Thorens Department...

I ran a search of the site and didn't turn this up anywhere. So, although this is probably old hat, here's a Thorens site my dealer pointed me to:

http://www.theanalogdept.com/thorens_dept_.htm

 

Hi Corky

Yes that's a useful site - I bought an old TD160 to play with a couple of years ago and found it a good source for general set up info, tweaks, etc., and to see what strange things some Thorens owners have done to their decks! With some damping/plinth mods (and a DC motor) I've ended up with a sound I'm very happy with for relatively little outlay.

 

Hi Hamilton
Mine's a 147 Jubilee bought new in, I think, 1985. Apart from adding an after market mat in the first 18-months (Dumper I think - heavy soft rubber) and having the RB300 added about seven or eight years ago, it's untouched.

Tell me about your experience with the dc motor. The reason my dealer pointed me at this site was that I asked him about the Origin Live dc kit and he pretty much said save your money as the motor on those old Thorens are Swiss (as are the OL motors) and pretty good already.

He felt I'd get more from sorting the resonance in my plinth. What have you done?

He also said that unless I spent £2k, I wouldn't likely get a noticeable improvement on this deck, which I felt was reassuring

 

Never got a chance to directly compare the O/L motor with the original as mine needed replacing anyway - the spindle was slightly out of true and I didn't fancy my chances of straightening it out accurately. Went for a dc on engineering grounds really - there's always a degree of 'cogging' with ac motors because of the way they work, but I can't really comment on the effect on sound. Opinion seems to vary among Thorens owners about the benefits.

As for damping:
Silicone damping to the rims of platters.
That sticky bitumen sheet stuff (from car audio shops) to underside of top plate and side panels of plinth.
New half inch ply base plate for plinth with circular holes cut in to avoid resonances.
New dress panel for top plate - I replaced the flimsy aluminium sheet with a piece of brushed stainless steel.
Made a 'spotmat' using cork tile and felt spots
Went through the spring set up routine as detailed on the Thorens Dept web pages.

I've also added a Rega arm and Goldring cart - in my case RB200 withj O/L counterweight and 1022. Planning to think about a 1042 stylus or even a different cart at some point.

I'm inclined to agree with your dealer about how much you'd need to spend to get a noticeable improvement, certainly on the basis of what I've heard.

 

All hail to Dynamat, king of damping, I'd dynamat my TV if I had one.

http://www.incarexpress.co.uk/view_product.php?partno=DYN10125

 

Thanks guys. Have you applied the Dynamat in single or multiple layers?

 

What Thorens have you got Corky?

I'm sur eyou've documented it soemwhere....!

(Ive got an old 160td super here)






D.

 

One layer in my case - it looked like it might start getting in the way and fouling other things if I added more, and it seemed to make an appreciable difference.

 

Well that's what they call a no brainer then, I guess - so I'll do that

Thanks

 

Mine's a 147 Jubilee David. As far as I can tell, the 147 is the same as the 160 but for the added automatic lift and stop at the end of a side. That's long since been removed from my tt along with the arm and arm-lowering knob on the front right hand side. I half remember saying that I'd come back to that and do some more tweaking, put blanks over the hole where the arm lift was, etc. but, as with most things I do...


I never did get A Round Tuit

 

mine could certainly use an auto lift

the present set up isn't exacty user friendly

the whole thing is a project for the future, though one of many

a wall shelf would be nice