Houston... the Thorens has landed.

WildWest

Super Member
Hat's off to Dave (grumpy) for another superior packing job. So nice to get gear from another enthusiast. Everything packed as it should be, no way it could get hurt. They did manage to get one corner of the outer box to blow open but it meant nothing.

So to my shop work bench it goes for the big "tune up". Won't be able to touch it until this weekend but I have to get a new belt coming as you had mentioned that I might Dave. Did you ever play anything on this yourself? Did it sound right?

I don't expect to be spinning for a while yet as I have to apply a number of tweaks. All the cords on the thing simply must go. Old, seen better days etc. Yuppers there are some worthwhile things one can do to the 160 and I sure am gonna do what I can before I level this baby into place.

Have yet to scope the stylus but it sure looks clean under the magnifying glass. Be curious to hear this Shure that you love. Thanks again and I will post more here when I fire it up!



:yippy: :yippy: :yippy:
 
That's great, keep us posted. Thorens was on my short list awhile back. My concern was not quality, but parts availability. First I hear they're gone, then I hear they're not. I wanted something for "from now on", so I chose a Technics Sl1200 3-sp. I've heard Thorens can be a tweaker's dream. That really apealed to me. :cool: You probably already know about this, but I'll put it out anyway.
http://www.theanalogdept.com/
Lots of cool Thorens and tweaks. Enjoy it :D
Brad
 
Awlright!:yippy:

that's great news Dave. I'll keep one eye out for a dustcover and will holler if there's one. Let us know how you go and have loadsa fun.

Jack (Makes a note to try and buy something from Grumpy;) )
 
ARRGGGG I can't stand it any longer!!

As I just posted that Jack, I couldn't take it any more. I had to hear that Thorens make sound. Even with the worn belt I knew it would eventually get up to speed. So I said, screw work this morning. I have more important things to do LOL (gotta luv being in business for oneself eh?)

The Shure cartridge that Dave sent in no way would bolt onto the headshell with the screws there. I have bunches of lil cartridge and headshell parts but no shorter screws of that thread. Soooo out comes the drummel tool and I go to work on grinding excess plastic off the Shure to get the screws to work. What a pain! But I got it and it is secure. Put it all together. Set the tracking force and tossed on Meet the Beatles. All I can say is (through tears) this is soooo wonderful (sniff sniff) I am thrilled to death as I was a bit worried that the speed might be a little off. Well it isn't and with a new belt why, this baby will be just fine. :grnbounce
 
Hey WW,

Worn belt never stopped me before so I'm not surprised!:D Just means you can't play 45's!

On the matter of tweaks, have you checked out the magazine scans which I contributed to the Analog Dept? There's one good one called tuning tips. Here's the link.
http://www.theanalogdept.com/hfa.htm

If you have any problems reading or printing email me with your snail mail and I'll pop some copies in the mail.

I'm still messing around with my thorens. Platter or cleaned and polished last night. Some bad oxidation problems which I hope you don't have.

No replacement motor yet for the Yammie. A couple showed up on ebay but both owners were sure that the motors were single voltage. Possible that may well extend to all units sold in the US/Can. Who knows when or where I'm going to find one now?:( g

Suspension on the thorens is tricky. let me know when you get to that. I've had one go but not entirely happy but will try again soon now I have another spirit level.


Jack
 
Hey kewl, had not seen those magazine scans. I am sure they will print out thanks!

Yeah I may pick your brain with respect to the suspension on it. After knowing that it spun ok I took the opportunity to tear into it tonight some. Pulled out the tonearm and degunked it. Some of the plastic looks rough there but maybe I can find something to even it out. Found 4 sq feet of Dynamat for 22.00 on line. I want to get some of that coming I think. This clearly is a project that will take me some time to get done. Hectic work schedule and all...

But you know, that Thorens is a breeze to work on. Simple bolt on, bolt off. All the tweaks applied should make for one strong performer. I am excited to finally get my vinyl spinning on such a machine.

What do you think of the leather/stiff felt mat? Do you have a record clamp? If you did the leather mat, did you have to raise your overall tonearm hieght? I have not dug into that yet. How is that done? Seemed the table came with this lil allen wrench taped to it. Only thing I could see it fit were two set screws at the base of the tonearm. But even there it didn't fit fer chit.

Thanks now! :)
 
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Hey WW,

If it is the original Thorens mat with the raised inner and outer edges then I think it's a good idea to use another one as it doesn't provide much support for the record. The original is rubber though so where did the leather/stiff felt one come from?

I'm guessing it's thicker and that is why you are asking about arm height. Don't know much about the thorens arm and I had a look at the manual for the TD160MkII and no mention of arm height adjustment.:( I'd say have a go at those two screws you mentioned. Loosen slightly and see if it allows you to slide the arm pillar up and down. If other bits start falling off then you know the screws have nothing to do with arm height!;)

another option, which i am not sure is possible on your arm, but since you have it dismantled, put a shim or spacer somewhere on the arm base.

Sorry not much help on this bit, I know. Maybe if you email Steve at the analog dept? He's a nice guy and very helpful.

My TD160S came with a AT1100 arm which is of course no help to your question.:( And I'm using the original mat which is rubber too but different to the MkI in that it doesn't have those dodgy raised edges. Haven't compared it yet to anything else.

I don't use a clamp and never have really. But been giving it some thought now that some of my old records are not as flat as they used to be.:) Have to be careful about picking the right one of course with the thorens have the short spindle. IRC the Michell clamp might work...

Keep us posted!

Jack
 
Well Damm! :dammit: All this time and I thought a Thorens was a hot swedish bikini model! :(

THOR :withstpd:
 
:D Thor, I wish!

WW, see where you got that from but I'm none the wiser what it is. Steve mentioned that he followed the Chadwick mods which included the Chadwick corktone mat but it does not say that the mat in the photo is in fact the Chadwick. It doesn't look like cork to me.
In fact, the mat on my Luxman looks just like that except it only has a small hole in the middle and it is made of rubber with a felt-like coating. Very effective at damping the platter. Maybe that's what he used. Could also be the old Dumpa mat from the early 80's...or maybe the Chadwick was cork coated with something.

Jack
 
Well just a lil update for anyone that may give a rat's a s s. I have the new bottom plate almost done. 5/8 high grade pine plywood. I cut the power cord slot in it but not the RCA out as I installed the RCA's in the back on a lil wood plate. (Just like in da pictures ha ha) Cut a rather large hole under the tonearm area to allow any trapped frequencies to escape. Instead of like the web site though. I got out my router and cut the edges so the bottom plate would have the finished look flushed up with the origninal Thorens wood box side. It made for a killer joint (ya luv it when your router job hits right on ya know?) and a bit of a different look maybe than everybody else's. Got some big ole 1" round black rubber stoppers for the feet. Drilled them out and they slipped right on through the bottom plate to the original feet mounting holes. I went ahead and did it in a high gloss black so as to match much of my main system. Am no good at matching stains so I didn't want to try to stain it. Anyway I am now into a couple coats of high gloss varnish. Should make it clean up and stay nice.

Going to start into the dampening soon after I get some talc power. With my 3/8 steel TT foundation stand waiting, I am excited to be getting this Thorens closer and closer to musical bliss!! ohhh baby ohhh baby ohhh baby! :boink:
 
Way to go WW! That Thorens is just fine for tweaking although I wouldn't know which end of the router is which!:) And with the black finish it should start to look like the MkII or Super. I recently cleaned the platter and polished it with Brasso which I can say works very well. Keep going and keep posting!:)

Jack
 
Saaayyyy great idea. Another thing I can do as I wait for the varnish to dry. I got out the Brasso and started to polish the edge of the platter that is exposed to sight. hmmm it sure wasn't rubbing out the stains very well for me. I was bumming. Well, I took it over to the sink and hit it with some wet/dry 1000 paper and WOW that really evened it out. Theeeeennn I got on it with the Brasso and POP POP POP, that's the ticket! Even bright polished surface. Great idea thanks!

I have got the tone arm all apart and I am gonna pull an old trick out of the hat from my car model building days. Get out my fine brushes and model paint, do some detail work on the plastic of the tonearm. Should give it some serious eyeball and character.
Hmmmm maybe some racing strips and flames! :D har har...
 
Sorry, guess I should have mentioned that I cleaned mine with powdered stainless steel pot cleaner first!:( Good to hear that you got the job done anyway and I might try the wet and dry next time. :) I've kept some of my model building tools too! The air brush is handy for blowing dust of circuit boards and the x acto knife is good for stripping delicate wires.:)

Will have another go at the Thorens suspension this week...

Jack
 
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