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

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Steve Hoffman, Jun 4, 2014.

  1. ddarch

    ddarch Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    Love Mullards too...
     
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  2. Rolltide

    Rolltide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallejo, CA
    What kind of tubes do you use in your Leben RS-30EQ? I recently put in NOS military-grade Mullards (which can be had for cheap in 12AU7) and find them a perfect match. Of course, I bought mine second hand and it had RFT tubes vs. the factory JAN tubes, so I have a different baseline.
     
  3. Pomodori

    Pomodori Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    I've not done any tube rolling with The RS-30EQ. Did you replace all three tubes? Nice to know about the cheaper Mullards for this phono. I'm thoroughly impressed with the Mullards for the integrated amp. When I purchased the CS300XS I almost immediately swapped the quad Sovtek EL84s for some NOS Philips EL84s and the change was readily evident, going from fast, bright and almost solid-state to a softer sound, but some artists still sounded harsh, Nina Simone in particular. I didn't even really think about changing the driver tubes; but about a week ago I replaced the two "driver" Sovteks with some Mullard 12AX7A and it's made all the difference. Not only is the warm tubey feel present, the depth and sound stage have arrived. I've always toyed with replacing my harbeth monitors because I thought they were too small for my room but they suddenly come alive, like they finally got the quality of current they needed. There's a reason why vintage Mullard tubes are sought after, and I get why.
     
  4. royzak2000

    royzak2000 Senior Member

    Location:
    London,England
    My first proper turntable the 160 loved it , my friend is still playing it. but the LP12 was so much better.
    Maybe it was the clunky TP16 tonearm, same cartridge, just was not in the same ball game.
     
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  5. Pomodori

    Pomodori Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    The TD160 Super solved the tonearm issue. My Jelco SA 750/DL103 combo has worked well.
     
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  6. ddarch

    ddarch Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    What arm is on your Linn?

    I respect your opinion, but I disagree the stock TP-16 arm is clunky. It's actually pretty elegant and fully functional in terms of adjustment. Now the AR XA...that's a clunky arm...still capable of decent playback, but clunky looking all the same with little adjustment.

    Dave
     
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  7. royzak2000

    royzak2000 Senior Member

    Location:
    London,England
    Not is but rather was, this was in the 80s. The arm was the Ittok the cartridge Ortofon VMS30 later AT moving coil.
    I had both turntables for some time and kept swapping cartridges, as you do, in every case I felt the Linn worked better for me.
    Not knocking the Thorens in any way, I had mine for ten years and as I say my mate still uses it, a nice bit of kit.
    Maybe clunky was the wrong word, it just seems a bit crude, and if I remember rightly most Mags. at the time suggested changing the arm, the only thing that let it down.
     
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  8. shutdown66

    shutdown66 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Athens, Greece
    Hello, which cart do you have put on the arm?
    Thank you.
     
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  9. Gasman1003

    Gasman1003 Forum Diplomat.

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    "And God created SME.... " :righton:
     
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  10. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    I've had lots of cartridges but I think the Sumiko Special EVO may have been my favorite match. Tracked beautifully and sounded extraordinary. Unfortunately I've decided it's too delicate to survive in my house. I've had good luck with an Ortofon Blue and right now a Denon DL 110.

    The arm is fairly forgiving. I did not care for the Auto Technical ATOC 9. It tracked like a mother but it was way too bright in my set up. Grados are good with the arm but they tend to hum on the Thorens.

    You can try out a lot of cartridges in 30+ years.:)
     
  11. pez

    pez Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    Wow. They are beautiful!!! And I will likely never have the spare cash to enjoy such a diamond of a turntable...but a man can still dream
     
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  12. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    Recent convert to thorens turntables. The decks and arms in my humble are superb. Had a linn, Ittok, asak.
    The thorens simply fo it for me. They costs peanuts. Thats the rub, if something is too inexpensive people don,t rate them. They are missing out on the bargain of the century!
     
  13. Gretsch6136

    Gretsch6136 Forum Resident

    I love my TD160 Super!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    The arm is the weakest link on my TD160 but I'm sentimentally attached to it. I'm sure Vinyl Nirvana could maximize my deck's potential.
     
  15. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    When you use the analogue dept, or Thorens Dept and read up on these arms its interesting, as many of their arms did not conform to Baerwald or any other idea but someone from thorens its changes your appreciation of them.
    Once you obtain the necessary jig, for setting up,the correct shims and screws
    The arms show their worth.
    The fitting of correct belt( usually 165mm folded in half) that helps the correct operation of the suspension and keeps the transmission of rumble to a minimum, that you realise what goes on with these decks.
     
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  16. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    Yes, but then again, He can afford them.
     
  17. Jack Flannery

    Jack Flannery Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, TX
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  18. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    What can you lose. It's absolutely gorgeous yet a worth while improvement over an aleady excellent turntable.
    This kit tidies and finished off the job. Time and time again i find that attention to detail on thorens decks rewards one greatly.
    I have a TD 150 mk1 running the stock arm and V15 mk3. Maybe I will do the same.
     
    ddarch likes this.
  19. Jayson Wall

    Jayson Wall Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Last week my Christmas gift that I bought for myself arrived from Dave: TD-125 Long Base with SME M2-12R and 2M Bronze cart. Simply superb sounding going directly into the Fisher 800-C.....very happy, even my wife loves the looks and the sound of the TD-125, so that's a HUGE plus!! Here's a few so-so pictures of the TD-125 from my iPhone (on the table is a Mono DJ pressing of Sinatra/Jobin album)

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  20. JJerm80

    JJerm80 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia
    Just finished setting up a late Christmas gift to myself (pics to come soon). @ddarch put together a TD-160 Super for me with Rega 202 arm and 2m Blue cart. Currently running into a fully recapped Marantz 2245. Just a pure, beautiful sound coming from this table. Easily bests the Micro Seiki direct drive I was running. The table itself is gorgeous, and I know this will be the last table I will ever need, one I can pass down many years from now. Thank you Dave for such great work and for making the process as smooth as possible. I can't imagine a better experience. Now if there was just more time in the day to play more records.
     
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  21. Vinyl Sean

    Vinyl Sean Active Member

    Location:
    Romsey
    Hello people, new member here with my first post, can anybody give me advice on choosing a new cartridge , I have a Thorens TD 160 super with the mission 774 John Bicht original currently fitted with an ortofon vms 20e mrk 11 , A great set up in the eighties.
    I would be looking at either mm or mc £300 maximum . would a AT440 mlb or Denon dl 110 be suitable. The 774 is low mass arm so the advice in the eighties was to go with high compliance cartridges, I don't know if this is the right place to ask this question but I have been following this thread for a few months and the members here seem very knowlegable regarding TD160's etc . Ive had this set up from new and it was put in storage for about 15 years, CD's taking over and then I saw the light! just joking as I have a pretty good cd set up, but i'm so glad the vinyl revival has happened I had forgotten how much I had missed it..
     
  22. thommo

    thommo Senior Member

    Location:
    London, England
    Morning Sean.

    A Shure cartridge sporting a SAS stylus is my default recommendation in the light arm / high compliance arena. You can get one of the "35" range brand new for about £45 or so, and then a SAS stylus direct from Jico in Japan for roughly £90 or so.

    Go here to listen to one playing "History Repeating" by Propellerheads: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/post-your-needledrops-part-8.401997/page-14#post-13790654

    It's unprocessed, so should give you some idea of what that relatively inexpensive combo can do.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2016
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  23. Gasman1003

    Gasman1003 Forum Diplomat.

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    My SME arm wasn't too expensive 35 years ago, it can't have been I was a student.

    I love Thorens, I have had my TD 160 since 1980, bought with the SME arm, and it is used every day.

    I have no experience of the Thorens arm as I bought mine without arm, but with the SME fixing plate - provided by Thorens from the factory. That must tell you something, no?:shrug:
     
  24. Gasman1003

    Gasman1003 Forum Diplomat.

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    Hi Sean,

    I have a TD 160 with SME 3009 arm.

    3 years ago I bought an Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridge - superb, retails for about £285.

    The nice thing is that it is the same body as the phenomenal 2M Black cartridge and stylus exchange is just so easy.

    I replaced with a Black stylus at time of first stylus change - never looked back since.

    Good luck in your search.

    Ortofon 2M Bronze MM (Moving Magnet) Cartridge - FREE UK DELIVERY »

    Ortofon 2M Black MM (Moving Magnet) Cartridge - FREE UK DELIVERY »
     
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  25. ddarch

    ddarch Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    The Ortofon OM-series is a better compliance match than the 2M...still sellers on eBay with complete OM_20s and OM_30s...or you can buy an OM-10 and then upgrade the stylus...which is what I have to do as a dealer. However, it's awesome that Ortofon still supports this series, knowing it's a great match for low mass arm needs.
     

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