Old verses new

[catfood]

Hi,

I'm debating whether to upgrade my turntable. I'm only an occasional vinyl listener (mostly old and obscure rock albums I haven't managed to replace with CDs). My current turntable is a 35+ year old Thorens TD166 Mk II with a VMS 20E Mk 2 cartridge driving a Cyrus III amp and Monotor Audio Bronze BX5 speakers.

Is modern turntable technology an improvement on what I have (I was looking at Project Essetial II or Debut Carbon) or would I be better off sticking with what I have?

Cheers

Steve

 

[chebby]

You could contact these people about a rebuild of your Thorens (£130) or a full upgrade (£499) ...

http://www.inspirehifi.co.uk/thorens.html

£130 for a rebuild is a LOT less than a new TT and the result will sound much better.

You will almost certainly need to get a new cartridge after 35 years and Ortofon no longer make a replacement stylus for the VMS20E II.

(Prices current as of September 2014.)

 

[nopiano]

Happy to second Chebby's advice. There have been no leaps in TT quality at the affordable end, rather, companies like Pro-ject have mastered mass production at reasonable cost, even when still largely handmade.

Thorens was a classy product, quite similar to Ariston, Linn and suchlike in using a sprung chassis, far more advanced than anything new costing much under a grand.

 

[catfood]

It was very much a budget turntable when I bought it as a teenager (first rung on the ladder to real HiFi). I think I paid about £110 for it. I know the TD160 had a good reputation but it cost a lot more than my TD166 at the time. Would I really be looking at near a grand to better it?

 

[Jim-W]

If you had it upgraded, as chebby suggested, or at least looked at by somebody that knows about turntables so they could give you an idea about what needs replacing or repairing then I think you'd have a record player that would compare favourably to a modern grand's worth.

Two issues: replacing the RCA cables apparently improves the sound quality and the Thorens' tonearms have long been considered as the weakest link; a relatively cheap Rega or Pro-Ject arm would be an improvement, but, if it was mine, I'd keep the Thorens' arm. Still cheaper than forking out a grand.

 

[Al ears]

I'd agree with chebby et al here. It's a very good deck. Get it looked at and serviced with new belt etc and then upgrade the cartridge. Viola! New TT that will quite happily compete with todays at around £1000.

 

[nopiano]

It was very much a budget turntable when I bought it as a teenager (first rung on the ladder to real HiFi). I think I paid about £110 for it. I know the TD160 had a good reputation but it cost a lot more than my TD166 at the time. Would I really be looking at near a grand to better it?

But without knowing your age, a Mini probably cost ten times as much in your teens, so today that means £1,000 upwards for the TT.

Yes, the TD160 was better, but the TD166 was very sound, and still will be if well serviced.