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Taking my old Thorens to the US

DesertTwang

DesertTwang

Active Member
While visiting family in Germany, I found the TT I grew up with, a Thorens TD280 MkII. I know it’s not a spectacular table, but it has sentimental value to me and is in great shape. I already have a Pioneer PL-540, which I love, and I have no intention to replace that one, but I would like to bring the Thorens home with me as a second table.

Does anyone have tips of the best place to get a replacement stylus and a replacement belt?

I could take advantage of the fact that I’ll be in Germany for another week and a half, and order parts while I’m here, if Thorens parts are easier/cheaper to come by in Germany vs the US.

I’m also interested in upgrading the stock cartridge, an OVB-10, if that would make sense at all, but I don’t know the options. It’s a 1/4 inch mount, so this table could possibly accommodate a variety of carts, but I don’t know.

I have an AT 3600 lying around that I could use, but I have no idea how that compares to the OVB 10.

If anyone has tips, I’d love to hear them. Thanks!
 
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My only advice is to pack it like it's worth a million dollars. The airlines are not going to be gentle. It will be tossed through the air and dropped at least once.
 
You will of course need a new AC adaptor for use in the US, I think it is 16 or 17VDC. The 16V AC synchronous motor is run by a 2-phase generator board on the bottom of plinth, so just the AC to DC convertor to power it is needed.
 
The Slider said:
You will of course need a new AC adaptor for use in the US, I think it is 16 or 17VDC. The 16V AC synchronous motor is run by a 2-phase generator board on the bottom of plinth, so just the AC to DC convertor to power it is needed.
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Yes, I have a transformer, which I’ve been using to power my German CD player. It might be less of a hassle to replace the power adapter with a US model, so your information is very helpful. Are you saying I need a DC output power adapter, or an AC output power adapter?
 
DesertTwang said:
Yes, I have a transformer, which I’ve been using to power my German CD player. It might be less of a hassle to replace the power adapter with a US model, so your information is very helpful. Are you saying I need a DC output power adapter, or an AC output power adapter?
Click to expand...
Oh sorry, I said 16 VDC above, should be 16 VAC, it's just a transformer. They say 16-19 VAC in the manual.
 
Does the motor run direct on line frequency or is that handled internally? The older Thorens machines run line frequency so going from 50 to 60hz needs a different pulley. If this one generates it internally that should be no issue.
 
gadget73 said:
Does the motor run direct on line frequency or is that handled internally? The older Thorens machines run line frequency so going from 50 to 60hz needs a different pulley. If this one generates it internally that should be no issue.
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It has an internal board to convert the AC to DC and generate the 2-phase motor drive for both 33.3 and 45 RPM, so same motor pulley on all of them.
 
The Slider said:
It has an internal board to convert the AC to DC and generate the 2-phase motor drive for both 33.3 and 45 RPM, so same motor pulley on all of them.
Click to expand...
So, just to confirm: will the TT work as long as I plug it into my transformer to give it the 220 Volts it needs?

If further modifications are required, I’d rather not take it at all. I don’t want to go to all the trouble only to create another project for which I already know I won’t have time…. ;-)
 
DesertTwang said:
So, just to confirm: will the TT work as long as I plug it into my transformer to give it the 220 Volts it needs?

If further modifications are required, I’d rather not take it at all. I don’t want to go to all the trouble only to create another project for which I already know I won’t have time…. ;-)
Click to expand...
Yes, it should work fine with the turntable transformer plugged into a 120->240 step up transformer.
 
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