Thorens TD 150 mk2

[nomismo]

I've picked up an old Thorens TD 150 mk2 for next to nothing. I have from recollection listened to one.As it is without arm i've not listened to this one either,It had been stored away well packaged and dry for the past 20 or so years.

So will i be wasting my time and money on fabricating a new plinth etc. Have any of you had experience with one of these, are they worth it, what arm could be used.

So what's your thoughts, refurb/rebuild or bin it walk away and look for better.

 

[killie99]

They are a total heap of crap, not worth wasting your time on. What's your address and I'll come round and take it to the local dump for you?

This for starters.

 

[Cable Monkey]

Pretty much the AK47 of the turntable world, made cheaply with pressed steel parts but will still be working when modern esoterica has long bitten the dust. I would hold fire on the plinth, get a low mass arm and mate it to a high compliance cartridge with half decent tip profile and listen to it the way it was intended. If you don't like it you can move it and other bits on easily enough. If you do you can spend a lot making them look pretty but you won't elevate performance that much and even sporting a couple of hundred quids worth of American Oak plinth, it will still be a TD150 so recouping money spent will be tough.

 

[nomismo]

They are a total heap of crap, not worth wasting your time on. What's your address and I'll come round and take it to the local dump for you?This for starters.

ok fetch it.

 

[killie99]

They're pretty easy to improve significantly for not a lot of money, £30-£40. See my thread on a TD160 I did up.

 

[nomismo]

They're pretty easy to improve significantly for not a lot of money, £30-£40. See my thread on a TD160 I did up.

Thanks for that Stuart, looks good in the pictures, how does it sound?

 

[killie99]

Huge improvement on what it first sounded like although I should probably have changed the bearing oil before doing all the other upgrades as I couldn't believe how much smoother the platter ran once I'd cleaned out the spindle and refilled it. I suspect the oil change alone would have made a big improvement. Things I'd do different if I bought another one? Change the position I chose for the power and RCA's as the lid fouls on them when you open it! I'd also completely rewire the arm while I had the TT in bits and change the springs and grommits for a set of Linn Nirvana springs. It was all pretty easy stuff to do, took me a few days and was well worth it. The performance difference between the refurb'd TD160 and my LP12 wasn't huge considering one cost about £150 with all the mods and the other is probably worth £1500. Bonkers actually. I'm sure someone will be along soon to say they were surprised the the LP12 sounded almost as good as the TD160 ..... :shock:

 

[themadlatvian]

They are a total heap of crap, not worth wasting your time on. What's your address and I'll come round and take it to the local dump for you?This for starters.

:rofl: :^

The Thorens TD150 is a very competent little deck when properly set up, with a good belt. The bearing can (rarely) 'wear out' depending on how much it has been used/abused but the first thing I would do is properly lubricate it. If the bearing is shot it will be very obvious - audible rumble on all disks.

If it is working well and you want to keep it, it is certainly worth putting it in a decent plinth (doesn't have to be £200 worth does it!). Plonk a decent arm on it (SME Series 2 or equivalent) and a medium to good cartridge and enjoy - it will surprise you. There are some who think it is better than the TD160. I don't quite agree with that, but it can achieve good results.

If you don't want to keep it, please make sure that you sell/give it to somebody who will make good use of it. It is likely to be far too good to just chuck away.

:^

 

[graham67]

Based on my experince with a later 166, I think these suspended Thorens are good all rounder decks. Though you may need a wall shelf though as they are prone to footfall unless floors are concrete.

In the nineties, Thorens used to sell the 166 with Rega arms as an option, so a rega 250 or similar would be a good place to start. Or put a wanted on the wam for a rega arm or similar. You may need to check your armboard to see what it is drilled for. Alternate armboards are available too.

If you want to go bonkers Inspire do a whole upgrade package for the 150 160 ranges. See http://www.inspirehifi.co.uk/thorens.html

 

[glowingtones]

I used a TD150 for many years coupled with an SME3009 S2 tonearm which worked really well sat on a Target platform. I agree that suspended sub chassis turntables are better suited to wall mounted supports especially if you have a wooden floor. Lots of info available at Vinyl Engine including copies of all the manuals for the different models and there's a great thread on suspension tuning. So if you are not a Vinyl Engine member it's worth signing up (free) if only to get the downloads.

A great budget turntable though... a bit fiddly to set up the sub chassis but worth it.