Td 124 update

I now have everything to get started on my 124 except the motor isolation springs coming from The Netherlands. Got the motor rebuild kit, the new well bearings and the bottom plate for the well from Jim Campbell. I got the mk 2 motor suspension updates from sts turntables down in Tennessee. In the picture is my new SME M2-9 tonearm, my Denon dl301 mk2 cartridge, and my newly refinished tonearm board bought off eBay. I do think I am going to have to make the slot in the tonearm board larger to accommodate my new tonearm and drill the mounting holes larger for bolts instead of wood screws. I am really excited to get started on this and will keep you all informed of my progress.

GP Hill said:

I now have everything to get started on my 124 except the motor isolation springs coming from The Netherlands. Got the motor rebuild kit, the new well bearings and the bottom plate for the well from Jim Campbell. I got the mk 2 motor suspension updates from sts turntables down in Tennessee. In the picture is my new SME M2-9 tonearm, my Denon dl301 mk2 cartridge, and my newly refinished tonearm board bought off eBay. I do think I am going to have to make the slot in the tonearm board larger to accommodate my new tonearm and drill the mounting holes larger for bolts instead of wood screws. I am really excited to get started on this and will keep you all informed of my progress.

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Very cool. Looking forward to reading about your set up. It's a pretty nice arm isn't it?

Regards
Mister Pig

Mister Pig said:

Very cool. Looking forward to reading about your set up. It's a pretty nice arm isn't it?

Regards
Mister Pig

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It's a really nice arm. It is heavy and seems well built. Thanks a lot for the recommendation and by the way if any one needs a Denon cartridge you should call One Call in Spokane, WA. Great service, ordered on Wednesday afternoon and had it Saturday in KY. For the best deals give them a call.

New spindle bearings are in.

New bottom plate for the spindle well along with new white plastic disc and new gasket. New ceramic ball bearing for the spindle. I polished the spindle with 3 m polishing paper although it looked perfect before. The nylon bushings I took out of the well looked like they had almost no wear. I truly think this turntable has very minimal use. I was a little premature putting the well cap on before it was back in the chassis.

The well back in like it's supposed to be with fresh oil. I'm letting the thing spin for a while but it got up to speed quickly and holds steady. Going to get a haircut, then get the cartridge set up and play some records. I am going to wait on the motor mods until I get the isolation springs and also have a chance to listen like it is and then compare. I would post all these pictures on one thread but I can't seem to do so. Even when I download four or five pictures only one gets posted.

I am having a lot of fun following along....

Regards
Mister Pig

Looking good... can't wait to see the finished product!

Good to hear of this progress, and thanks for giving us the fun of following you, pausing every now and then to wipe the drool off our keyboards.

The underside shot in post #6 shows that your motor is untouched. Put rebuilding the motor on your to do list. It's not too difficult.

First record spinning. Beck's " Morning Phase". Sounds good, much more detail than the old Shure that was in there. This turntable is amazing, it's like it's alive, with a heartbeat. I have the cartridge loaded a 1k ohms with 60 DB of gain through my Pro Ject phono box s. I set the tracking at 1.25 grams and the anti skate at 1 gram. Tracking is set a little bit light to account for the magnetic pull of the iron platter. I will play with this and see what sounds best. Tracking fine. More later after I listen some more.

This is just like re-modeling a house, one thing leads to another. Don't get me wrong this table sounds really nice, very detailed good bass but my phono stage at both 1k ohms or 100 ohms and 60 DB of gain is noisy. I can unplug the turntable from the phono stage and it's still noisy. Just a little white noise in the background. I never noticed it with my Pioneer turntable and the Denon DL 110.
I think it has to do with the settings for the LOMC.

So it looks like a new phono stage is in my future. Something that has lots of loading and gain options. Any suggestions?

GP Hill said:

This is just like re-modeling a house, one thing leads to another. Don't get me wrong this table sounds really nice, very detailed good bass but my phono stage at both 1k ohms or 100 ohms and 60 DB of gain is noisy. I can unplug the turntable from the phono stage and it's still noisy. Just a little white noise in the background. I never noticed it with my Pioneer turntable and the Denon DL 110.
I think it has to do with the settings for the LOMC.

So it looks like a new phono stage is in my future. Something that has lots of loading and gain options. Any suggestions?

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The Piggie knows....... It's a swet arm/cartridge/table......


Well it depends on how much you want to spend....

Regards
Mister Pig

Mister Pig said:

The Piggie knows....... It's a swet arm/cartridge/table......


Well it depends on how much you want to spend....

Regards
Mister Pig

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$5-700 or maybe a little more. Thanks in advance for your help.

I can recommend the Musical Paradise P-1 phono pre. It is new and has gotten a couple of great reviews from the press. If you go to their website the reviews are published there. It is a tube pre. 12AX7's (4) and FET transistors. And has lots of loading options for MM and MC carts. $600.00. I have the MP-3 mk3 int. amp of theirs and the build quality is excellent. I will be purchasing one myself as funds permit......

This thing sounds friggin' awesome. I don't think my ADS 810's have ever sounded better. The bass is so solid and tight, the mids are right here right now, and the highs are very crisp and detailed. I don't have the audio vocabulary that some do but it sounds very good. With a really good phono stage with no noise in the background it would be scary good.

I'm listening to Emily Lou Harris right now and it sounds like I'm at the Exit Inn in Nashville I 1973 sitting at a table about 30 ft from the stage.

So, I will put you down as a yes that you do like the 124.

bob06 said:

So, I will put you down as a yes that you do like the 124.

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Oh yeah! I think as much as anything it's the match of the tonearm, the cartridge and the turntable. My other turntable is a Pioneer PL-41 with a Denon DL 110 which sounds pretty good, but this Thorens is way better. I really didn't expect this much difference.

GP Hill said:

$5-700 or maybe a little more. Thanks in advance for your help.

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Its really great to hear you are loving this combo. Actually, while its not cheap stuff, I think you picked out the quality stuff for a reasonable price sort of thing. I have a Galibier Serac as my main table, and I think my TD 124 is within the same league as the Serac. Now the Serac sold for$3.3K factory direct a few years ago, and was discontinued because it became too expensive to produce. So I think pretty highly of the 124 also.

As far as phono stages there are the go to choices for this price range. The Phenomena II, the Jolida JD9 II, Graham Slee, Dynavector P75, Ray Samuels Nighthawk, and a few others.

Looking through Audiogon, there are some interesting phono stages in your price range. If you want tubes there is the Aural thrills piece, or an Eastern Electric. For solid state pieces a Clear Audio Basic, PS Audio GCPH, or Musical Surroundings Nova Phenomena.

If it were me I would look at the used Nova Phenomena, if you are ok shopping the pre owned market. Or look at a new Phonomena II, and then the Dynavector P75. I am not a fan of tube phono stages, as I like the lowest noise floor I can get, and the tightest focus and as even a tonal balance possible. I have felt that SS provides that, and I have yet to own a tube phono stage that does that. I know the JLTI has an excellent reputation as a tube phono stage, but they are hard to find these days. But if you do find one, I would definitely consider buying it.

Regards
Mister Pig

Thanks Mr. Pig. I have already been looking at the Phonmena 2, but I have a question, the most gain you can get with it is 60db. Is that enough if I decided to move up the cartridge chain to an ultra low output cart like the Denon 304. I do like all the loading options. I'm like you, I want something quiet in the background.