Analog Gear News

Monarch Distribution Systems, Ltd., based in Denver, have recently added a couple of well-respected brands to their roster: Garrard turntables and Loricraft record-cleaning machines (RCMs). At face value, this move makes good sense, seeing how both of these UK-based companies are owned by the same parent company, SME — for which Monarch already serves as distributor.

Based on a recent, AP-exclusive conversation with Monarch founder and CEO Rich Maez, there’s even more to the story. Although Maez and his Monarch co-founder Jon Baker were familiar with Garrard’s classic turntables, they had had limited hands-on experience with them — ditto with Loricraft — and their interest was piqued after they learned more about the products and their technologies.

“We just decided, ‘Okay, let’s fill out the entire rest of the SME family, and let’s kind of make it a package deal and bring it all in,’” Maez told me. “I think we’re the first ones to have them grouped together as a whole.”

Beyond the practicality of that arrangement, the products complement one another. Plenty of Garrard tables in the audiophile wild have SME tonearms paired with them. And having a top-shelf record-cleaning machine (RCM), like those from Loricraft, is a must for serious vinyl collectors, especially those who seek out vintage vinyl albums — including those LPs buried deep in crates.

Maez is ready to put the latest Loricraft model, the PRC6i, to the test. “What I want to do is, go to our local used record store and buy just the filthiest record I can find and clean it with my existing record cleaner at home,” he explained. After he does that, Maez plans to check the refuse cleaning bath solution afterwards, and compare those post-cleaning results against what the Loricraft RCM can do.

In a competitive RCM market, having differentiating features can help. “It’s got an interesting feature where it will clean in the normal direction, and there is a reverse for which it will then clean in the opposite direction. It’ll rotate the record in reverse,” Maez said of the PRC6i.

During playback of an unclean album, the stylus can possibly embed dirt deeper within the record’s grooves during playback. According to Maez, “The theory being that, when you play record, if there’s any dirt, grime, dust, or whatever in the groove, it’ll embed it in one direction, so reversing it will actually get that stuff out as well.”

The Loricraft record-cleaning machines are billed to be professional-grade, sturdily build for longevity. The unit’s spindle and bearing are enclosed in a phosphor bronze chassis and use a high-torque motor. Even with its powerful motor, the Loricraft PRC6i is also reported to be their quietest RCM yet — but, according to the company, “with a large vacuum capacity of 18 liters of flow per minute.”

As for Garrard, Maez noted that he also found the company’s history compelling. It’s quite an old-school turntable, an idler-drive design: “One of the interesting things about that is, it’s almost instantaneously up to speed,” he noted.

The turntable maker’s history dates back further than most — all the way to 1915, in fact, when the company made OEM motors for gramophone audio products for companies such as Decca and Columbia. This led to Garrard’s own complete turntable designs circa 1930. In the modern era, SME has been procuring vintage models for refurbishment, as well as doing some reverse-engineering to manufacture new replacement parts as required.

“The original Garrard machines — they hunt for them and they find them, and then they warehouse them,” Maez said of SME’s original Garrard table M.O. before adding, “And, as needed, they’ll go and build one or rebuild one, refurb it, modify it as necessary, put modern parts and assemblies in there. They attach a modern SME tonearm to it, and they make those available.”

The Garrard 301 Transcription is the classic table that’s available — though in limited quantities — as the 301 Classic with SME MS-12R tonearm, and the 301 Advanced with either the same arm or the upgraded SME VA-12 arm. Finish-wise, the refurbished walnut version can come as it is. For the versions with painted plinths, they can be painted an RAL color (or others!) to order.

“Because the number of Garrard machines out there that are available to be restored and modified and refurbed is limited, they can only do so many of them a year,” Maez pointed out. “It’s not like they just machine a bunch of parts and build one — they actually have to go and do work to old machines to bring them back to life.”

Unlike typical distribution arrangements, Monarch’s immediate plans for Garrard aren’t to grow the dealer network on a massive scale. “Their production capacity is somewhat limited on an annual basis, so we can’t expand the dealer network too much,” Maez confirmed. The plan is to have a dealer on each coast — one or so in the Midwest, and one or two in Canada.

As for Loricraft plans — and as expected — Monarch is looking to expand that dealer network. Maez acknowledged that their RCMs are a high-end offering, and seen as more of specialty product. “It’s more aligned with somebody who has a fairly valuable collection and/or a top-shelf turntable. Not that somebody else couldn’t make use of it, but it’s priced in that range,” he observed.

SRPs and further features and spec info are available for Garrard and Loricraft products after you click on the “Product Inquiry” button on the Monarch site, fill in the specifics of your request, and then hit “Send.” (Actually, you can do that for all of the brands under the Monarch umbrella.)

As of September, Monarch is handling distribution for these two storied brands throughout the U.S. and Canada — in addition to Mexico, for Loricraft. Specifically, Monarch will import these two companies’ products as well as manage and develop the related retail sales networks, marketing channels, media relations, and more.

For more on Monarch Systems, go here.
For more on Garrard, go here.
For more on Loricraft, go here.