Thorens TD150 mk 2

V4vintage

New Member
Hi everyone

Got the opportunity to add this turntable to my collection, it has the straight thorens 13a tonearm with the spherical counterweight but no headshell. I'm struggling to find a Thorens one to fit it so my question is ...... Can I fit an alternative as which one would be recommended

Thanks as ever

Stewart
 
There are a pile of them on ebay uk and looking at sold items there seems to be a choice of price and accompaniments, one selling for the same price as just a shell came with most of a tonearm.

If you can't find one at a good price, that is under £50, not a couple quid, you could replace the tonearm for a bit more and have a rocking vinyl ride. The 150 is a nice table to upgrade the arm and really have something.
 
The TP-50 headshell is proprietary. This was before the so-called SME (actually Ortofon) connector became the de facto standard. Not only that, but Thorens kept using the same connector for the next generation but the headshells are not interchangeable: http://www.theanalogdept.com/no_no_1.htm

It's worth the wait and price to find an original IMO. It's a surprisingly capable arm. One word of warning, the vertical bearing pivots are very fragile. No turntable should be transported with the counterweight installed, but this one is almost guaranteed to be destroyed if you do.
 
Thanks to everyone one who replied.

I guess as I have a few sme headshells I could temporarily fit one of these untill an original thorens TP50 becomes available
 
SME headshells are not directly compatible. I would guess it may be possible to modify the arm tube but for mine I managed to source the correct headshell. They do come up occasionally but will cost.
 
I guess as I have a few sme headshells I could temporarily fit one of these untill an original thorens TP50 becomes available
Sorry, you can't. The SME coupling and pin-contacts are totally different.
 
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I used a Jelco SA750D arm on my TD150 with great results. I did have to add some counterweight to the far side of the sub platter to make it suspend properly though. That arm made it a whole new table. IMHO
Regards,
Jim
 
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