Vintage Thornens

[dirtmudd]

Any one using vintage thorens turntable' and with ones?

[BobK]

I got an old TD-160 that is sort of a backup.  I keep it mostly because of nostalgic reasons,  they were the turntable to have back in the day.

 

I got lazy and use a couple of automatic linear tracking 8002s.  I trust my wife and kids to use, not ruined records or stylus.

[Schu]

Have used... and not using now.

Becareful of misaligned impeller/drive shafts

[Seadog]

I have a Thornens 125 Mk II with the SME 3009 tone arm and Shure V15 Mk III cartridge.  I have no complaints.

[dirtmudd]

I have a Thornens 125 Mk II with the SME 3009 tone arm and Shure V15 Mk III cartridge.  I have no complaints.

I have the TD 125 mk1 with the tp 25 tone arm shure realistic rxt-4 . what mm cartridge would you

Use with the tp25 ?

[Seadog]

 

I have a Thornens 125 Mk II with the SME 3009 tone arm and Shure V15 Mk III cartridge.  I have no complaints.

I have the TD 125 mk1 with the tp 25 tone arm shure realistic rxt-4 . what mm cartridge would you

Use with the tp25

 

I cannot make a recommendation since I have no experience with that tone arm.

[Charles Turner]

Yes, very happy with TD124, SME M2-12R, and Ortofon Silver Meister

[dirtmudd]

Yes, very happy with TD124, SME M2-12R, and Ortofon Silver Meister

NICE

[twk123]

I have a Thorens TD-124 and really like it. I am redoing the plinth and cables though so its been out of commission for a while.

[Aggie Klipsch]

Still using a TD-145Mkll with an Ortofon mc20. Still spinnin'

[Gilbert]

Any one using vintage thorens turntable' and with ones?

 

TD-124 MkII with Ortofon Silver Meister

[ChuckAb3]

There is (or has been) a guy on Audiogon who sells older vintage tables like the Thorens mentioned which are supposedly well restored. No idea about the quality of his work. Anyone looking for a 'vintage' table may want to check it out.

[indyhawg]

I have a TD 166 MK II, which I have no complaints with.

[Mossy bottom]

I have a TD-160 which I have been very pleased with. I don't currently have it hooked up, but my plans are to put together another 2 channel system with an extra pair of Heresy's that I also have sitting around. Those 70's era Thorens were/are fine TT's.

Cheers!

[colterphoto1]

I have a TD 125 MK II with the original Thorens arm. It looks like the thing is always struggling to stay in the groove so I don't use it. Had a local turntable 'expert' go through it and put a Shure M97 ED on it a while back, it has a slight hum and no ground wire. 

 

I don't use it at all. 

[Allan Songer]

TD-124 with custom plinth sporting two tone arms- Ikeda IT-407 with Otrofon SPU-GT and SME 3012 with Ortofon "SPU" mono with Jorgen Schou step up transformers.

I have been using this TD-124 since the 1980's and have no need to consider any other table.

[Marvel]

Allan, it's great to hear from you. Hope the business picked back up for you. You been doing ok?

 

Bruce

[Tarheel TJ]

I have a not-so-vintage Thorens TD-190.  It is the only turntable I have ever owned, but I think it sounds great.  It has an OM10 cartridge on it now.  Someday I would love to upgrade to the OM30 or OM40.

[JBryan]

I have/had a bevy of Thorens tables and always had fun with them and they're reliable and fairly easy to maintain/ fix when necessary. My 1st was a td-160 w/Shure Mk.III cart. I used it for years in high school and college but left it behind (along with my records) when I moved away from home and took a break from vinyl. Within a couple of years, I happened upon a great collection of 60's and 70's rock at a thrift shop and that very weekend, picked up a td-145 MkII at a yard sale (along with more records) and I was back in business!

 

Soon after, I was finding Thorens tables right and left. I bought a couple of td-124's at the same Goodwill within weeks of each other; another 160 and 145 at yard sales (I'd given my brother-in-law the first as a starter) and finally, I bought a td-125 Mk.II w/Rabco linear-tracking arm from a gent along with most of his audio gear. I've given away or traded most of the tables over the years but still have a td-160, 124 and the 125 Mk.II (that still needs work - d@#n that Rabco arm!).

 

I haven't used a Thorens in a while but find them extremely decent tables and I will occasionally switch one into my 2nd system just to make sure they still work and give it a listen. While they're not as easy to find as they once were and certainly not the best tables (the arms should almost always be upgraded to get the best sound) but they are tried and true and can be had for a song with a little patience - killer bang for the buck and I'd recommend them to anyone looking to wet their feet in vinyl. Have fun!

Edited July 22, 2016 by JBryan

[EJC]

On 6/25/2016 at 3:00 PM, dirtmudd said:

Any one using vintage thorens turntable' and with ones?

I still use a TD-160-C with a Shure V15III cartridge. I am the original owner and still have the original receipt for $274. I've made minor mods to it - Dynamat around the inside of the base, new power cord and RCA cables and new bottom of 3/4" plywood. 

 

8 yrs ago when my kid was 16 he wanted a turntable and we got him a Thorens TD-165 on E-Bay. We did the same mods as above and then the tone arm wiring went. I didn't like the price of Cardas wires so I picked up a TP-16 tonearm on E-Bay which updated the TT to a 160-C. The Tonearm was a direct drop-in replacement on the 165. Then it got freaky, I parted out the old arm and when all was said and done I made $25 on the swap.