Ok,I've finally got this all finished up and dialed in
While I did not find the assembly or setting up particularly difficult,for someone who doesn't have a lifetime of experience with Thorens TD-125's,and is not a gearhead by nature,by trade, or by inclination, that might not be the case! Lot's of little steps and finesse required,and the ''meh,close enough'' attitude will not work here.This is clearly a precision instrument,and needs to be treated as such.What little information is available is sparse and seems to assume (note that the word ''ass'' is part of that word) that you are already familiar with the unit.
That said,I have to admit,assembling and then getting the levelling and bounce optimized is a LOT easier with the Gyro than with a Thorens.Mounting the tonearm was an absolute cinch; I was falling in love by this point....and damn,this thing is really well made.
All was not perfect though,and I have learned that to expect otherwise is an exercise in futility and disappointment. By nature,I'm one of those guys that checks and inspects everything without exception. A time consuming pain in the butt that always pays off,so I carry on.....
The most notable discrepancy was a distinct ''thunk/clunk'' while I was handling the aluminum deck.This manifested itself as I turned the deck over to look at the underside to inspect the sellers application of Densodamp,and ended up with me holding it vertically in front of my face and shaking it vigorously.Must have looked ridiculous,but it worked. The deck has six standoffs cast into it,three for each cast iron counterweight.The weights have counterbores that these standoffs socket into,through which screws pass in order to hold everything together.Well,it seems that all of the screws were too long,and were bottoming out in the standoffs before clamping down on the counterweights,thus the clunking as the weights were able to float around. A quick shortening of the screws (bout --80 thou) put everything right.
The next issue was my cables for the tonearm. Seems that unless you use connectors with very short barrels,there is not enough clearance to insert them. This comes about due to the armplate and it's isolators bringing the side-mount RCA's on my SME III almost directly inline with the edge of the deck.Arrgh!! Simple solution though (albeit temporary and tacky) ; I just unscrewed the barrels and slid them out of the way.Now to find some shorter plugs.
Next was the bearing oil change. No issues here,other than my wallet protesing the purchase of an entire quart of 0W40 synthetic for the capful I needed.I'll keep a couple of ounces for future changes and stuff the rest in the lawnmower.
On Thursday I contacted Artech Electronics,Montreal's Michell distributor, and ordered a new belt. Wow,that's gotta be the most expensive rubber band in frickin' history!!
Although the one on the unit is allegedly quite new,in for a penny and all that.
I received the original power supply with the unit, but also purchased the sellers HR PSU,as this unit receives wide and almost universal acclaim.Both are in great shape and function correctly. I will likely reverse-engineer the HR and sell it off as soon as I build a duplicate. And yes,I can actually hear an improvement with the HR.Weird...
Ok,I've prattled on for long enough.This was about fun tunes, not serious listening.That will come later.Chuck holding his horn is how I felt listening to this table for the first time,so here goes,here's the pics!!
Cheers,
Art
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