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Thorens TD 160 won't bounce

edwinh

edwinh

Active Member
I've just replaced the springs on my TD 160 and I cannot get a bounce. I've tried all kinds of combinations of tightening and loosening the springs as well as twisting them. The springs seem to be a bit heavier than the originals. I might put the rusty originals back in there and see what happens.

I've also noticed that the tonearm mounting plate is all the way to the back and has very little up and down play, regardless of the tension of the nearest spring.

Without the belt, the platter spins forever and when turned on, with the belt, it runs silently and shifts smoothly, so that's good.

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Tuning my 160 and 145's suspension is always a bit of a headache. But eventually it sorts itself out. Sorry I don't have any useful info to add.
 
Sounds like your springs may be to heavy for the floating suspension. Clean the old springs with wd40 and put them back on. A stiffer spring will not help the isolating properties they are supposed to serve.
 
what springs did you install? Stiffer than stock wants more mass in order to bounce the same.

also you do have the platter and all that fully installed right? It won't work right otherwise.
 
The springs I sell are reverse engineered from originals, however, given the age and history of these tables, the platters sometimes get swapped around and people don't realize they can differ by several ounces. If you indeed bought my Vinyl Nirvana springs, my guess is you have one of the lighter platters. I would remove the second metal washer and the one plastic washer from each spring assembly, and see what that gets you. If it is still pressed to the top, then I may have inadvertently sent the wrong springs (I also sell for 125s and for ARs, and both are stiffer.) If that's the case, contact me at the website and I'll get them swapped asap. Dave
 
gadget73 said:
what springs did you install? Stiffer than stock wants more mass in order to bounce the same.

also you do have the platter and all that fully installed right? It won't work right otherwise.
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I ordered them from Dave and he's sending another set (Excellent customer service. I also ordered a new belt and the post that protects the motor shaft. Might as well do everything right!). That should clear it up. Everything else is installed as intended.

I also found a used plinth in excellent condition locally as mine is delaminating and looks like it sat in a pond for a while.
 
Sansushi said:
Dave is excellent to deal with. I love my vinyl nirvana td 160
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Oh man, I bet it's awesome! I cannot afford such a treat, so my stereo is largely scrounged, although it's Thorens/McIntosh (80s)/Vandersteen with a Grace Design DAC. Not shabby, although most of it sounds a lot better than it looks.
 
I never did like TTs that bounce, If they did I would stiffen them up so they didn’t. I actually don’t think the bounce helps make the record play or sound any better. And I’m sure I’m going to get beat up for making that statement.
 
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edwinh said:
Oh man, I bet it's awesome! I cannot afford such a treat, so my stereo is largely scrounged, although it's Thorens/McIntosh (80s)/Vandersteen with a Grace Design DAC. Not shabby, although most of it sounds a lot better than it looks.
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Nothing sounds better thank scrounged components you got working!
 
audiocrzy said:
I never did like TTs that bounce, If they did I would stiffen them up so they didn’t. I actually don’t think the bounce helps make the record play or sound any better. And I’m sure I’m going to get beat up for making that statement.
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supposed to be for isolation of the record from the world around it. When they massively suck is paired with floors that bounce at a similar frequency. Walk across the room and the arm tries to fly across the record. There are ways around all of this but there was a pretty long period I didn't use my TD-160 simply because I couldn't. I ran a Garrard record changer with the transit screws cranked down because it also had the same bounce problems. Works brilliantly in a different room that has concrete under the carpet though. If this floor bounces I've got much bigger concerns than the turntable.
 
gadget73 said:
supposed to be for isolation of the record from the world around it. When they massively suck is paired with floors that bounce at a similar frequency. Walk across the room and the arm tries to fly across the record. There are ways around all of this but there was a pretty long period I didn't use my TD-160 simply because I couldn't. I ran a Garrard record changer with the transit screws cranked down because it also had the same bounce problems. Works brilliantly in a different room that has concrete under the carpet though. If this floor bounces I've got much bigger concerns than the turntable.
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The best place I ever installed a turntable was on top of a cabinet that held 1000+ records. No bounce.
 
Thats the other end of the spectrum. Either you use suspension to de-couple it from the environment, or you use a bunch of mass that won't move because of that Newton guy and his laws.

Personally I'm not married to one idea or the other, I just happened to get a good deal on a Thorens and its my best table at the moment. Its entirely possible that will change at some point in the future. So long as it sounds good I don't honestly care how it gets done.
 
My house has suspended wooden floors over a crawl space and a wall shelf mounted to studs was required. Easy and inexpensive if you don't mind going that route.
gadget73 said:
supposed to be for isolation of the record from the world around it. When they massively suck is paired with floors that bounce at a similar frequency. Walk across the room and the arm tries to fly across the record. There are ways around all of this but there was a pretty long period I didn't use my TD-160 simply because I couldn't. I ran a Garrard record changer with the transit screws cranked down because it also had the same bounce problems. Works brilliantly in a different room that has concrete under the carpet though. If this floor bounces I've got much bigger concerns than the turntable.
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I bought a wall shelf with that in mind. Its still sitting in the box it shipped in at least 5 years ago. The house is all block, no studs on the exterior wall where I'd have needed it to go. On further consideration I decided I really didn't want to drill through an inch of plaster and try to set anchors into crumbly 1950s cinderblock. Put my efforts into turning what was just an empty storage area into a space where I can listen to music without bothering anyone else.
 
I have a TD-160 and a VPI Traveler V1.
My house has suspended wood floors over a crawlspace. I've placed both of these 'tables on a mid-century modern buffet cabinet.

The Thorens skips like crazy on footfalls, the VPI doesn't.

But -

Presently, my 'table of choice is a Garrard 301 in a heavy Acoustand Solid Plinth 2 sitting on Isoacoustics Orea Indigo footers. This doesn't bounce, skip, or do anything like that :)
 
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