New Plinth for Thorens TD124

[Ammonite Audio]

I recently bought a new plinth for my Thorens TD124, from a very helpful chap in the States called Jim Campbell, who sells his stuff on eBay under the username jec965. I've already put his bronze main bearing end cap and motor bearing kit into my deck; also the nice Cherry armboards that I use are from him. The new plinth is a solid multi-layer recreation of the old Ortofon style, conical profile plinth, and is beautifully machined and finished. My old plinth, bought with the TD124 is sonically very good, but is not nice to look at:

http://i55.tinypic.com/nzehpd.jpg

The new one is much smarter:

http://i53.tinypic.com/2s16bzp.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/ftirv8.jpg

At the same time, I replaced the neon strobe lamp with an LED kit from Keystrobe. The strobe markings are now crystal clear, and I convince myself that removing a noisy neon lamp has to be a good idea anyway. This shot could be clearer but anyone who owns a TD124 will see that it's much clearer:

http://i56.tinypic.com/wkp7jc.jpg

To summarise, my new Jim Campbell plinth is way smarter than the old one, so I'm happy. The old plinth is actually a very good bit of kit, so sound quality is no better with Jim's plinth, but that wasn't the aim - the Original Look was the main driver. All I need now is an original Ortofon gold badge for the front!

[Slippershod]

all looks fabulous to me ... :)

[Alex_UK]

all looks fabulous to me ... :)

+1 - looks lovely.

[DSJR]

I bought my TD125 armboard from this guy - excellent service.

The Td124 is the final frontier for me. HiFi Dave bought a mint one recently and even in the HW plinth, it looks soooooooo naughty in the flesh :lol:

[camtwister]

Agreed, it's luscious.

[Marco]

That's gorgeous, Hugo! You'll have to bring it with you next time I'm down at Martin's, so I can have a listen :cool:

I've always loved the TD-124, and consider it the 'complete turntable' :)

Marco.

[Mika K]

Really nice looking plinth. I think my friend here in Finland has exactly similar one for his Thorens. Although he has some plain diy-feet installed..

[Ammonite Audio]

Thanks for all the kind words!

I forgot to add that I also bought a set of gel plinth mushrooms from Jim Campbell; however at the moment the Thorens is bolted firmly to the plinth, hence the lack of gap between the deck's chassis and the top of the plinth. I shall loosen the fixing bolts and experiment in due course to find out if it's better this way, or with decoupling provided by the mushrooms. The feet are Stillpoints cones, pointing down into Stillpoints Inverse Risers (the alloy dish).

[The Black Adder]

Very groovy! - Might get the strobe for mine too. Have you linked it to the power of the TT or as a seperate supply?

[Ammonite Audio]

Very groovy! - Might get the strobe for mine too. Have you linked it to the power of the TT or as a seperate supply?

It's wired into the deck's power, since I didn't want an additional mains or power cable. The Keystrobe kit is very simple to install, and the colour of the LED is very convincingly like that of the old neon lamp.

[trio leo]

Hello Hugo,
Your 124 looks marvellous, could you give me the details of the strobe light from keystone and where I can buy one of those plinths? Is it made of MDF or slate?
I have a lovely 124mk11 but the mushrooms have given up and there's a little yellow capacitor type thingy at the front that is weeping but it has been for years and the deck still works fine. also I have an Audio Technica 1503mk111 tone arm, but I've lost the arm rest post, anyone got a spare? enjoy your music best regards Alan.

[Ammonite Audio]

Hi Alan

The strobe kit came from KeyStrobe - see http://www.keystrobe.com/Keystrobe/KeyStrobe-pulser+optibloc_124.html but I note that it's currently unavailable!

The plinth is a multi-layer birch ply affair, finished very nicely in black, and made by a very helpful chap in the States called Jim Campbell. He sells his stuff under eBay seller ID jec965. The plinth can be seen at http://cgi.ebay.com/Thorens-TD-124-Solid-CLD-Style-Plinth-/230656239910?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b42ee926 . Jim also makes an open plinth much like the original Ortofon item - see http://cgi.ebay.com/Satin-Black-Thorens-TD-124-Plinth-Base-/330548796239?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item4cf63e5b4f

The capacitor is the suppressor for the main switch, and does need to be replaced if it's leaking, since it carries mains voltage. Suitable 0.01uF caps can be obtained from Maplin (http://www.maplin.co.uk/metallised-paper-rfi-class-x2-capacitors-98166?ordercode=N65CN) for 49p each.

Jim Campbell advised me to try supporting the TD124 on his gel mushrooms, as well as with it bolted firmly to his solid ply plinth (as it is presently). I've not yet tried it on the mushrooms, but I will in due course. The deck does sound rather good as it is, though! I get the impression that the mushrooms are important if the TD124 is on a lightweight plinth, but not otherwise.

[trio leo]

Hi Hugo,
Thanks for your useful tips, I haven't used my 124 for a couple of years now, but you have rekindled my interest,yours looks fabulous, I have e-mailed Schopper in Switzerland to see how much it is for a service. regards Alan

[Ammonite Audio]

Schopper are Thorens experts but are also very, very expensive - I'd also contact Dom at Northwest Analogue (http://northwestanalogue.weebly.com/), who seems to do very good work.

[Mighty Ant]

I've just purchased a plinth for a thorens from Jim to accommodate a 12" arm. He is the Thorens guru in the US of A and will basically do anything you want, within reason.

A nice easy chap to deal with. :thumbsup:

Anthony

[trio leo]

Hi Paul,
Thanks for your advice, your not kidding Schopper is expensive, I sent them an e-mail and it is 990 Swiss francs to restore a td124 on a converter that works out at £782.00 PLUS postage and packing!
that's 3 times dearer than having my car serviced, I won't be going there! Northwest analogue look favourite. enjoy your music, regards Al