Garrard 812
Documentation on the Garrard 812 is thin, and what survives comes from a couple of disparate sources that don't always agree. It appears to be a 1970s-era turntable, and the record shows a modest, mid-range automatic player rather than anything exotic.
The most complete set of specs comes from Hifi-Wiki, which lists a 4-pole synchronous motor, speeds of 33 and 45 rpm, a 280 mm platter, and a static balanced tonearm. Wow and flutter is given as 0.25%, with rumble at -30 dB — figures that put it in the respectable-but-not-audiophile class, consistent with an everyday consumer deck of its era. Dimensions are 350 x 320 x 110 mm and it weighs 6.5 kg. The same source notes it has auto shut-off at the end of play, and a manual mode for those who prefer to cue records by hand.
A single eBay listing for a working example described it as belt drive with a full-size aluminum platter, priced at £125. Note the conflict: the Hifi-Wiki spec sheet doesn't specify belt versus idler drive, while the eBay listing explicitly says belt. Given that the synchronous motor is confirmed but the drive method isn't, I've left the drive type out rather than guess — though belt drive is plausible for a 1970s Garrard.
The same seller noted the unit "hasn't been serviced so okay but in need of attention," which is par for the course for a deck of this age. Beyond that, there's no documented service history, no original price, and no production years to pin down. No period reviews of the 812 have surfaced either — Audio covered Garrard's changers extensively in the 1960s, with comparative charts appearing in the August 1967 issue, p.46, but the 812 doesn't appear in those tables, suggesting it may have been a later or more obscure model. In that issue, Audio (August 1967, p.46) published comparative changer charts with wow and flutter figures around 0.09%. The August 1967 issue of Audio (p.46) presented comparative charts of record changers including the Garrard 60 MkII and Miracord 50H, indicating the era's typical changer specifications such as wow and flutter figures around 0.09%.
For the collector, the 812 is a known-but-little-documented corner of the Garrard catalog. It's a functional, straightforward turntable with nothing particularly unusual about it — and that's about all the record supports saying.
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