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Following a few weeks with the Rotel, I bought a Thorens TD-160, Need Help Selecting Stylus

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Parallax982

Super Member
Well, many of you guys guided me down this rabbit hole after I found the Rotel 1100Q for $25. Was a journey of rediscovery and now I'm hooked. Turns out the WOW on that thing is messed up. The belt is new and well adjusted, everything's lubed, and the culprit is the motor. At some point I may fix it. Or maybe not. I could just steel the dust cover, which is a bit wide but otherwise fits the Thorens TD-160 I picked up today.

It's in serviceable condition for $300. Seems to run well. When I checked the WOW with my phone app, I was getting 0.34% but I've not checked the belt, the pulley or oiled the bearing. Also, it was taken with a phone so it may not be accurate. It has a spliced power cord so I'll need to replace it. Had it plugged in and spinning earlier but not a great idea to run it that way long term. The platter does not switch from 33 to 45, so that indicates a need for servicing. Not that I plan to play 45s. In any event, a Thorens is well worth a bit of maintenance and I got it for $300 so I expected to spend a bit to bring it up to speed.

It has a Stanton 600 cartridge. What do you think of that cartridge? If it's decent, which stylus would you recommend? This time I'm going to invest in a new stylus.

I have the Realistic 1000E cartridge made by Shure attached to the Rotel. I could pull it off the Rotel head shell and attach it to the Thorens in place of the Stanton and just get a stylus for it. Or I could buy a whole new cartridge and stylus.
 
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The Stanton will sound excellent on that arm, don't ditch the oem stylus! The 600 or 800 Stantons are my favorite here. I like how the AT carts work on this arm. Not so much the shures, though I'm usually a huge shure fan.

With all of my hindsight, I would go with an AT cart, and a fancier cut stylus for a new cartridge. A second headshell is good to have for these.

When you mount carts, you'll need spacers and the correct length bolts on hand. The arm needs to be level when playing. My Signet needs a 2mm spacer. You don't need expensive spacers, but correct bolt sets are very worth getting.

Thorens are picky about belts. Many of us use vinylnirvana.com for parts and such. He's very very good and only sells legit stuff. Has just about everything you'll need.
 
Hey @Parallax982 and congrats on getting the TD160! These can be a bit finnicky to restore to proper working order but you seem eager and motivated and that's good as it is likely to test your patience a bit.

The suspension is an important thing you'll likely be paying some attention to as it controls how the table behaves regarding vibrations (footfalls, powerful low frequencies etc.) It also affects the alignment of the arm base, which should be square in the opening. You might consider making a stand so that you can access the bottom more easily. There are three 10mm nuts that you can access from the bottom of the table, provided it has the original bottom cover on it with holes through which to reach them with a socket. I started by loosening them until they were very close to coming off and then, slowly and one by one tightening until the platter had just the right amount of "bounce" to it (there are literally volumes written on this subject, "the right amount of bounce") so that things work as they should. I wound up putting mine on a DIY wall shelf which solved all issues with regard to vibrations, so that might be a consideration also.

The thing not going into 45rpm is most likely a combination of a worn belt and/or improper alignment of the drive pulley, which is adjustable but I'd get a new belt first so you don't have to do the job all over again. As @loudnoises says, these can be sourced and can get them where he suggests. I would strongly recommend NOT getting a cheap, aftermarket version as these generally do not provide accurate behavior. Also, you might not be playing 45s at the moment, as in 7" records, but how about those new 45rpm pressings from Mobile Fidelity and others that are incredibly fantastic sounding records!?!? They are certainly a treat and will bring a smile to your face when you hear one if you haven't already!

There are lots of threads that describe the process of proper pulley alignment, which, essentially, involves loosening the screws that hold the motor in place and then tweaking the angle with one of them that adjusts for that. Just do a search and the this will become more clear. Also, check to see if your table came with the long stand-off screw, one of the screws that holds the motor in place, as that is what keeps the platter from hitting the top of the motor pulley and doing really, really bad things to it, as in most likely ruining it and then you'll be hunting a new motor in all likelihood as straightening the pulley is not often successful. I believe you can source those screws if there is not one already in place. This will be a fun ride for you with great rewards upon completion as most would suggest this is a very, very fine table! Carry on, amigo....
 
Soup cans make a quick and dirty stand-in for a suspension adjustment service stand if needed.

The 600 should be fine, I run a 681EE or one of those SAE 1000 HOMC carts that were available super cheap a couple years back on mine. I think the SAE is better but the Stanton is still mounted to my second headshell for a reason. I had a Shure M97 on it for a bit, didn't care for it.

Screws are M2 hardware, common stuff is M2.5. Not really that hard to get, just have to be aware of it. I got a small bag of brass ones that are longer than needed and have trimmed them depending on the cartridge and spacer configuration. They cut easily with good diagonal cutters. Helps to run a nut on first, cut it, file the end flat, then back the nut off to straighten the threads. Steel nut if you can get it, its harder than the brass.
 
Thanks guys. I don't necessarily understand everything you've said so I guess this is the beginning of an adventure. Lots to figure out. And perhaps I'm a ways off from being ready to order a stylus but I'd like to figure that out so I have it on hand when the time comes. It's good to know that there's consensus among experts that I should stick with the 600, as that's obviously the easiest and least expensive cartridge option.

How would I choose between a 681EE and an SAE 1000 HOMC (and other choices) and where would I buy one? Also, how expensive are they? Thanks.
 
so go back in time about 10 years ago, be awake at 2 AM and randomly find an NOS 681EE with a buy it now option cheap on ebay.
Then go back in time maybe 4 (?) years ago when some company that apparently had a pallet load of NOS SAE carts listed on ebay for 100 bucks a pop and buy one.

If you don't happen to be buddies with Doc Brown, then I couldn't honestly tell you but realistically my acquisitions are almost more luck than intentional.
 
I’m considering the TurntableNeedles 821-DEE / BLISS D6003EE replacement, Japan-made 0.3 × 0.7 elliptical, for my Stanton 600. Would you recommend that stylus for the stock TD-160 arm, or is there a better currently available option?
 
Would you then take it off the soup cans after it's adjusted?

And tell me what you think of my stylus suggestion, the TurntableNeedles 821-DEE / BLISS D6003EE replacement, Japan-made 0.3 × 0.7 elliptical.
 
Yes, sorry for the confusion.....the soup cans, are positioned under the corners of the plinth. You can make it easier to adjust the suspension if you remove the thin, bottom cover of the plinth which allows you to see the springs with the nuts on the ends (bottoms), and that allows you to either compress or relax the spring making the suspension behave differently. Also, some have made nicer, more substantial bottom covers by using the original as a template and then cutting one from plywood or another choice of something better than the cardboard-ish original.

The springs originally had some foam rubber cones inside of them. If they have rotted and fallen out, no big deal as you can just cut some cones from some foam rubber you might have or use a foam sponge, which works as well. The idea being to allow the springs to absorb as much vibration as possible which then reduces distortion improving sound quality and providing protection against skipping caused by footfalls etc.

Once you have everything adjusted, including the motor position with the new belt installed and checked for proper movement on the pulley switching between 33 and 45, you can put the bottom back on and proceed with the rest of the setup procedure.....leveling, adjust the height of the arm, adjust tracking force, then make sure the overhang is correct (if you have the plastic gage you can use that), and then use a protractor to get zenith set. It would be nice to also check and set azimuth but that will take a little more doing as the headshell is not adjustable so you're down to shims but I'd give a listen first.....you might be just a-ok with things. Azimuth is certainly important, but on this table with this arm and headshell it can be a challenge, both to measure as well as change as shims are pretty tricky and hard to get things just right. Achtung! To do the motor pulley adjustment, it will be necessary to lift the top platter off and turn it upside down so you can see the movement of the belt on the pulley and determine how it needs to be adjusted. When doing this, be sure to put the mat on the upside down top platter as you want to make sure the suspension "sees" the weight, otherwise you will not have the pulley in the right position when you put everything back together. Time to get to work amigo......carry on
 
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