Thorens TD 145 MKII

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Doug Czumble

New Member
Happy New Year All
Suggestion on cart and stylus for 145 MKII

Thoughts on why you love 145 MKII. Mine is because after you listen to the intricacies of sound that this TT puts out you quickly realize that very few new TT can compare. The Germans nailed this 50 years ago. I mostly enjoy sitting there after the record is done relaxing and letting the sounds just soak in without jumping up to turn it off.

Doug
 
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Welcome to AK Doug!

What cartridge is on it now? What do you not like about it? What kind of music do you listen to? Budget?
 
I own a TD-145 and TD-160 and love them both. I've had a number of other worthy turntables but these two have been my favorites. The noise floor is so very low, they're easy to work on with parts still widely available, there is a large group of hobbyists and vendors available to help when needed, and they look classic (IMO). Wonderful turntables that have settled down my constant search for "what's next?".
 
Thank you Ortofon 10 but it’s 8 yrs old. Time to change. my music is Anything with Chris Cornell and 60s and 70s rock.
Budget for cart and stylus $250
Thanks.
 
OM 10? get $250 worth of new ortofon stylus for the OM series, the 30 and get a nice upgrade in the sound you like.
 
Do you want a vintage cartridge or a modern cartridge? For vintage the above recommendation from Blue Shadow is a good one. The OM20 stylus on your cartridge would be bit less $ and a nice upgrade too. I've owned a number of Thorens tables and I like the Shure V15 and M91ED cartridges as well.

If a current modern MM cartridge is preferred the Ortofon 2M series is a good option. If looking for a MC then the Denon DL-110 HOMC is very good cartridge on many Thorens arms.
 
A Denon DL-160 is much more musical than a Shure V-15II Jico SAS or an original M91ED. 160 is NLA and the 110 has gone up a lot in price.

The AT 500-series at 250 you get a good one and it is a clean clear sounding unit that some say has lost the high end peak that older ATs had. You could also get into the 700-series at a lower quality diamond and upgrade.

I would throw the money at the OM30 so fast it is not funny.

There are 423 different threads on what cartridge for a Thorens turntable here on AK and almost all of them would be good reading to find out what others think.

The age of the cartridge does not make a difference. The age of the stylus, magnets and such are what to consider. I would lay out the cash for an OM 30 stylus if that is the stylus that fits your cartridge. Ortofon 10 is not a complete model designation of an Ortofon cartridge.
 
jbjsr said:
Do you want a vintage cartridge or a modern cartridge? For vintage the above recommendation from Blue Shadow is a good one. The OM20 stylus on your cartridge would be bit less $ and a nice upgrade too. I've owned a number of Thorens tables and I like the Shure V15 and M91ED cartridges as well.

If a current modern MM cartridge is preferred the Ortofon 2M series is a good option. If looking for a MC then the Denon DL-110 HOMC is very good cartridge on many Thorens arms.
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Thank you for your input. All very helpful. I think I may stick with the cart and upgrade to 20 or 30
 
Blue Shadow said:
A Denon DL-160 is much more musical than a Shure V-15II Jico SAS or an original M91ED. 160 is NLA and the 110 has gone up a lot in price.

The AT 500-series at 250 you get a good one and it is a clean clear sounding unit that some say has lost the high end peak that older ATs had. You could also get into the 700-series at a lower quality diamond and upgrade.

I would throw the money at the OM30 so fast it is not funny.

There are 423 different threads on what cartridge for a Thorens turntable here on AK and almost all of them would be good reading to find out what others think.

The age of the cartridge does not make a difference. The age of the stylus, magnets and such are what to consider. I would lay out the cash for an OM 30 stylus if that is the stylus that fits your cartridge. Ortofon 10 is not a complete model designation of an Ortofon cartridge.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I may just stick with Ortofon but your input was great. Thank you
 
I've mounted an Ortofon VMS20E on my TP-16 Mk-II and I think it's a match from heaven. The VMS and FF bodies are identical for most but the stylus intake - and there are still NOS and replacement styli around. I got mine from Thakker - but it was a few years back. I don't think the Denon DL-160 nor 110 are a good match for this tonearm variant. They were very suitable with the Mk-I, not with the IsoTrak.
 
Yes, my comments were on the sound of the cartridges not on which arm. These were tested on a PS-X7 with its carbon fiber arm. Maybe not ideal for the Shures but damn that DL-160 sounds nice. The sonic differences were not arm mass kind of differences, but major cartridge sound differences like when using different speakers.
 
tnsilver said:
I've mounted an Ortofon VMS20E on my TP-16 Mk-II and I think it's a match from heaven. The VMS and FF bodies are identical for most but the stylus intake - and there are still NOS and replacement styli around. I got mine from Thakker - but it was a few years back. I don't think the Denon DL-160 nor 110 are a good match for this tonearm variant. They were very suitable with the Mk-I, not with the IsoTrak.
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I have a Ortofon VMS20 as a spare and haven’t used it in a while. What stylus are you currently using. Keep in mind I am stuck on Gary Clark music right now and man can he whale. Lol.
 
Oddly enough I'm using the VMS20E stylus. I got these from Thakker. The left is a Thorens IsoTrak wand, the right is Ortofon AS-212 headshell:

Oy4bsj2.jpg


As I've noted earlier - some of the FF styli are compatible, but just one way. For example the FF15XE stylus works with the VMS20 body, but not the other way around:

Xpkf9vO.jpg
 
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