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THORENS - The European Alternative

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Founded in 1883. Thorens is known as one of the oldest and most experienced manufacturers of sound reproduction equipment in Europe.

It was replaced with the Shure V15 Type II in 1966, main improvements were in trackability according to the Shure website. The Type II Improved was introduced in 1970 and had a slightly improved element and a better stylus.

From the beginning, Thorens has concentrated his efforts in the design and manufacture of quality products. Thousands of satisfied customers daily appreciate the excellence and the reliability of their products.

Thorens believe the secret of this reputation lies in the consistent use of high grade materials, the considerable experience of the engineers and the continuous improvement of well-tried designs.

Trends and fads that bring no improvement to the durability of the equipment, or to the quality of musical reproduction, have been deliberately disregarded, and proven design features are never modified unless a significant improvement can be expected

Every Thorens product has been developed with one purpose in mind: to reproduce the musical message the way it was recorded. That requires the elimination of such disturbances as hum and rumble and wow and flutter.

In this respect, their engineers ask us to take care when comparing specifications. Potential consumers who gather their information only from the specifications contained in the manufacturers' brochures can be completely mislead.

For my part I find this good advice.

It is certain Thorens are not the sexy product others can boast - but it you want to listen to the music and not the turntable - I would have to argue for a Thorens deck.

To me the sound they produce is very neutral - just what I look for in a turntable - but .... hey .... its all subjective!!

I am indebted to Mick Evans for this wonderful article on the Thorens TD150. Regrettably Mick's site is unavailable at the moment - but as soon as it's back I'll add a link so we can all enjoy his words of wisdom!

A Little History of the Thorens TD150

For those of you that haven't yet discovered the delights of vintage turntables. The Thorens TD150 was the first of the 'modern' suspended turntables and is the ancestor of the venerable Linn LP12, Ariston RD11, Manticore, Fons and whole host of others. There is much speculation as to which came first; the TD150 or the AR XB

The TD150 and the similar 'non-suspended' Thorens TD160 were and to this day still remain very popular decks here in the UK and mainland Europe.

Both machines were in production from 1965 through to the 1990s, and are very under-rated disc spinners. Upon its release, the TD150 featured a new 3-point suspended sub chassis that carried the platter, bearing and the tonearm.

Common to main chassis of both the Thorens TD150 and TD160 is a 16 pole, 2-phase synchronous AC motor. Both the Thorens TD150 and TD160 are fitted with a two-piece 7 pound balanced platter with the inner platter being driven by a rubber belt.

The platter itself is manufactured from a die case zinc alloy material. The platter bearing is fashioned from a hardened stainless shaft of 10mm in diameter and has a captive ball bearing tip and runs in sintered bronze brushings. This ball tip carries the vertical load from the platter.

As one can imagine, both the platter, sub-platter and main bearing are extremely substantial in their build quality and no expense has been spared on its design and manufacture.

As with almost all decks the TD150 runs at 33 1/3 rpm and 45rpm. Speed switching is by means of a stepped pulley with a mechanical linkage to move the belt from one step to the other. Whilst this works to a fashion, it is a pretty clumsy way of doing things. Many owners have removed this mechanical linkage and prefer to change the speeds by manually moving the belt.

It is possible to modify the TD150 by changing the PSU to one with an added speed controller board such as the Naim Armageddon or one from Heatherdale Audio.

The TD150 itself is a good looking turntable and is very similar to the Linn Sondek LP12. It can be said that the TD150 is a miniature Linn Sondek LP12. The similarities are not just in the looks though. Whilst Thorens are not providing any replacement parts for the TD150 now, any spares that the owner may require can be purchased directly from Linn Sondek, as most parts are interchangeable between the two.

Whilst the TD150 is on the whole, quite a good looking deck, one of the worst features is the TP13A arm. In reality it's been said that the TP13 arm is the equal and possibly better than the Rega RB250/300s but you wouldn't guess so from just looking at them.

The original TP13A arm has interchangeable headshells which is useful for those owners who have a number of cartridges lying around the place. Only original 'Thorens' branded TP50 headshells can be used due the odd 4-pin connector that it sports, also the Thorens headshells use 2mm mounting hardware instead of the usual 2.5mm that almost every other cartridge manufacturer uses.

Many Thorens TD150's and TD160's for that matter have had their arms upgraded. The armboard that was manufactured by Thorens was also copied by Linn Sondek, and its large dimensions allow for pretty much any arm can be fitted with other choices being the Linn LVVs / Linn LVXs / Mission 744.

A popular choice in years past and still popular today is the SME range of tonearms with the SME3009 being a good choice. Whilst being a good arm, the Rega RB25 and 300 are bad choices for the TD150 and best kept away from this and similar other decks to this one.

For those of you who are looking to get into vinyl for the first time, or maybe getting a new deck to play your old vinyl records you stored away many years ago, you could do a whole lot worse than one of these. There are many examples changing hands on eBay for £50 and upwards depending on age and condition. Additional head shells can also be purchased from time to time on eBay with examples going from £5 upwards.

Still looking for good stuff on Thorens? Why not try a Google search here

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Looking for a Thorens TD 150 or TD160?

Don't pay those daft EBay prices - My good friend j7 of Audio Origami fame has just told me the time has come for him to clear out his loft of lots of lovely Thorens stuff. He is selling them off for £40 a go!!

I've just snatched a fabulous TD160 from him and if you want to do the same then I suggest you hurry up and contact him via his website or at his email address