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Re: Thorens Turntables

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 In about 1970 the 150 was superceded by the 150II (a bit less than $150) which was produced for two or three years.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.



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