Thorens Turntable
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:38 pm
I recently inherited a Thorens TD 166 Mk II turntable from my grandfather.
Unfortunately it was only working on one channel, so a quick call to Cloney's who recommened me to drop it in for investigation.
Last Friday was the day, in I went into Cloneys with the Thorens in my arms..
Noel took control, placing the deck on a rack in the back room and quickly set to work. I'd say it has been a while since a Thorens was in Cloney's, but Noel's expert fingers ran over that deck like he had been working on it all his life. A process of elimination started and within 40 minutes Noel had wired on two new phono plugs.
System was reconnected and low and behold it sang out Leonard Cohen beautifully.
I also got a chance to listen to a Arcam CD player, hooked up to a Leben 300 valve amp and singing through the Harbeth speakers, (I think they were P3ESR's, but not sure).
Those speakers were amazing, I just could not believe how impressive they sounded, only about 6 inches wide and 10 inches high, but they performed as if they were a speaker at least 10 times bigger. That set up worked really really well.
If you get the chance to drop in, those Harbeths are worth a listen and connected to the Leben 300 the sound was magical.
I'm back at home now, with a Scotch at my feet and listening to the track "Discovery of India" from the soundtrack Gandhi, on vinyl no less. The Thorens is in full flight again!
Unfortunately it was only working on one channel, so a quick call to Cloney's who recommened me to drop it in for investigation.
Last Friday was the day, in I went into Cloneys with the Thorens in my arms..
Noel took control, placing the deck on a rack in the back room and quickly set to work. I'd say it has been a while since a Thorens was in Cloney's, but Noel's expert fingers ran over that deck like he had been working on it all his life. A process of elimination started and within 40 minutes Noel had wired on two new phono plugs.
System was reconnected and low and behold it sang out Leonard Cohen beautifully.
I also got a chance to listen to a Arcam CD player, hooked up to a Leben 300 valve amp and singing through the Harbeth speakers, (I think they were P3ESR's, but not sure).
Those speakers were amazing, I just could not believe how impressive they sounded, only about 6 inches wide and 10 inches high, but they performed as if they were a speaker at least 10 times bigger. That set up worked really really well.
If you get the chance to drop in, those Harbeths are worth a listen and connected to the Leben 300 the sound was magical.
I'm back at home now, with a Scotch at my feet and listening to the track "Discovery of India" from the soundtrack Gandhi, on vinyl no less. The Thorens is in full flight again!