You don't hear too much about this unloved beauty, the successor to the legendary TD124 it certainly had big boots to fill. Released for sale shortly after the TD150 which was more budget orientated the TD125 was the flagship of the Thorens range and with a price to match, it embraced the new solid state technology of the day with a Wein bridge oscillator controlled motor giving you 16, 33 & 45 at the touch of a button (no belt to manually move) and topped off with a Strobe for fine speed adjustment. Like the TD150 the top plate was sprung and the bearing and armboard where mounted to it. Built in the new state of the art German factory this deck should have been a sure thing, but it's price, the fact that Linn had launched the LP12 at about 2/3 of the price and it's complexity meant that it didn't sell.

Personally I love late 60's and 70's Thorens decks, my 1st deck was a hand me down TD160, so when I found a complete mk1 TD125 going for a very reasonable price on ebay I had to have it. I would have travelled to collect it but the seller was miles away and he assured me that he knew how to pack a turntable so it wouldn't get damaged, I must admit it was packed very very well, however the shear weight of the thing and the flimsiness / age of the plinth meant that the plinth broke at the joints. That didn't bother me too much, the seller refunded me some of my money which was great and I fully intended to re plinth it anyway. What struck me was how heavy it is in comparison to my TD160's, plus the quality and complexity of the construction, apart from the plinth it's on a different planet to the TD160.

So i've checked it over to make sure nothing is bent or broken and it's fine, i've plugged it in to see if it works and it's dead quiet at all speeds, as well as holding any given speed well, it looks like it's been recapped sometime in the past the nylon zip ties strapping one of the caps to the circuit board sort of give it away, but at some point through the restoration I intend to fully test the speed control board replacing any worn out components.

So here's what i'm going to do:

Disassemble and clean / lubricate
Re plinth with either a solid American oak or a Veneered Birch ply plinth
Spray paint the top plate, I think i'm going to go for a metallic black, the stock grey green RAL colour is a bit industrial for my liking.
remove the power cord and fit a figure of eight socket on the rear of the plinth
I'm toying with the idea of replacing the springs
replace the drive belt
polish the platter and sub platter
Replace the armboard with either a solid American oak or black Delrin
Fit my Audiomods Series 6 arm and Audio Technica Art9 cart

As I get into it I'll take some photos of the work, but for now here's what it was like when I was unpacking it:

[IMG]IMG_0244 by mike davis, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]IMG_0245 by mike davis, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]IMG_0246 by mike davis, on Flickr[/IMG]