. Turntable specialist for 50 years.
Only three turntables in the world offer True Tangent Tracking.
Bang & Olufsen, Rabco, and the new Garrard GT55.
They play your records precisely the way the original masters were cut, with the stylus held at a 90° tangent to the groove.
They eliminate harmonic distortion caused by tracking error.
One of the three is also fully automatic in both single and multiple play. Its tonearm is low mass magnesium, balanced on jewel pivots.
Yet it sells for the lowest price of all three as much as $400 lower! The new GT55.
By Garrard .
The GT55 Generation Two Turntable with True Tangent Tracking.
Since the first flat disc record was made, just about 90 years ago, audio engineers have been searching for a way to eliminate tracking error.
The master record is cut with a stylus that maintains a constant 90° tangent to the groove it is inscribing. Problem: play it back the same way. Anything else produces tracking error (maybe a little, maybe a fair amount), and that means distortion.
In 90 years of search, turntable manufacturers have proposed an array of solutions. Some have been inventive, even ingenious; others have verged on the ridiculous. None until quite recently have been successful.
Now there are three, all as different from any other turntable as the flat disc is from Edison's cylinder. Two of them solve the problem by a radical departure from traditional design: they move the entire tonearm across the record-pivot, counterweight and all.
Ingenious. Complex. And expensive.
Garrard found another way. Our half-century of turntable engineering culminated in a solution that retains the pivoted tonearm yet keeps the stylus in an absolutely true 90° tangent to the groove at every point from the record's outer rim right to the label.
Further, we did this with a computer-designed tonearm made of the ultimate in lightweight, rigid metals: magnesium. It has the lowest mass (14 grams)--and the lowest inertial drag-of any multiple-play turntable.
And it is automatic. Fully automatic. Silky-smooth, silently automatic, and therefore gentler and safer than the steadiest hand, whether you use it as a single play or a multiple play turntable.
Garrard' s solution--the GT55-delivers other advantages, as well. Some small, some quite large, depending on what's important to you.
And one overriding advantage. The others sell for prices up to $700. The GT55 is under $250. Which makes True Tracking not a costly privilege but an available benefit. To everybody.
For your free copy of the new Garrard Guide, please write: Garrard. Division of Plessey Consumer Products, Dept. C, 100 Commercial Street, Plainview, N.Y. 11803
(adapted from Audio magazine Dec. 1976)
Also see:
Garrard GT35 turntable (Dec. 1977)
Fisher MT6225A linear motor turntable (Feb. 1979)
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