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My TD 160 finally playing!

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    Posted: 15 Jan 2022 at 7:45pm
Last October I had a bit of a nostalgic impulse purchase of this 1970's Thorens TD 160.



Long story short, this table was not even close to the way "buddy's" ad described. Disapprove

After me and my tech guy doing a bunch of work it is actually playing, finally.

Replaced the arm tube, NOS unit from Switzerland.
Replaced the head shell, twice, once with a new replica which was garbage and finally with a nice used original TP 60.
Re-wire everything, added AC inlet, RCA jacks and Ground post.
Upgrade the suspension with a new spring kit from Dave at Vinyl Nirvana, along with some new feet.
Mounted a new Nagaoka MP-200 cartridge.
Swapped out the drive pulley with a beautifully precision-machined, four-piece alloy pulley from Audiosilente in Italy.
I built a new plinth from 1 inch Baltic Birch, veneered with flat cut Walnut veneer with a solid strip of Birdseye Maple for the dust cover stop.
The bottom is now made from 1 inch MDF painted with Duratex, much better than the 1/8 inch hardboard that it originally came with!

And here it is playing it's first LP... Neil Young, Carnegie Hall 1970, great record!



some more shots of how she looks now...










Edited by HPower - 15 Jan 2022 at 7:48pm
1st: Sony DVP-NS9100ES, Bryston BDP-2, Sansui, TU-717> MP-D2 DAC> W4S, STP-SE> XP-4080> 2A3 SET, CA-150> FH-1, K-402
2nd: TD 160, DVD 2900> Sansui AU-717> La Scala, Heresy3
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2022 at 7:53pm
That is really good work on a classic deck. I hope it sounds as good as it now looks?

Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote HPower Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2022 at 8:18pm
It certainly sounds MUCH better than it did when I got it from the dirty rotten $#(%&&@! that I bought it from.

Playing in my 2nd system through my rebuilt Sansui AU-717 phono section, it sounds pretty good.
I can only guess I would hear an improvement with either a Reflex M or Accession MM in the chain???
1st: Sony DVP-NS9100ES, Bryston BDP-2, Sansui, TU-717> MP-D2 DAC> W4S, STP-SE> XP-4080> 2A3 SET, CA-150> FH-1, K-402
2nd: TD 160, DVD 2900> Sansui AU-717> La Scala, Heresy3
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Ernie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2022 at 8:46pm
Got one of those with a SME arm. Think a renovation project is in order. Yours looks superb well done. 
There are 10 kinds of people. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote HPower Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2022 at 9:01pm
Originally posted by Ernie Ernie wrote:

Got one of those with a SME arm. Think a renovation project is in order. Yours looks superb well done. 

Thanks Ernie!

I was initially thinking this table would be plug and play when I bought it.
Unfortunately that was not the case and a lot of the work was required to make it play quietly.
Then some of the work was "upgrades" and some was merly cosmetic.

The bloody arm and head shell were a big problem and I maybe should have bailed on it and 
dropped in a used 3009 or brand new Moth (Rega) RB330.

I may revisit that thought later down the road. Ermm

1st: Sony DVP-NS9100ES, Bryston BDP-2, Sansui, TU-717> MP-D2 DAC> W4S, STP-SE> XP-4080> 2A3 SET, CA-150> FH-1, K-402
2nd: TD 160, DVD 2900> Sansui AU-717> La Scala, Heresy3
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote patientot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 6:36pm
Looks great!
SL-1200 MK7 (modified) + Reflex M + PSU-1 used with AT150-40ML, AT VM95ML, Stanton 680mkII + Ogura, and Shure M35X cartridges.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 7:58pm
Agreed. It looks similar exept for the nifty front rail on yours, to the one I worked on for a colleague which has an SME 3009 improved series 2 arm if memory serves. We did a reboxing with sockets on the back like yours which look really good IMO, kept the original springs in his.

Great look, how is it souding?





Edited by Fatmangolf - 16 Jan 2022 at 8:03pm
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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