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Turntable/Vinyl Enthusiasts, In Need of Your Wisdom


tom b. 57

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I have an opportunity to purchase a Thorens TD-165 turntable for $100.00. The sellers say that it works fine with no issues and that the cart. & stylus are in good condition. I don't know the make and model of these yet. The sellers are unavailable until after the weekend. They sent me an email telling me to contact them after the weekend. I did talk with them on the phone a few days ago, when they were asking $150.00 and they said they would get back to me if they chose to consider the $100,00 offer I made. Anyway, does anyone know anything about this particular model of Thorens? I have been wanting to upgrade for awhile. Made one purchase I should have passed on. Really wasn't an upgrade. Would like to avoid this situation if possible. I have an old JVC turntable and an old Technics. They are both not really what I am after. Any info. on the Thorens would be appreciated. I know they are highly regarded, but, I don't know if this particular model is worth the money. Please help.

Tom

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I have one upstairs sitting idle that I bought from a guy in Canada through ebay three years ago. The base on mine is simulated wood grain (vinyl stick on) that I think looks cheap. The dust covers almost always crack where hinged. There was no grounding wire on the one I bought and I hear a noticeable hum. Played it a few times and then upgraded. The arm, platter, mat, and plinth were in good shape.

If you can get good pictures and inquire about cueing and grounding it may be worth $100. Maybe someone can tell us the difference in the TD-160 and the TD-165. The 160 seems to be a popular tt.

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I have one upstairs sitting idle that I bought from a guy in Canada through ebay three years ago. The base on mine is simulated wood grain (vinyl stick on) that I think looks cheap. The dust covers almost always crack where hinged. There was no grounding wire on the one I bought and I hear a noticeable hum. Played it a few times and then upgraded. The arm, platter, mat, and plinth were in good shape.

If you can get good pictures and inquire about cueing and grounding it may be worth $100. Maybe someone can tell us the difference in the TD-160 and the TD-165. The 160 seems to be a popular tt.

It is local, so I will be able to check it out. You think it looks cheap? Iknow nothing about Thorens, other than it seems to be a desirable make of tt. I'm just trying to avoid another mistake in my,(perpetual) upgrade quest. Thanks for the input, I will be looking for the issues you have mentioned, just in case it is inherent with the model.
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the table is an upgrade of sorts, however it is not going to be a wow factor unless there is a really nice cartridge on it..........i went the route you are considering and i didnt get the wow factor till i really stepped up in table............basis 1400, clearaudio champion etc... as far as tables go the differances are somewhat subtle unless you dive deep...........cartridge and arm have been where i found the most differance and bang for my dollar

in short if i had the decision to make over again i would save some beans and buy the much better table arm cartridge combo.........................unless you want the experiance of hearing almost everything available that is

to answer your question th table is priced about right at 100.00 depending on the cartridge and arm of course

Joe

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I have one upstairs sitting idle that I bought from a guy in Canada through ebay three years ago. The base on mine is simulated wood grain (vinyl stick on) that I think looks cheap. The dust covers almost always crack where hinged. There was no grounding wire on the one I bought and I hear a noticeable hum. Played it a few times and then upgraded. The arm, platter, mat, and plinth were in good shape.

If you can get good pictures and inquire about cueing and grounding it may be worth $100. Maybe someone can tell us the difference in the TD-160 and the TD-165. The 160 seems to be a popular tt.

It is local, so I will be able to check it out. You think it looks cheap? Iknow nothing about Thorens, other than it seems to be a desirable make of tt. I'm just trying to avoid another mistake in my,(perpetual) upgrade quest. Thanks for the input, I will be looking for the issues you have mentioned, just in case it is inherent with the model.

they look cheap because the plinth is made of particle board with a vinyl wood grain sticker (for lack of a better word) they can be upgraded if you are handy with wood and wanted to build a nice plinth

Joe

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Tom....like you I was unfamiliar with the TD-165 and thought from the pictures I saw on ebay that the base was wood. The vinyl on mine has started to curl in a couple of places and I was actually thinking of getting Bluesboy to build a new base out of solid wood. If the vinyl on the one you are looking at is secure then it looks good enough. The dust cover on mine is not in good shape and I would not use it in my system if I ever did move forward with the base project. The main reason I did not use mine is the hum from not having a ground wire. Its probably a simple fix but like I said I soon upgraded. I found a reworked Denon DP-1250 in mint condition and have been very happy with it. Let me know if you need parts or cartdridges and maybe I will part mine out.

You will be able to tell the general condition when you go to check it out. See if they will play it for you.

Chuck

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No TD165 I ever saw had vinyl woodgrain. It should have a wood veneer. If if is in nice shape, it would not look "cheap". I think they made a nice simple, classic 70's turntable appearance. Nothing fancy. For $100 and local, it is a reasonable buy. The TD160's were better, they had a better platter. None of these Thorens have a grounding wire, the ground is designed into the RCA cables. I think these Thorens are a great way to introduce yourself to vinyl. A lot can be learned about proper set up on these less expensive vintage turntables without risking much money. You'll get an idea of how good vinyl can sound. If you're new to vinyl, I like this route rather than jumping into to something extremely expensive where, one, you find you don't like vinyl or two, you make costly mistakes with very expensive piece of equipment. I'm pretty sure we've all ruined a cartridge or two in our recent vinyl lifetime. Much better to learn on the cheaper stuff than I think.

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The Thorens TD160'S are nice starter tables. I have a TD160,but like the two TD160 MKII's better. Only cuase they are black and look cleaner overall. But they are manual,unlike the TD160.Lots of mods can be done to theses tables if you like to tinker. Good Luck!

Larry

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Had to go upstairs and look at my 165. Its been awhile since I've looked it over and except for the dust cover it looks pretty good! I agree with Scott that it may be a good way to start without spending a bundle. I turned my tt over and looked at the base....if that is veneer....it is very, very, thin veneer. The bottom cover is pressboard. Good to know that the ground wire is built into the RCA cable but that also makes me wonder where the hum was coming from?

Go look at it. Play it or see if you can take it home and hook it up.....maybe leave a deposit....then decide if you want it. I would think that if its in near mint condition it would be a buy.

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I bought one a few years ago for about $100 and loaded it with a Shure V15. Great sounding table for the money. Blew away my old Technics. It was just too bouncy for my room and I replaced it finally with my new Mono setup. It's a hard table to beat for the money. I thought it sounded better than the Music Hall MMF-5. Yes, the dustcovers are almost always cracked but even with the stock arm and a cheap Grado Green cart, it was a fine sounding table. Don't plan to upgrade the I/Cs though. Anything other than the stock cheapo I/Cs will hum. That was my experience anyway.

Good luck.

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Good to know that the ground wire is built into the RCA cable but that also makes me wonder where the hum was coming from?

You probably have a bad tonearm wire somewhere in the path. Strating at the cartridge, following those tonearm wires all the way to where they connect to the interconnects. Any number of places those wires can get shorted, come loose, maybe a dirty pin in the headshell base. With the bottom cover off, usually under a plastic cover, is a terminal strip where the tiny tonearm wires meet the much bigger interconnect wires. Often in there somewhere are some bad connections. Again, that's why I like these tables, they are great to experiment with and learn about turntables. If you screw something up, not a big deal.

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Thanks Scott....I"ll try those suggestions. I think what I will do first is use some electronic contact cleaner on the connections and hook it back up and make sure the hum is still present. If it still hums I will follow your instructions. Raining here so a good opportunity to tinker. Thanks again.

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You can head over to the vinyl asylum on audioasylum.com and do a search through the archives. Should be a lot of information. People who buy that turntable usually are going to be doing some modding. New tonearm at least, etc... I had one, never modded it, so I sold it. I would say it is definitely worth $100. If you don't plan on messing with it I wonder what the real experts would say about its ability to play music in stock form as it regards an old technics turntable. Of course that could also take in a direct drive versus belt fight that is better left off the table (pun intended).

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Did you buy it? Just wondering.

Larry

I think I'm going to pass and wait for a better choice of upgrade. I really want a turntable that when coupled with a medium range(price) cartridge, will give me a noticeable difference from my HK T60 and Grado setup. I think I can probably do better if I am patient. I really enjoy my HK, but, was looking to replace either my old JVC or the old Technics I bought and probably shouldn't have.

Thank you all for your advice and experiences. I think you guys probably saved me some cash that I can put towards a better turntable

Tom

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I noticed the same symptoms with my Thorens TD160, that some of you have experienced, lack of a ground wire and a noticable hum.

I tried installing a ground wire from the metal chassis to ground, but that did nothing, so it was removed. Next I purchased directional audio cables and the hum vanished. I did not use expensive cables, just $10 from a discount electronics store.

Standard TT cables are a signal wire shielded with the neutral/ground. Directional cables have a signal wire and a neutral wire, shielded by a ground, and this ground is internally tied to the neutral at the source only; open ended/floating at the destination, hence they are directional.

Hope that this helps you, as it allowed me to enjoy my Thorens turntable.

Richard

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