23/10/2020
As a long time Thorens dealer, I've had the pleasure of enjoying sales, support, and service of modern Thorens turntables in the past 20 years. I've also been able to collect a few desirable vintage Thorens turntables such as TD 150, TD 160/B/Super, TD 147 Jubilee, TD321, and TD 126 mk III Centanery editions.
Certainly, I've help countless valued customers revive, rebuilt, restore many of their vintage Thorens turntables as well. This leads me to the very often asked question, Is it better to purchase a brand new current Thorens model, or to buy an old vintage Thorens to restore? Which one will offer better value, and sound performance?
I do actively participate and visit various turntables forums, and the prevalent views is it would certainly be preferable to buy classic 1960s,70s, 80s era Thorens turntables due to the far cheaper price, with the potential of such classic turntables to favorably go head to head with modern Thorens and other brands turntable!
Is this true or not?
Well most of the time, as with any issue in the world of high-end fine audio hobby, the answer is not so simple...
The first thing is of course, how well kept and maintained is the classic turntable you wish to buy? Anything that is 60, 50, 40, years old can be found in both extremes of good or poor condition.
Recently I was offered a TD124 with SME 3009-12" arm combo! To collectors, this is a holy grail combination! However when I rushed over to the owner's home, I came away very disappointed... The entire unit looked like it was kept in the exposed back yard of his home, and oxidation and corrosion everywhere, nothing was worth for salvation... It also break my heart to see a venerable TD 124 mk I in such poor shape.
The very popular TD 160 series turntables are not without common faults themselves... bent motor spindle is common, misaligned worn out 33/45 clutch arm is a problem, and of course dried up capacitor and degraded resistors in the motor smoothing circuit requires replacement very often. However all these issues can be fixed, and all can be done at realistic service budgets, keeping the premise of getting a classic turntable competitive with far more expensive modern turntables.
However due to the strong and steady revival of LP records collection and usage by hobbyist, the prices of vintage Thorens and other brands vintage turntables have been climbing steadily in the past decade or so... In the late 1990s, it was still possible to buy reasonable condition TD 160s at about US$200 - 400. Today, TD 160s in marginal condition will at very least fetch over US500 - 800!
Another question is tone arms for vintage TD 160s, the stock Thorens TP16 vintage arm is actually pretty good, however many hobbyist will replace it with the classic SME 3009 and 3009 II arms, however I find such SMEs very commonly afflicted with worn out bearings, in which case it could be better adviced to keep the modest stock TP16 arm! Many sellers will ask for about US700 or more for the SME 3009 arms and inexperienced buyers can invariably end up with worn out SME arms!
I would prefer to replace TP 16 arms with Grace 707, or 545 arms due to their longer-lasting design and construction over SME 3009s!
I also like Jelco 350, 550, 750, 850 series arms as modern replacement for TP16s, it is a great pity Jelco had fallen victim to the 2020 pandemic and is now out of business... Though many dealers world wide are still clearing stocks of new made Jelco arms... This will of course dry out and Jelco arms will also take its place as collectible tone arms!
The current Thorens TP 92, and 82 arms are both very worthy replacement arms for old vintage Thorens turntables and should be well considered.
However my final point is with the recent introduction of the new Thorens TD 1600/1 models, the question to buy old vintage and throwing money into restoration is now greatly blurred.
Buying a vintage Thorens TD 160 at about US$500/- + a new Thorens TP 82 arm at US$500 + the restorer's fee of between US$200 - 400 + various replacement bits & pieces for say anothe US$100 -200, and you're already at a total of about US$1,500 - 1,800.
The new Thorens TD 1600 is listed at US$2,900, complete with the updated TP 92 version tone arm, and superior electronically controlled motor is a turntable sounding much better than any restored TD 160 turntable. Things now become less clear cut and final prices close enough for potential buyers to rethink buying a 35 year old vintage vs getting something all new and ready to serve you and your descendants the next 5 decades or very much much longer!
Regardless how you may decide, do feel free to contact me for getting a new Thorens, or restoring any old Thorens, or even any brands of old spring suspension type turntables, Linn, Ariston, Dunlop Systemdeks, Sota, VPs, etc.
Kev (+65 91155962)