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Found a Thorens 160

AFpay

AFpay

Active Member
Good Evening All,

Just purchased a Thorens TD 160 in excellent shape (sans cover). It has An Audio Technica 71ELC cartridge included, sounds fine. I'll play with this a little before I change cartridges. My Vintage collection of Turntables is growing. I think I'm hooked. I'll be looking for the Thorens 125 next. Good night!!

Oracle Delphi Mark III
Dual 1229
Pioneer PL 12d
Thorens 160
 
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Congrats on finding a 160. I have had mine for about 3 years and love it. Here is a link to a site that has enough info on it to boggle your mind. With it being a suspension table, it is important to get the spring suspension set correctly to really make it sing.

http://www.theanalogdept.com/
 
Good for you! I have a TD125 MKII and I love it, but as you well know the 160 has a heck of a reputation, and I'd like to own one someday too.

I'm sure you'll want to put an after-market tone arm on a 125 if you get one, but I have to tell you mine has the original TP16 tone arm (not the best reputation on AK) and I don't think there's anything wrong with it, sounds great.

So how about some pictures? Also, what cartridge are you considering putting on it?
 
AFpay said:
Good Evening All,

Just purchased a Thorens TD 160 in excellent shape (sans cover). It has An Audio Technica 71ELC cartridge included, sounds fine. I'll play with this a little before I change cartridges. My Vintage collection of Turntables is growing. I think I'm hooked. I'll be looking for the Thorens 125 next. Good night!!

Oracle Delphi Mark III
Dual 1229
Pioneer PL 12d
Thorens 160
Click to expand...

Well done,
Don't forget to check the oil in the bearing and also to check the length of the belt, wrong belt can stress the motor


Tony
 
I have a td 160 too. Ive done every mod except build a new plinth.Its a peice of 70's tech thats actually good.If you want to mod it the two biggest improvements you can make are to a a 3/4 inch plywood or mdf board for a bottom plate to it. If you have the guts to take it apart adding dynamat or my favorite ductseal putty(Found at your local harware store in the electrical section)Under the main plate will do wonders. I did bottom and the top and the results were outstanding.Its now a little ugly though:)You can really improve these decks alot i think it would cost me some serious coin to improve upon my 160.You could also add a new arm too but i wouldent. I added a sme series III and found only a small improvement but it sure looks neat:)Make sure you check out the thorens depot i just followed its ideas and transformed my thorens.
 
I have a TD160S - and an SME IIIS - what cartridge are you using ?... and how does it compare to others you have tried (if any) with this combination?

Keen to know as I want to change/upgrade my cartridge soon (its a Stanton 881S) - money permitting. Also I get the impression reading pots that MC cartridges are a no-no with this combination - unless you can find one of the rare ones that suits the arm.

John
 
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I bought my TD160C new and still use it though since then I've picked up a TD125 with a MKII TP16 arm mounted on it. With the same cartridge each sounds different. Like many things, I found I liked each and finally gave up trying to make a decision which to keep. You can not go wrong, it is an AR table with most things corrected. The TP16, imho is an excellent arm.
 
Hi i struggled with a choice to mate well with my sme series III.As you know it comes in at a weight or 4.5 grams. Being so light It needs a high compliance cart.I looked at the denon dl 301?It would of fit the bill but i could find no reviews on it and its price was high. You being i europe might be a different story on the price though. I tried a old shure vr 15 mk III with it.It was made to mate with the sme. It sounded very nice except for its base.It didnt have enough for me.This was used with a ed saunders needle and the stock shure one too.I read up as much as i could and ended up trying a grado reference platnum.Suposidly by staying mm or mi you can take full advantage of the sme's fluid dampening.Anyway this is what i read.I got the grado thinking i would mate it to a tube receiver the Sherwood s7700 and a hagerman Coronet 2.I wanted a analoge sounding rig as possible the grado was just another spice i used to get me there.What ended up hapening is i use that tube receiver to make my cd player sound good and i use either a Mcintosh 1900 or a Bryston 2b lp Bottlehead foreplay2 combo with the turntable.The sound is frankly better than i hoped.Nothing is wrong with it I just hear music.It was the best bang for my buck purchase.The grado is a mediumhigh cart it is rated a 2ocu.I used the tools at the vinyl engine and it comes in on the high end of the recomended range.The wood body also looks neat it matches the wood to a t on my table.If you can run a low output cart there is the statement series which grado says sounds even better.They are the same price though.
 
totem said:
AFpay in your pic it looks like you have changed the leads and added a ground?
Click to expand...


This is the way the table was when I purchased it. I was not aware until your post that the TD 160 did not have a factory ground. Good Eye!

AF
 
terryfox3 said:
I added a sme series III and found only a small improvement
Click to expand...

Really? I'm suprised to hear this. When I did the mods to my 160 some years back then dropped the SME III arm on it I found it to be a great improvement. But I also set it up with the cart essentially made for that arm, Shure V15vXMR, and I run the right paddle in the right fluid. It tracks like a champ and sounds wonderful as compared to the OEM arm. Maybe the old arm had issues though, who knows...
 
I never really played with the paddles on it. I just picked the one that was mid way.I had a whole set i was lucky to get one in a box that was complete off ebay.With the shure v 15 III i found little improvement going from a tp 16 to the sme. With my grado i must be getting some larger benifit i think. It sounds way too good. Its got good reviews but not this good i think.Some of it must be the Sme. Its a down right beautiful arm and id rather have it over a series 2 improved any day.Someday light arms will come back into style.I do not use silicon fluid in it.I read you can go to a hobby store and get rc model shock absorber fluid.I use either 10w-30 motor oil or a personal lube called astro glide for the sme.It seems to work ok but someday ill find the right stuff its probably thicker.How did you figure out which paddle was the right one trial and error or is there a way to figure it out?
 
terryfox3 said:
How did you figure out which paddle was the right one trial and error or is there a way to figure it out?
Click to expand...

I'm trying to remember now but I thought it was related to what the manual said in respect to the compliance of my cart. Each paddle relates to a specific type of cart. I thought it was in the manual anyway. Seems some time back I also bought fluid from a vendor of the right viscosity also related to the compliance. I'm a firm believer in typically doing what the engineers of equipment intended one to do. This arm is made for a high compliance cart. Proper paddles should be used in proper fluid. When done correctly the arm reacts in an optimal manner as designed by people that know a hell of a lot more than me LOL

But you know...the SME III is the only arm that SME no longer supports. I like my set up and all but I dream of a high mass arm, low compliance, low output moving coil cart combination.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread AFpay, keep collecting them tables it's money in the bank! :thmbsp:
 
Ill have to check my manual.Mine is from a very early sme III so it might differ from yours.You don't need a high mass arm.You have a great one now!Denon makes a high compliance mc if thats what you want dl 301 i think.
 
QUOTE=WildWest;1379356]
Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread AFpay, keep collecting them tables it's money in the bank! :thmbsp:[/QUOTE]

No problem. I think that the discussion, no matter what starts it or where it leads, is what this place is all about. :music:
 
I would recomend to anyone who owns a td 160 to go to their local hardware store and get some ductseal.All you need is a couple of packets of it 3 or 4 bucks in total. Then open up the td 160 and start applying it inside Especialy on the upper metal parts.This will cut down vibration alot.Then i would unscrew the tone arm and add some under the plastic bottom of it.Your 160 will still look stock but will sound much better.If you really wanted to you could add a bit to the cover on the bottom too.I think a new cover would be a better choice though.3/4 mdf or plywood.You don't need to take it apart to do these things.Its benifits are clearly audible too.For 4 bucks you can't go wrong. Ductseal is a putty in your electrical section electricians use to seal up junction boxes.After your done get a small bubble level and set up the turntable platter so it level.I don't recomend doing under the platter of the turntable as the thorens depot does.On my table the extra weight caused my speed to go to 33.29 from 33.3 rpm.Also go to your local auto parts store and get a gasket 12 by 12 the kind they use to make timeing cover gaskets.Its made out of cork.Use this to make a turntable mat.Its much nicer than stock and helps with vibration.Do these small things and your thorens will sound much improved over stock.If you like to tweek stuff the td 160 is so much fun.
 
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