@timmy.timmy
Wow!!!
Where do I begin?
Perhaps it's best just to start by first pointing out that - while it was an officially endorsed alternative for the 125 - defeating the suspension was never ever officially recommended for the lighter suspended Thorens models such as the 150 and your own 160 (not as far as I'm aware).
As I understand it, it's not a "universal" option suitable to all suspended TTs. For instance, it never once occurred to me to do this with my former Linn or TD-145, as I'd never heard of this being a viable option for these (or even an Oracle, Gyro-Dec, or SME, for that matter). And this is why I'd emphasized certain words - such as; ...suspended
TTs which are conducive to this option - in italics, in my previous post.
You also mentioned, "On my Thorens to eliminate the suspension proved to be just "bad" sounding in comparison. Lost my beloved typical "airy" sound of my TD160 and the depth achieved through the higher frequencies..." And you'll also see where I'd raised a similar concern regarding detail-resolution, et-al, in a previous post. So I too have taken this into consideration - and neither would I be willing to sacrifice even one iota of the 125's outstanding abilities in these regards (especially at low-mids). But the legendary quality of the rubber-mounted EMT-928 version suggests that this might not be a problem, as it's hardly likely that EMT would employ a strategy which would compromise the quality in any way detrimental in their quest to offer a line of various TTs which are still regarded as some of the best-sounding TTs ever made.
Incidentally, the tendency to under-rate TTs utilized in discos is a bit misguided, IMO, because some very good TTs have been put to such use. The Lenco 75 was once a serious contender in that regard - and today modded versions are heralded as Class A. The SL1200 Techie has been modded mainly with better arms and the like by the likes of Funk-Firm, Time-Step, and Inspire to be rated among the better TTs available on this particular planet. In fact, I once encountered a thread where a poster claimed that his girlfriend was an accomplished DJ who'd bought his SME V to pair with another on her own SL1200s (if I understand his posts correctly).
The rubber-mounted TD-125 was also regarded as the ultimate for discos which put a premium on ultimate sound-quality, and one of the most famous DJs (Mancuso, I believe) used a pair of these with the highly-rated Black-Widow arms and top-of-the-line Shures in a system deliberately featuring Klipschorns - all in the interest of high-quality sound. Most audiophile high-end home systems today still do not achieve that level of quality. (Others had done similar - including little-me, in my day - and I think at least one from the current generation has adopted the 125 and continues to use it to this day). Moreover, the rubber-mounted EMT 928 versions of the 125 were really developed for broadcast use (not disco) and only turned out to be their least 'common' model because of the fact that belt-drive is inherently unable to achieve the quick start-up required for wide-spread acceptance in the broadcast field (causing it to be used in specialized areas - such as in the broadcast of Jazz, if I'm not mistaken - outside of the general broadcast field where all other DD and ID models from EMT dominated).
I'm not suggesting for a minute that defeating the suspension is the best thing for all Thorens users - never even hinted at any such thing. I'd simply mentioned that it's an option I'm considering for my own 125 unit. If you misunderstood that then I'm sorry if I was not as clear as I could have been.
Nevertheless, it's great to see you're as passionate about your 160 as some of us others are with the units we have.
Continue to enjoy the music.
Cheers.
PS
It was the famous Larry Levan of the infamous Paradise-Garage Disco that made the Thorens-125/Black-Widow famous. (David Mancuso used 125s too, at some stage, but he'd started out with A-Rs in "The Loft" and included Technics SP-10s with Koetsus, at one stage).The Thorens-125/Black-Widow combo was a feature of all the clubs designed by the highly-rated Richard Long, including the Garage, Zanzibar, and Studio 54 - the greatest disco of them all. At least one of these clubs also utilized a version of the Jensen Imperial speaker-system (rated by some as superior and more 'bassy' than even the Klipschorn) and these were sub-woofed.
Personally, I was never really into the disco life-style, but I was always drawn to the music and to some of the best gear they used.
For those with similar views, these links might be interesting:
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/thorens-125-dj-favourite.493257/
https://audiosex.pro/threads/solved...-used-at-studio-54-and-paradise-garage.38848/
The point here is that - while some are truly awful - the best disco systems were and are better than what most of us dream of using at home, so it's ridiculous to under-rate or disparage them, in gerneral terms, as many of us do. Some of those involved in disco are more passionate about sound-quality than many audiophiles can even claim to be.
Here's a quote from "The Loft's" David Mancuso;
"
Getting into high end audio I realized how much nuance there was in the record
and also that the record should stand on its own. I don't want to interfere with what
the artist intended or the integrity of the recording cause that's the artist's message
so I play the record from the beginning to the very end. Occasionally, if I had one of
those DJ friendly records where it starts off going boom-boom-boom for thirty
seconds or more I would time it to begin a little later... In order to get Class-A sound,
you had to get rid of the mixer. So what happens is you find a way to keep the flow
going so there's no space unless you intended it to be that way."
