Thorens td166 mk2 upgrade

[clarkey555]

Looking for some good advice regarding what would be a good arm to fit on a thorens td166 mk2 and how difficult would it be to do a total rewire. I am currently using the stock arm TP16 but feel this could be massively improved any ideas thoughts
Cheers lads

[DSJR]

The arm's fine, the plastic inner hub isn't! Replace this part first, but check the diameter of the spindle as it varied a couple of times...

[clarkey555]

That's worth looking into cheers Dave

[DSJR]

Somewhere on either Lenco heaven or Vinyl Engine, there's a discussion on re-wiring the Thorens arm (if it's the one with headshell rather than replaceable wand) as the fixing 'pin' in the tonearm can be removed to allow removal of the headshell socket. To be honest, by the mid 70's, the tonearm wires should be long lasting and even the nasty looking exit cables *probably* aren't as bad as they look, if some nice phono plugs were soldered on as these could go open circuit.

The TD166 never seemed to 'sound' as good as the Td160 and I'm sure I remember the plastic inner hub had a lot to do with it, as the rest of the deck was so similar (from memory) to the TD160 proper.

Couple of easy 'upgrade' points. Replace the belt regularly as they stretch (motor clutch be damned ;)) and also the mk2 mat was horrible, the earlier multi-ribbed type of the TD150 and 124/125mk1 is better.

[clarkey555]

It's this arm Dave
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161130/f20a1477f720e19355bcc89512d46fb8.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161130/c1525d574c99806871af9680714abb76.jpg
Also any ideas if these carts are still available or something as good
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161130/d493e378012511033b1e6c55e3ed238c.jpg


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[Us-&-Them]

Looking for some good advice regarding what would be a good arm to fit on a thorens td166 mk2 and how difficult would it be to do a total rewire. I am currently using the stock arm TP16 but feel this could be massively improved any ideas thoughts
Cheers lads

Yes, after reading this thread, (even though its from 2016) I would also like a bit of info on suggestions (i.e. what brand of replacement arm) for the possible upgrade of the TD-166MkII tonearm and difficulties in replacing.

Any info greatly appreciated. :thumbsup: