Thorens td160hd upgrade

[Lidsmoes]

Thanks for the advice!

[ppat2]

Hi,

A very old post here, but if you are still looking for an upgrade for the thorens, I have the same deck, and use a clearaudio virtuoso wood MM cartridge, and a clearaudio basic + phono preamp, with the accu (battery) power supply.

Works very nice, neutral with a tiny bit of warm/bass emphasis, but just enough to keep things musical without being bloated. Very good separation and detail without being bright.

[PLINIUS]

Thanks for the advice!

Hi Lars, your phono pre-amp is very good & is defineatly NOT THE PROBLEM.
The A.N./ Goldring will not challenge it in any way, in fact the arm & cartridge are the weak links on a Turntable as good as yours. Having heard this T/T with the SME derived M2 arm & Grado Sonata cartridge, it is a totally different beast.
At the very least the arm should be rewired, the bearings upgraded & counterweight system replaced. Change the cartridge to a Benz Micro Silver to achieve the type of full analoge sound you are looking for.

[ppat2]

Hi Peter,

Wondering if you might know something about this question, sounds like you have some familiarity with the new TD160HD.

The deck can be purchased new with the stock 250 arm, or an SME. Mine came with the stock 250 arm, and I've upgraded the cartridge to Clearaudio Vituoso Wood MM.

Any idea what the cost and effort might be for something like the SME M2 upgrade? The dealer where I purchased is no longer in business so I can't go there for advice/help on this one.

I like the deck a lot, and would be interested in an upgrade, but outside of changing belts and cartridges I have no experience with an arm upgrade. I am assuming that since you can buy this deck with either arm as an option, that the cutout in the deck is designed to handle both and might only require removing one and inserting the other?

[AlfaGTV]

I agree with Peter here, almost fully
I do like the TD-160(HD) concept, and i think you have a real sleeper in the TP-250 arm. Imo the first thing to do is to equip it with an alternate counterweight (and stub)! Personally i have found the Mitchell Technoweight excellent, and Origin Live also have options. If you like what you hear and want more, send the arm to Johnnie7 at Audio Origami for change of bearings and wiring.
Now you are ready or the icing on the cake! The pickup!
I have the Benz Micro Silver but cannot say i'm particularly fond of it...
Ortofon 2M Blue? Benz Micro Ace SL? Lots of alternatives, but you TT will cope!

Regards /Mike

[PLINIUS]

Hi Peter,

Wondering if you might know something about this question, sounds like you have some familiarity with the new TD160HD.

The deck can be purchased new with the stock 250 arm, or an SME. Mine came with the stock 250 arm, and I've upgraded the cartridge to Clearaudio Vituoso Wood MM.

Any idea what the cost and effort might be for something like the SME M2 upgrade? The dealer where I purchased is no longer in business so I can't go there for advice/help on this one.

I like the deck a lot, and would be interested in an upgrade, but outside of changing belts and cartridges I have no experience with an arm upgrade. I am assuming that since you can buy this deck with either arm as an option, that the cutout in the deck is designed to handle both and might only require removing one and inserting the other?

Hello Pual, you really have a lot of choices, the SME is quite expensive but does sound very good. You can go down the upgrade path with the 250 by rewiring it with Cardas Tonearm cable,replace the bearings and the counterweight system (with a Michell Technoweight).
The other thing to consider is your cartridge, which is a good match in the SME & is a good choice on your part, but you won't hear how good in the 250.
You will need to contact the Thorens distrbutors for a price or Acoustic Sounds, who sold them & are quite helpfull.
You have a lot to look forward to, good luck.

[PLINIUS]

I agree with Peter here, almost fully
I do like the TD-160(HD) concept, and i think you have a real sleeper in the TP-250 arm. Imo the first thing to do is to equip it with an alternate counterweight (and stub)! Personally i have found the Mitchell Technoweight excellent, and Origin Live also have options. If you like what you hear and want more, send the arm to Johnnie7 at Audio Origami for change of bearings and wiring.
Now you are ready or the icing on the cake! The pickup!
I have the Benz Micro Silver but cannot say i'm particularly fond of it...
Ortofon 2M Blue? Benz Micro Ace SL? Lots of alternatives, but you TT will cope!

Regards /Mike

That hardly ever happens now that I'm getting old Mike

[ppat2]

Hi Peter,

That is great advice about upgrading the tonearm cable and the counter weight. The SME arm would be too costly for me right now, so I am going to research the options you mentioned.

Thanks a bunch.

[PLINIUS]

Hi Peter,

That is great advice about upgrading the tonearm cable and the counter weight. The SME arm would be too costly for me right now, so I am going to research the options you mentioned.

Thanks a bunch.

A sensible way to go Paul, there is a lot more performance to be had from the Rega arm+ modded 250s are very easy to sell if, in the future, you find yourself in a position to upgrade.
I'm happy to have been of help, who knows, the boot may be on the other foot next time

[Audioman]

Lars.

There is a general concencus that Rega based arms aren't the best match for Thorens. Certainly the original 160. In spite of the suspension unipivots did work well (Mayware). On that basis the Roksan Nima may be worth considering. I don't see why the Jelco 750D wouldn't work at not a lot more than the cost of upgrading the Rega or just save up for an SME M2.

Paul.