Thorens TD-165 Motor & Loud Hum/Buzzing

[avantbored]

Hi all,

The Thorens enthusiasts here helped me diagnose earlier problems with my TD-165's speed clutch and platter adjustment. I thank the community for that.

Am writing about a new issue that's arisen with my TT. I think I am the third owner of this table, which is largely stock, except for some minor upgrades on my part (a new belt, new feet from VinylNirvana, and a new ATVM95SH cart/stylus). Internals, interconnects, tonearm, and platters are all stock. But now, an intermittent problem that I fear will become persistent has arisen.

I've noticed that, when the motor is switched on, a loud buzzing overtakes the signal; just now, the music quieted and was quickly replaced with the buzzing. Switching the motor off and then on removes the buzzing. It doesn't happen every time I engage the motor, but its frequency has increased in the last week or so.

I did a quick Google & AK forum search for a similar issue, and couldn't find it, though it may be documented somewhere. So:

Can anyone please point me to a relevant thread/guide here, or elsewhere, to help me address this?

Can anyone offer some guidance of how to diagnose and/or fix this problem?

I am based in LA, and plan to take this to a shop to either replace the stock RCA plugs (I have the replacements from VinylNirvana) or replace the interconnects altogether eventually, so if you are also based in LA/the greater southern California region and know someone great, I would also appreciate a recommendation.

Thanks, all!

 

[milanomike]

On my TD 145 the stock RCA plugs were an issue. They caused a big hum for some reason. Not sure why, I changed them out and problem was gone, this was some years back now. Might also make sure the ground wire did not come off.

 

[VintageVibe]

To me buzzing is a shielding issue. What is the distance of the turntable to any other electrical components in the room and did the buzzing start after you moved anything around? If the tt is sitting on your amp or next to a cable box, network streamer or other active component, one of them might be generating an electrical field that the cartridge is picking up. Try moving the tt away if you can. Have you ever cleaned the RCA plugs or the inputs on your amp with DeoxIT., etc? Have you ever replaced the headshell wires or cleaned them with DeoxIT?

As the third owner it is possible that someone before you played around under the hood. I would check underneath against pictures you can here https://www.theanalogdept.com/

Lastly before you swap out the phono cables, just be aware that the right channel RCA wire is also the ground wire.

 

[avantbored]

To me buzzing is a shielding issue. What is the distance of the turntable to any other electrical components in the room and did the buzzing start after you moved anything around? If the tt is sitting on your amp or next to a cable box, network streamer or other active component, one of them might be generating an electrical field that the cartridge is picking up. Try moving the tt away if you can. Have you ever cleaned the RCA plugs or the inputs on your amp with DeoxIT., etc? Have you ever replaced the headshell wires or cleaned them with DeoxIT?

As the third owner it is possible that someone before you played around under the hood. I would check underneath against pictures you can here https://www.theanalogdept.com/

Lastly before you swap out the phono cables, just be aware that the right channel RCA wire is also the ground wire.

Hey VintageVibe,

Thanks for the context and suggestions. My components are placed together closely, but not stacked (Goes something like Left Speaker -> [Audioengine bluetooth streamer] & TT -> Amp -> Preamp -> Right speaker). I haven't had this issue before, but I did just re-adjust the suspension, so that may have been the cause; I will check the photos against The Analog Dept's sources.

I've wiped the plugs with some rubbing alcohol, but I hadn't even thought to use DeoxIT. Duh. I'll try that too; there's some idle humming that was coming from the unit already, but I'd read this was expected, so I didn't think anything of it.

Headshell wires were recently replaced from LP Gear, and the terminals on the cartridge are clean and new.

Thanks for the heads up about the right channel RCA!

 

[VintageVibe]

I would pull that streamer offline and see what happens when you use the tt. If that doesn't work, try swapping out the amp if you can. I could understand hum being an issue, but buzzing makes me think it somewhere else in your chain.