This TT is for no-brainer music lover who vastly prefers spending the (too limited ) time left for music in playing records rather than in tweaking the equipment. The rule in the 70’s was the crucial match between cartridge and loudspeakers, provided you’ve got a good phono stage from your amplifier replacing my ageing speakers with better performers (of the transparent kind) immediately highlighted the Ortofon shortcomings (a bit bright and somehow thin in the mid). I just replaced the lousy captive interconnect with a cheap Monster cable because one channel disappeared after 15 years.During all these 24 years, I only tried different cartridges in the same league as the TD 160 (more specifically as the original tonearm) : Shure M95ED (supplied with the Thorens) was quickly replaced by an excellent M97HE, then an Ortofon MC10s and finally Shure M97XE. I never tweaked it and therefore can’t figure out wether this TT might sound better (or worse) after extensive settings and upgrades. This review is for Thorens TD 160mk2, a TD 145 without automatic stop feature.īought in 1978, I’m still using it on a regular basis. And it´s a great way to deal with your midlife crisis,reliving the 70ies with The Eagles,Steve Miller etc. But a good LP just gets me more involved in the music than a CD. The LP is a pain compared to the CD:clean the stylus,clean the LP,scratches,pops,hangers,skippers etc. Wide and deep stereo image, fat bass, crisp highs etc. The amount of MUSIC this old pickup can wrench out of an old LP from a flee market after proper cleaning is incredible. And maybe i should get a new original belt,another 35 euro. Yes, a lot of work and hassle and i spent more money than i intended to. I got a 22 mm MDF bottom plate with 3 spikes,i put a few drops of oil in the bearing,i had the wire changed to Van den Hul MCS150 tonearm wire and D502 interlink cable,the guy also made a proper ground connection with an external ground wire (got rid of the hum),i had a new Ortofon Super OM20 cartridge installed,a hifi dealer in town readjusted the tonearm wich had a little play and repaired the "clutch" of the innner and outer motor pulley. I have a Sony X7ESD CD player, a top model in it´s day. My living room is filling up with used LP´s. Anyway, 3 months later i spent 270 euro on the table and another 160 euro on a used Musical Fidelity XLP preamp. Thought it was broken,but it had an extension cable and a Stanton cartridge that looked nice. I bought a pickup on a flee market for 5 euro(=5 US$).
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