Garrard 800 (1956–1960)

The Garrard 800 came out in 1956 and stayed in production until 1960. It was a premium automatic record changer. The original dealer copy called it "The Fabulous Garrard 800" and claimed there was "never anything to equal" it at the $54.50 basic price. $62.50 got you the unit with base and dust cover. It was a 3-speed changer (33⅓, 45, and 78 rpm) with a 4-pole induction motor and an 11" polished aluminum platter. It also had a good party trick for its era. The intermix feature let you stack 7", 10", and 12" records in any order, and the changer handled them automatically.

The 800 carried several features that were advanced for a changer of its time. The tonearm was dynamically balanced, lightweight aluminum, with full counterbalance and needle pressure adjustment. It had a plug-in head, and the marketing claimed the first pause and cueing control on a changer. The motor sat on shock-damped springs. Garrard made a point of saying that no audio signal passed through the switching mechanism and that the change mechanism itself was free of audible noise. A rumble filter was included. The platter, phono leads, needle, and a turnover crystal cartridge with two sapphire needles all came in the box at no extra cost.

Some things the record doesn't give. No numeric specs for wow, flutter, or rumble survive, and no dimensions or weight are documented in the sources found. The crystal cartridge is the one part a modern owner will need to deal with. It's long obsolete, and a magnetic cartridge replacement is the usual route for actual listening. High Fidelity (December 1958, p.138) measured a Garrard changer of this generation and found its hum level quite low and inaudible in ordinary listening. Mounting it on the Garrard base raised the figure by about 10 dB. The 800 is remembered as a well-built, smooth-operating changer that competed with top models from Collaro and others.

Known specs at a glance:

- 3-speed automatic changer: 33⅓, 45, 78 rpm

- 4-pole induction motor, suspended on shock-damped springs

- 11" polished aluminum, non-magnetic platter

- Intermix: stacks 7", 10", 12" records in any order, up to 10 records

- Dynamically balanced tonearm, plug-in head, counterbalance and needle pressure adjustment

- Pause and cueing control, rumble filter

- Included: turnover crystal cartridge, dual sapphire needles, phono leads

- Original price: $54.50 basic; $62.50 with base and dust cover