A new Thorens era coming?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by LakeMountain, Jan 18, 2020.

  1. Danilo

    Danilo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milano Italy
    The headshell of the Satisfy tonearm has the same curved shape of the one provided with the tp 92
     
  2. Davey

    Davey NP: Rosali ~ Bite Down (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Well, I don't disagree they are similar, but the Thorens headshell is integrated into a cutaway in the armtube without a joint in the tube, whereas the Clearaudio has a separate aluminum extension that is held to the armtube with some tar like material inside and a retaining screw for azimuth adjustment. This serves them better since they offer a variety of arm tube materials, like Carbon Fiber and Wood and Aluminum.


    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]
     
  3. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    Those arms do look similar, but two different designs by different brands...and we all know they do borrow from one another in this business, just like every other business. The other arm that PE has on some of their new tables also look like a modified Thorens with a carbon fiber tube...while that tonearm is said to be their own design, im willing to bet it borrows from the Thorens design as well. How heavy is your Clearaudio Satisfy tonearm?
     
  4. Phil Thien

    Phil Thien Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    How difficult it it aligning the cartridge on the Thorens? It looks like there isn't any way to turn the cartridge left/right with the Thorens design?
     
    Slippers-on likes this.
  5. Davey

    Davey NP: Rosali ~ Bite Down (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    They say it's around 9 grams, so pretty light, as you'd imagine with the minimal headshell.

    I don't know how much play there is in the mount, Slippers would know.
     
  6. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    The TP92 has a great angular offset at 23,66°. But if you need further fine tuning there is play to twist the headshell left and right...the part that fits into the tonearm isn't really snug as it looks, so twist and screw.... and you can easily adjust the overhang by loosening the small screw on top and sliding backwards or forward as needed. It really is a great designed tonearm. You can easily make all the adjustments you need. I've loaded two cartridges....the Denon DL-S1 which is my daily driver. It has slots in the body so of course you wouldn't think any issues with fine tuning/aligning the cartridge at all. But I also loaded my 2M Black which is a threaded body so no play on the cart it self. But I had no issues at all.....there was more than enough play on the headshell to twist as needed. The way the headshell comes apart makes loading really easy. I wish I could get more of the Thorens headshell...the part that attaches to the cart it self....that way you could really switch carts faster.

    Davey....looking at both, the Thorens and the Clearaudio tonearms on both tables one would think about the same weight, but carbon fiber is a lighter material. The TP92 comes in at 11gm's.
     
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2020
    bever70, Phil Thien and ddarch like this.
  7. ddarch

    ddarch Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    Well, with Covid19, there's not much else to do, so I just ordered the 1600 in Walnut. Will be here last week in July. I'll give a full comparison between the new and the vintage. Dave
     
    RiRiIII, MikeJedi, grbluen and 18 others like this.
  8. Davey

    Davey NP: Rosali ~ Bite Down (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Nice! That will be an interesting report to read, I'm sure.
     
  9. rischa

    rischa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Horeb, WI
    You're doing the Lord's work, sir. Thank you!
     
    macster likes this.
  10. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    Here is some reading material about the TP 92, if you haven't read it yet

    Test Thorens TP 92 OEM Tonarm - FIDELITY online
     
    ddarch and HiFi Guy 008 like this.
  11. HiFi Guy 008

    HiFi Guy 008 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    Thanks. Looks like an informative article. Mass is 11 grams. How about an English translation?
     
  12. ddarch

    ddarch Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    If you are using chrome, it immediately asks you to translate it to English. That's what I did. It wasn't a great translation, but you could make sense of it.
     
    Gasman1003 and Slippers-on like this.
  13. Drekow

    Drekow Forum Resident

    I look forward to the results of your comparison. Thanks for doing this.
     
  14. MaximXXL

    MaximXXL Member

    Location:
    Montenergo
    Curious - is it possible to listen to the recording until the end with the cover closed? Or will the heel of the tonearm rest against the cover after half of the LP?
     
  15. LakeMountain

    LakeMountain Vinyl surfer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Seems that Thorens told the reviewers of the new TD124 DD that the TAS1600 is based on the internals of the AT ART9. The TAS1600 apparently does have a modified cantilever suspension.

    BTW, Thorens has second cart now, the SPU124, made by Ortofon for the new TD124 DD.
     
  16. LakeMountain

    LakeMountain Vinyl surfer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Netherlands
    I don’t have the TD1600, but it is possible to fully play a record with the TD160 with the lid closed, like with any Thorens. Actually, if a design would allow the arm to hit the lid whilst lid closed it would be pretty stupid, as it would damage the stylus and the record!
     
    bever70 likes this.
  17. MaximXXL

    MaximXXL Member

    Location:
    Montenergo
  18. LakeMountain

    LakeMountain Vinyl surfer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Do you mean this? Just put some crude lines on it and it should be OK.
    [​IMG]
     
    ddarch likes this.
  19. Davey

    Davey NP: Rosali ~ Bite Down (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Could be, the TNT review said it was based on the OC9X and would be priced the same, but then others speculated it was 1200 euros, which puts it into the new ART9XI territory. All speculation until it's actually for sale some place. I'd hate to think they are just getting the OC9XSL built into a cool package and charging a big premium, but it wouldn't surprise me much either at this point.
     
    patient_ot likes this.
  20. MaximXXL

    MaximXXL Member

    Location:
    Montenergo
    Thanks!
     
  21. LakeMountain

    LakeMountain Vinyl surfer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Netherlands
    The production version of the new Thorens TD124DD has now been tested by a German magazine. It will be for sale soon.

    However, I was surprised, or better shocked, that the new version will cost almost 8k€ without cart. There is a also new cart the SPU124 (made by Ortofon) for about 2k€! I must say that I expected something in price range of half of the TD 1600, i.e. about 1000-1500€. I wonder how many Thorens can sell in this price range?

    The TT sounds good apparently and it’s performance is comparative to others in the same price range, according to the testers.
    [​IMG]
     
    SandAndGlass and Gasman1003 like this.
  22. Benzion

    Benzion "Cogito, ergo sum" Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Good luck to them at that price. For less than half that one can buy a Technics 1200G - and that's end-game TT. For yet half of that, one can buy the GR and have it modified by KAB, and it will be very close to the G.
     
    SandAndGlass and LakeMountain like this.
  23. LakeMountain

    LakeMountain Vinyl surfer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Netherlands
    For Technics the SL1000R is their endgame TT. But, yes I agree that this way there ain’t be a new era!
     
  24. Benzion

    Benzion "Cogito, ergo sum" Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    When I said "endgame" - I didn't mean "top of the line", but rather "the last turntable any reasonable individual may ever need". Hell, after a few mods, even the GR can be that.
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  25. LakeMountain

    LakeMountain Vinyl surfer Thread Starter

    Location:
    Netherlands
    There have been some concerns that the Taiwanese manufacturer of the new Thorens’s may lower quality. Well, it turns out that this company also sells their own TT’s which are top quality and great value for money.
    For example this one.
    [​IMG]
    The Tien TT3 has 3 motors driving a sub platter by belts to avoid any pulling on the bearing (like AN does as well). The platter rests on a magnetic bearing. The carbon arm rests on tungsten pin in a ruby receptacle. This single point bearing is also stabilized by two magnets. These can be adjusted to vary dampening and even allow azimuth correction.
    According to testers it sounds awesome, top of the range.
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2020
    SandAndGlass and bever70 like this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine