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. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    Boy, Dave at Vinyl Nirvana does a nice job. Congratulations on your purchase, Rob. :)
     
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  2. Szeppelin75

    Szeppelin75 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Panama
    Beautiful machine
     
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  3. DanLovingVinyl

    DanLovingVinyl Well-Known Member

    Location:
    NJ USA
    Wow! This is like what goes on in my dreams lately. I bought a TD-160 in sad shape on eBay. Next step was - like you, MatMan! - some Padauk for the plinth and a scrounged arm: in my case I went for the Grace, a G545 that had an F8 mounted that I got VERY cheap as the cantilever was broken off. That got shipped to Peter Ledermann's crew at SoundSmith who was kind enough to install his beautiful nude optimized line contact diamond on a ruby cantilever. In for a penny, in for a pound so I sent £104.95 GBP to Stuart Michell for one of his famous upgrade kits and magic black oil. Now comes the hard part- doing the actual WORK (ok, it's also the BEST part).
    I'll try adding pictures of the wood I grabbed, and the table as I bought it. Might even find the eBay pic of the arm. So far I can't find a way short of an internet URL rather than an upload. One day (right now I'm fighting prostate cancer) I'll add the finished product.
     
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  4. Nakamichi

    Nakamichi The iceage is coming....

    Location:
    St199nf
    Only just come across this thread Very interesting.
    I have a TD160 and love it. Learned a lot about setting up and the mechanics of playing vinyl and despite all the niggles getting it right I have no intention of changing it.
     
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  5. Gasman1003

    Gasman1003 Forum Diplomat.

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    Same here, I have owned my TD 160 B Mk II with SME 3009 Series II Improved arm since the summer of 1980. A few sympathetic modifications along the way but it's the only TT I will ever need.
     
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  6. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    Of all the turntables I have across , Thorens decks respond with superlative
    Sound quality.
    I,m.convinced you cannot really get much better sounding machines.
    The basics are right.
    Enjoy!
     
  7. timnor

    timnor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    Wishing you all the best to get better soon. Your turntable sounds like a very enjoyable project ! Looking forward to hear how you get on.
     
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  8. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    After reading this whole awesome thread - I just had to hunt one down for myself.. :)
    [​IMG]
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    Bought secondhand from a great and very helpful local fella, its been refurbished to the max, including a new Rosewood plinth and a vintage Rega RB300 tonearm.
    The turnable is from the late 70's - early 80's I believe, not sure of the exact year.
    The sound quality is off the charts good. :agree:
     
  9. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Looks great, have fun!
     
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  10. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Thank you Steve, I will be. And thanks for the great thread!
     
  11. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Glad this thread helped you! Happy new year.
     
  12. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Yep, it really did. Same to you, happy NY!
     
  13. Bananas&blow

    Bananas&blow It's just that demon life has got me in its sway

    Location:
    Pacific Beach, CA
    Gorgeous table. I have one of those. If you lift off the platter and look under it there is a date somewhere. Although mine is a TD160 that says 1972 on it and I'm pretty sure the TD 160 wasn't around in 72. This table can handle a better cart than the Blue. I'd encourage you to move to at least a Bronze as I'm not the one who will be paying for it. :D
     
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  14. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Yes, I knew that you own one of these, I’ve read this thread thoroughly, yours is a real beauty too, bloodwood plinth and another Vinyl Nirvana gem, looks absolutely stunning.

    I will check if the date you mention is there soon, I’m currently spinning records, just had Wilco - A Ghost Is Born playing and it sounded amazing, the Super encouraged many details from that album I’d not heard before, so nice. Now listening to Robert Plant - Carry Fire, terrific record, so good.

    I hear you regarding the cartridge, that will definitely be the next step for me, from the Blue to the Bronze, maybe mid-year. I’m just going to enjoy this turntable in the system for a while first..
     
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  15. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I just checked underneath the platter for the year of production, plenty of text under there, but no date that I could see. After some online research I’ve gathered from a few different sources that it’s somewhere between 1977 and 1982. I think the Super mk2 is 1982, so mine is probably a late 70’s machine, but not 100% sure..
     
  16. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    And, don't stop there either. Make the next upgrade after that the black or the OM40.
     
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  17. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Sure, that could happen, one step at a time right? This turntable has been a big upgrade for me, have been wanting to play record after record since having it hooked up, especially album’s I know well - as I’m picking up many details I’d not heard before like subtle background vocals and sounds. It makes the over all listening experience more ‘lush’ for the lack of a better term..
     
  18. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    A couple more photos, just for the hell of it.. :)
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    [​IMG]
     
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  19. Hogues

    Hogues Forum Resident

    Congrats, Reesedog. I got mine years ago and I'm still loving it. Dave really does great work.
     
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  20. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Thanks Hogues, have you shown your 160 here? I like looking at vintage turntables, especially Thorens, beautiful machines..
     
  21. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Picking up detail is what the Blue is all about. More clarity and separation of the instruments over the Red.

    Lush is a very applicable term.

    I bought mine as a pre-owned unit from another forum member, it already had the Bronze cart mounted.

    Very rich and luscious sound. The Bronze has a very quiet background where surface noise is minimized.

    One aspect of climbing up the ladder that I feel is not emphasized enough is the other components in your sound chain. Detail is but one aspect of sound reproduction, as is imaging.

    I find that headphones are hard to beat for bringing out fine details in music. Makes sense because you are using tiny lightweight drivers that are ultra responsive. By comparison, speakers are lumbering dinosaurs.

    Looking at your system, you have Wharfedale speakers. I also have vintage Wharfedale's. A bit different but Wharfedale has always been a pleasant non fatiguing speaker that you can listen to for hours. Other more detailed speakers often bring on listening fatigue far faster. But that depends on many factors.

    Moving to the Bronze cart is yet a different experience. In some ways. The Bronze will play down the detail of the blue. But it does this by rounding off any sharp edges to the sound signature you may be listening to.

    What this does is to introduce a more natural feeling to the music, similar to what tubes can bring to the party.

    Moving to the Black increases the amount of surface noise that might be present. But the bass becomes bigger and the overall sound becomes more organic with the Shibata cut stylus.

    However, when you get to this level, you honestly need to have a more upscale audio chain to appreciate the difference for the large increase in cost.

    I like tube amplifiers and what they can bring to the table, but I only reserve my tube amps on my high sensitivity vintage horn speakers. I use my SS amps on the modern tower speakers.

    If you should elect to move to the Bronze down the road, the OM40 might be a better upgrade than the Black. It is a Fritz Geiger cut diamond that many prefer over the Shibata stylus. It should give you most of the benefits of the black but at a considerably lower cost.
     
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  22. Dr. J.

    Dr. J. Music is in my soul

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    Is it true that Dave is no longer selling these tables?
     
  23. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Thank you SandAndGlass, some quality info there for sure, I think I’ll be with this turntable/amp/speakers combinations for quite a while yet, but the cartridge is definitely an upgrade on my ‘want list’, the Ortofon Bronze in particular.

    I doubt I’ll ever get to tube amplification, but you never know I might one day, I say that now of course. But, I really like the A-S2200 I have now, it does the job superbly.

    Thanks again for the great reply and experienced information.
     
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  24. Reesdog

    Reesdog Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    I’m not sure, maybe someone reading this might know. I didn’t get mine from Dave, mines from a local private sale here in Auckland, though he could have put it together originally, I have no idea..
     
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  25. Davey

    Davey NP: Vanishing Twin ~ Life Drummer (2024)

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Nice table! What's the thing I circled below? Was it part of a support for a different tonearm?


    [​IMG]
     
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