18-01-2020, 12:21 PM
Given the weight of the platter, these suffer from slow start-up. You'll need to clean the idler, motor shaft and underside of the turntable, as well as checking the various bearings.
And unless they've been changed recently, you'll need some new tonearm V-blocks. They are widely available. This video talks you through the process of changing them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cUOAiV-vL8
Regarding the speed change, you'll kick yourself when you next look at it closely. There are 4 metal "rests", one for each speed. You'll see 3 out of the 4 of them, and of course, as soon as you move the lever away from its current position, you'll see the 4th. These are clearly visible in the above video (at 45 seconds in).
Because of the conical (rather than stepped) motor shaft, you can adjust the speed to any speed you want, but the 4 rests should be in the correct places to give the 4 standard speeds. If they are not correct, you can loosen the screws and adjust the position of each rest. It's really very neat.
I first saw this turntable when I was 18, and figured it out straight away. However, I had much sharper eyes at that time - the first thing I saw was those rests hiding in the slot the lever rides in, and the penny dropped immediately.
In terms of quality, I really don't understand why people rave about them. If I knew they would become valuable, I would have kept it to sell on, but I left it in the attic when I moved away from home - the house has changed hands since then, so I've no idea what happened to it.
The rumble was pretty low for an idler deck, yes, but my example had the desk mounted rigidly on the plinth. The whole plinth, including the lid, was sprung, which meant it was impossible to close the lid without making noises that were picked up by the cartridge, meaning if you were recording a record you had to do so with the lid open. Other plinths were available that didn't have this problem.
Funnily enough, I also replaced mine with a TD125 (and SME 3009, naturally). A rare car boot sale bargain, for just £4. And because it was my birthday, my friend paid! Still have it, though I haven't used it in 15 years. Today I use a Technics 1200, which is better-suited to the suspended floors in this house. Very different to the Thorens, but just as nice IMHO.
And unless they've been changed recently, you'll need some new tonearm V-blocks. They are widely available. This video talks you through the process of changing them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cUOAiV-vL8
Regarding the speed change, you'll kick yourself when you next look at it closely. There are 4 metal "rests", one for each speed. You'll see 3 out of the 4 of them, and of course, as soon as you move the lever away from its current position, you'll see the 4th. These are clearly visible in the above video (at 45 seconds in).
Because of the conical (rather than stepped) motor shaft, you can adjust the speed to any speed you want, but the 4 rests should be in the correct places to give the 4 standard speeds. If they are not correct, you can loosen the screws and adjust the position of each rest. It's really very neat.
I first saw this turntable when I was 18, and figured it out straight away. However, I had much sharper eyes at that time - the first thing I saw was those rests hiding in the slot the lever rides in, and the penny dropped immediately.
In terms of quality, I really don't understand why people rave about them. If I knew they would become valuable, I would have kept it to sell on, but I left it in the attic when I moved away from home - the house has changed hands since then, so I've no idea what happened to it.
The rumble was pretty low for an idler deck, yes, but my example had the desk mounted rigidly on the plinth. The whole plinth, including the lid, was sprung, which meant it was impossible to close the lid without making noises that were picked up by the cartridge, meaning if you were recording a record you had to do so with the lid open. Other plinths were available that didn't have this problem.
Funnily enough, I also replaced mine with a TD125 (and SME 3009, naturally). A rare car boot sale bargain, for just £4. And because it was my birthday, my friend paid! Still have it, though I haven't used it in 15 years. Today I use a Technics 1200, which is better-suited to the suspended floors in this house. Very different to the Thorens, but just as nice IMHO.
