Thorens TD-160 vs Project Carbon Debut?

Taketheflame

Super Member
Hey all,

So - I recently picked up a 2nd turntable for my collection (a Pioneer PL-550 - nice table!), but this hobby is damn addictive, and a potential 3rd table/upgrade has caught my eye, lol.

My other table a Project Carbon Debut - To me, it's a nice sounding turntable, and I've always liked the aesthetic of it, but I've never been a fan of having to lift the platter to switch the speed from 33.3 to 45 RPM (The Speedbox accessory is discontinued and hard to find now), and I think I'm more interested in exploring other tables than hunting down a speedbox/spending money on upgrades for the Carbon.

I spotted an ad for a Thorens TD-160 in great shape, w/a low hours cartridge/stylus (overall, it looks/sounds "plug and play", but am going to e-mail to ask for more info) - I'm thinking of going to check it out, as I've been curious about the Thorens tables for awhile now - how much of an upgrade over the Project is a stock TD-160, if it is an upgrade at all?

Thanks!
 
The TD-160 is a big step up from your Carbon. Now, keep in mind the Thorens is more finicky on set up. Also, if you don't have solid floors, the platter can be bouncy. But once set up in the right place, it is a great table.
 
The TD-160 is a big step up from your Carbon. Now, keep in mind the Thorens is more finicky on set up. Also, if you don't have solid floors, the platter can be bouncy. But once set up in the right place, it is a great table.

+1
But heed the caution about skips due to footfalls. I have a TD-160 and didn't listen to the advice before buying it. I followed all of the setup steps found in the Thorens section of the analogdept, but found that it took mounting it on a wall shelf to cure the skipping. Bad news if you don't have the space for a wall shelf:oops:
 
The TD-160 is a big step up from your Carbon. Now, keep in mind the Thorens is more finicky on set up. Also, if you don't have solid floors, the platter can be bouncy. But once set up in the right place, it is a great table.
How would it fare on a level shelf of a heavy (around 250-300 lbs) cabinet?

It's certainly not something I would leave on the floor, or even stacked on other gear. Also, no pets or stomping kids here that might make it skip, lol.
 
Success! Here she is folks:

20190215_202140.jpg

Anybody wanna buy/barter for a Debut? :p

Hate to say it since I bought it only a month or so earlier, but this is definitely even better than my Pioneer PL-550, which itself is quite a step up from the Debut IMO (Still keeping it though!). Sweet, "airy", and musical sound from this thing. And that's from it in completely stock form...well, it does have the Shure V15 III in it, which I'm told is a well regarded cart. Did they come stock in these?

I was checking out some of the ways people mod these tables visually after they upgrade things like the tonearm/cart and such (with real wood plinths and custom dustcovers), and had some ideas from that, but as you can see, this one is quite clean - so I'm debating even doing anything visually with it (maybe that just means another Thorens table down the road might have to happen, LOL). I do love knowing that these tables seem to have TONS of aftermarket support/parts available.

All in all, very happy to have picked this one up! :thumbsup:
 
Looks great! I'm a big Thorens fan here (TD-125MkII and 147). The first thing I would do on yours is to check and see if the spindle well has oil in it.

It's easy to do. Remove the platter mat. Carefully lift the outer platter off. Remove the belt. Carefully pull the inner platter and spindle straight up. You should see at least a little oil on the spindle. If not, you will need to add some to the well. I use 5w-20 Mobil One. Other choices include turbine oil, sewing machine oil, etc. Do not use the regular 3 in 1 oil. There are threads here at AK touting various oils.

I've tried several cartridges on my 125MKII. It has the same tonearm as your 160. That is a fairly massive tonearm (16.5 grams). The Audio Technica AT-7V works well, as does the Denon DL-110. I personally like to use the low output moving coil Denon DL-103. Some think the DL-103 needs a more massive tonearm but I love the way the 103 sounds on my 125MKII.

When I bought my 125MkII it came with a Shure M97xE installed which sounded okay. I was told to use it with the brush in the down position so that's what I did. I've never used a V15 so can't help there. A buddy of mine uses a Nagaoka MP-110 on his TD-160 and it sounds nice.

Congrats on your purchase. There's a reason why Thorens sold a ton of the 160s.
 
Those two should never appear in the same sentence. The 160 is not an 'upgrade' it's a whole different universe of how to get it right. Grab it! Thin the herd if you have to, but grab it.
Unfortunately the arm is inferior to the debut carbon. And if you upgrade it with a ceramic platter and better cables it's a no-brainer.
 
Nah, I’ve had both tables for extended periods, and the Thorens is still better, arm and all, in every way. If it’s properly set up and has a cartridge that matches well, its arm blows away the debut arm. But the Thorens arm won’t play nice with all cartridges, and it can be finicky to set up. You can put an RB300 on any table and say it has a better arm than the Thorens, but the debut arm is not on that level even if it’s trying. To each his own I guess.
 
don't get me wrong I love the thorens table.I put a bid on two of them today. But I can't help but think that stock tp16 is more limiting than the carbon. I have Cardis cables and a 2m blue. I have no problems with footfalls and have a black background.
 
Carbon is way more limiting. And the TP16 is just fine for an arm, and you can upgrade a TD 160 arm wise with an armboard if 9", and if one wanted to, Vinyl Nirvana can do a LB (Long Base) and 12" tonearms can be done.
 
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