A nifty turntable that I've been playing with, the Thorens TD-160 "Super" repro from Vinyl Nirvana..

Yeah, that's the bloodwood. I knew I wanted the "midnight edition" top plate from the get go, but after hemming and hawing over a few of the wood choices, the bloodwood just seemed to be calling out to me. I think it's a great combination. The Marantz is a 2235B. The cartridge is an AT440MLa that I had on my previous turntable. I'm sure the Ortofons Dave sells are great, but I've been extremely happy with the 440, so I sent it to Dave to have him install it when I ordered the turntable.

 

Beautiful table. Can you comment on the effectiveness of the isolation stand? Also curious about the equipment on the left.

 

The wall-mounted shelf? First off, it was a necessity because our apartment's floors are suspended and quite springy. That shelf allows one to walk around the living room without tiptoeing when a record is playing and it won't make the tonearm and platter bounce. (However, if I were to jump and land on the floor really hard, that would transfer enough energy from the floor into the wall to make the tonearm bounce a little bit.) Prior to getting this Thorens, I simply had my previous turntable (a Denon DP51-F) directly on top of the Ikea Expedit, and one had to walk softly while records were playing. But the Thorens is significantly more susceptible to footfalls because of the suspended (and very springy) sub-chassis design, so the wall-mounted shelf was absolutely necessary in our place.

I put the shelf together myself. I bought a couple of very heavy-duty, custom wall brackets from some guy on Etsy, nabbed the solid wood board from this decades-old free-standing cupboard we had in our garage and painted it black, and I isolated the board from the brackets with rubber grommets, so the shelf isn't directly touching the brackets (or the wall). It probably doesn't offer the kind of isolation that a properly designed wall-mounted turntable shelf costing $300+ would offer, but I was on a budget and needed something fast.

The gear to the left is really nothing special, just an early 90s Sony CD player and a Pioneer CD recorder. I have a pretty modest set up!

 

Just one more shot, from the front with the dustcover.

 

Beautiful tables. Thanks for the pics

 

I'm trying to read your record spines

 

I'm doing the same! Thanks for the info. I have similar issues with hardwood floors nice idea with the rubber grommets. I may try that if my 150 has issues.

 

Excellent set up and nice Lp collection. The table you have can certainly invite other upgrades around it. I went down that rabbit hole myself. The vintage Marantz you have is similar to the recapped 2245 I have. They are great units but if you are curious about a higher level of fidelity with upgraded components around it, the table you have can deliver it. My own journey began with a Yamaha A-s801. But the mid-fi journey began with the VN TD-160. Within a year I had upgraded my speakers, amp, preamp, and phono preamp. You learn the limitations of your components as you go. Fortunately I still have not reached the limits of my table. I don't plan on ever replacing it. Such is the effect of having a terrific upgraded Thorens that Dave delivers. It's a work of art to me. An instrument to deliver the music we all enjoy.

 

I'd call a td160 a hifi turntable, no?

 

I have a VN150 and have had and heard pricier tables. I grew up with a Garrard 301. This VN150 sounds so sweet. I can see how something else might, in some very small way, eclipse it, but for two grand with its Bronze 2m, as recommended by Dave, it is just plain sweet. I don’t want to get another TT. I might get a different cartridge some day, maybe a higher end Grado, but no different table. I’m happy.

 

Is that the Wild Swans’ Revolutionary Spirit on the wall there? And OMD - you must be from Liverpool! Great setup.

 

Wow good eye w the architecture morality!
On a related note I can see the sandanista and all things must pass in the shelves. Dire straits maybe? That's all I can get.
Is this post creepy? haha

 

Creepy, no. Nosey, perhaps - but who cares, I love to see how other people arrange their records!

 

Not from Liverpool, but yup, I do love and have A LOT of late 70s/80s post punk stuff from Liverpool, Manchester, all over the UK...

 

Yeah, Sandinista and All Things Must Pass are in there; there is one Dire Straits record in there, but I don't think it's actually visible. I'm trying to think of some spines of records that a lot of people would know - in the second cube from left there's Trout Mask Replica in the middle, some Cheap Trick LPs a few inches to the right of that, and Buzzcocks records with the distinctive yellow and purple spine of Different Kind of Tension several inches to the left. At the far right top there's a thick band of Cure records, and some people might be able to make out Standing on a Beach.

 

Cheap trick. Chi lites greatest hits!

 

What would you have to drop to really get a better deck than these? 5K? 8K?
I just don't see it in my budget and future. I'm going to sit back and spend that dough on rekkids.

 

Yes it is

 

To those who have one of these tables with the Rega arm and are curious about carts (I have the VN-150), I recently made a switch from the 2M Bronze. After inquiring with Dave and hearing the Dynavector DV 20X2 was one of his favorites and would work with the RB-202, I got a broken one I had in a drawer (high output) repaired by Soundsmith. Recently mounted it on the table and it is definitely the sound I’ve been looking for: smooth, nuanced, and sweet, with less noise and better bass than the 2M Bronze. I’ve always loved the VN-150 but with the cart change and recent addition of a Black Cube SE2 it has gone to a whole new level.

PS too lazy to post updated pics but you can see the turntable with the previous cart and phono stage here: Collector Interview: David B. – Koeppel Design

 

Obviously people on this thread like or are at least interested in VNs. I’d love to hear any other thoughts about cartridges that people do or don’t like with VNs, especially with Rega arms. I love my system as a whole and currently have a 2m bronze, but you can’t start down this road without at least a little openness to ways your system might be improved, and it seems that a cartridge change is potentially impactful, affordable, and not going to make the rest of the household bristle the way Wilsons or a huge rack of new electronics would. Any that you especially like or dislike, especially relative to the 2m bronze, and if so, why. I am definitely gonna try and hear a DV 20x2. Also while the phono in the Sphinx is fine for my current configuration, I understand a pre will be inevitable on most of the others I am considering. So if, for example, your VN “fit” involved LO, I hope your profile is current so I have maximum context!

 

Since you already have the motor part. Why not buy a black stylus? Look at it this way, The Shibata stylus is an expensive diamond and that is what you are paying for. Now, take any cartridge and add that same stylus and that stylus will increase the price of that cartridge proportionally.

Rega, prefers to have a more rigid mounting system, so they don't have many adjustments that the other tonearm's have, for that specific reason.

I have the VN Thorens TD-160 Super, in the midnight edition which has the Rega / Moth 202 tonearm, that has upgraded Cardas wiring. The VN TT came with the Bronze cartridge and stylus. After come consideration, I bought the Black stylus. So just for the price of the Shibata stylus, I now have two nice but completely different sounding cartridges, so to speak.

I think that the Black sounds perfectly fine, even though the Rega arms don't have a VTA. A couple of days back I have a audiophile re-release of a Cream album. That album played perfectly quietly with the Black stylus. No background noise what so ever, and that was playing it through the 103-dB efficient A7's, which are famous for magnifying background noise to a very audible level.

I buy most of my records used, so even after cleaning them, they are not usually completely quiet. But, I can confirm, that if you have a clean and quiet record, the Black will play it back that way.

I go back and forth between the Bronze and Black stylus from time to time, for a little variety.

 

I should be receiving my VN TD-160 Super Repro from Dave in the next couple months (fingers crossed!). It's going to have an SME M2-9 arm and I'll be using it with an AT440mlb cart. TOTAL overkill, I know, but I went with the SME arm now so I could upgrade carts in the future. I've been using an AT440mlb on my Project Debut Carbon DC for years now, and I want to be able to compare the sound of the different tables with the same cart.
-Keith

 

I have a new And unused 2m black stylus If you'd like to buy it for upgrade on the bronze cart. I bought it from thakker in Germany. It's never been on a cart before.

 

Thanks but I am not thinking I’ll go the black route.

 

I have an SME M2-9 on my TD-160. You won't regret it.