To buy or not to buy Thorens TD 160

[bimasta]

Perhaps it was a bad mismatch between arm and cartridge.

That wasn't the problem, Shelly. As I noted...

Maybe that floor was freakishly bouncy — but an unsprung Denon 1200 worked perfectly in exactly the same place.

The 160 bounced. The TD-125 bounced. A Linn LP12 bounced. But the solid-plinth Denon did not, and we couldn't even HEAR the footsteps. We stomped as hard as we could, we jumped up and down (and my friend weighed 260 lbs) trying to make the Denon bounce, and it wouldn't. We couldn't even HEAR the Thumps through the speakers.

But with three good suspended TTs, the cartridges bounced across the vinyl even when we tiptoed. (Granted, I didn't use the same cartridge with each, so your hypothesis wasn't tested.)

I haven't used a suspended TT since — but that change coincided with the purchase of my first good Direct Drive TT,* and had nothing to do the trampoline floor. That floor was at a friend's house; my own floor never had that problem with sprung TTs. The TD-125 and LP12 mentioned above were mine, and I'd also used two Oracles, a Delphi and Alexandria, both suspended, with no bouncing.

* Roy Gandy, who started and ran Rega, said the only purpose of springs in a suspension is to isolate motor noise — all the stuff about isolating external environmental noise is rubbish. Of course Gandy made a fortune selling non-suspended TTs, so his objectivity is questionable.

 

[Meandean]

The Thorens came with a Stanton 681 EEE. Did a quick set up on the dining room table floor is sturdy. A buddy of mine has been asking me if I want to buy his TD 125 with the SME Tonearm he’s asking way too much in my opinion.

 

[Ohighway]

I bought a Td-160c brand new in 1973. I still have and use it. They seem to hold their value and then some.