Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ. |
|
In Reply to: Thorens Turntables posted by JE on September 12, 2000 at 18:45:09:
To the best of my knowledge, this is the general chronology of the Thorens 14x, 15x and 16x. I've assembled some notes over the past several months. I'd appreciate any corrections/amplifications anyone might have. Perhaps it's time for all of us Thorens to begin to assemble a more complete and more accurate data base / FAQ???????The 150 is the original Thorens three-point suspended tt. It was introduced in 1965 (at less than $100). In about 1970 the 150 was superceded by the 150II (a bit less than $150) which was produced for two or three years. The arm was the weak link. A recent post here suggested that it should be thrown as far as possible--or something to that effect. Periodically I see claims that the 150 was the inspiration for the first Linn table. Is there any truth to this?
The 160 was introduced next (1972 or 1973?, price of $275?) and was available in various guises for about a decade. The ultimate "stock" 160 was the 160 super--a factory tweaked 160 with heavier top plate, larger bearing, better suspension, .....??) at about $400 w/o arm. The standard issue arm on the 160 was some version of the TP16 )of which there were 4 versions. Some had detachable headshells, some had removable arm wands and the last had a semi-fixed (i.e. clamped-on headshell). All TP16 arms had a magnetic anti-skate system.
During the first part of this period (1974-1979?) Thorens produced a 165 which evolved into a 165II and later (1980-1983?) a 166 which evolved into a 166II. These were cheaper ($175 - $225?) and lower quality versions of the 160. Whereas the 160 had a metal subplatter and larger (10mm) bearing the 165s and 166s had "plastic" suplatters and smaller (7mm) bearing. I believe motor and ps were also of lesser quality. The 165/166 was usually outfitted with some version of the TP11 arm. The TP11 had a string-and-weight antiskate mechanism.
All of the above were fully manual tables. The TD145 (1976-1978) was basically a 160 with auto lift and auto shut-off which added about $50-$75 to the price. The 145 evolved into the 145II which was replaced by the 146. (I believe 145s had TP16 and 146 had TP11.). A special version of this is the 147 jubilee. (Is this essentially a 160 super with auto features?)
Apparently the 146 is still available (or was until recently) in Europe (146 Mk VI) as is the 166 in Mk VI version. A Rega RB250 is/was an option on the latter.
During this general time frame Thorens produced better tables (versions of 124, 125 and 126). They also produced some apparently not-so-good tables in the 105, 110 and 115 versions.
FWIW I have a 166II (a later production model which is unusual in that it has a TP21 arm with TP68 headshell) and a very normal 145 which I'm bringing back to life.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Re: Thorens Turntables - BrianE 09/12/0021:00:17 09/12/00 (8)
- Re: Thorens Turntables - Prism 13:57:43 09/13/00 (6)
- Re: Thorens Turntables - KHoward 10:17:09 09/14/00 (2)
- Re: Thorens Turntables - Prism 06:07:43 09/15/00 (1)
- Thanks (nt) - KHoward 09:11:32 09/15/00 (0)
- Re: Thorens Turntables - BrianE 16:25:20 09/13/00 (2)
- Re: Thorens 300 series - Prism 10:43:08 09/15/00 (1)
- Re: Thorens 300 series - BrianE 20:47:56 09/15/00 (0)
- you forgot the Prestige and Reference :-) (nt) - Werner 02:34:04 09/13/00 (0)