Townshend turntables.

plastic penguin said:
Anyone with experience of these? Seen one for sale and they look pretty cool. Not seen anything mentioned on here for ages.

They are class acts, well to be honest the only one I have had experience with is the Rock 7, so couldn't really comment on others.

They can be a bit finnicky if using the silicone trough and paddle, but it soon becomes part of the 'ritual' and does indeed put SQ up to another level.

Well worth seeking out if you can find one with a reasonable price.

Which model have you seen?

Their tonearm was no slouch either...

P.S.: Tom Evans has one as part of his test set-up.
 
Al ears said:
plastic penguin said:
Anyone with experience of these? Seen one for sale and they look pretty cool. Not seen anything mentioned on here for ages.

Which model have you seen?

Their tonearm was no slouch either...

P.S.: Tom Evans has one as part of his test set-up.

Can't remember. It was for sale at a hi-fi shop who specialise in vintage gear - certainly wasn't a 'Rock'. But it had a funny arm at the front, similar to this. They were asking £675 IIRC.
 

Chris Munden

New member
Oct 12, 2015
10
0
0
Visit site
Janine Elliott who writes and does reviews for HIFIPig has one, not sure which model, suggest you go through the on line mag to contact her.

Chris
 
plastic penguin said:
Al ears said:
plastic penguin said:
Anyone with experience of these? Seen one for sale and they look pretty cool. Not seen anything mentioned on here for ages.

Which model have you seen?

Their tonearm was no slouch either...

P.S.: Tom Evans has one as part of his test set-up.

Can't remember. It was for sale at a hi-fi shop who specialise in vintage gear - certainly wasn't a 'Rock'. But it had a funny arm at the front, similar to this. They were asking £675 IIRC.

That 'funny arm' you mention is the silicone trough. It is a feature of Townshend turntables along with a 'paddle' attached to the tonearm headshell. It pivots out of the way when you want to load an LP.

Item shown is one of the origin 'Rocks' Still not to be sniffed at but overpriced here, as ,usual, by Emporiumhifi) it's similar in design to the Cranfield Rock. The Rock 7 is a bare-chassis type design.

The one you show has the Zeta arm that was commomly used in those days but Townshend usually fitted their own Excalibur arms to the '7's (although armplates are available for just about any tonearm).
 

CJSF

New member
May 25, 2011
251
1
0
Visit site
I had one of the original 'Rocks' back in the 80's, ran it alongside a Linn and original Gyro Deck. The Rock was my tweaky deck, always upgraded as Max redesigned it. I liked the Gyro but always prefered the Rock, which eventualy had an SME beatle cartridge grafted on to the Townsend arm/trough. That realy was the cherry on the cake, eleptical stylus, I dednuded it from its beatle body, made an appropiate spacer from magnesium, required a funny angle whch was katterd for in the original plastic head shell and yes it tracked at 4grs.

Desposed of it in the mid 90's along with all my other hifi and record collection, a bad move. No idea what current Rocks are like but the coments are favarable. The only thing I found with the Rock, it could be so revealing of the other items in the system, made the Linn sound ordinary and stoggy? Basicaly I put together a system around the Rock that was not changed for over 10 years. Two reasons, one, the system represented consistancy as a referance when evaluating speakers and stands as a manufacturer and consultant, two, there was saimply nothing that was better to fit in the component line, perfect matches IMHO.

So, a Rock needs matching, get it right and youwill have a system that wont need changing for a long time.

CJSF
 
stevebrock said:
plastic penguin said:
stevebrock said:
are you replacing the project then ?

Yup. It is now the weakest link in the hi-fi chain. I seem to be playing more vinyl these days than CDs.

Vinyl 99% of the time for me

FM and Freeview radio probably takes up 70% of my listening time. The rest is made up of vinyl these days. In fact, the only CD playback is in the van currently
 
Unfortunately for me vinyl has slipped to about 50% as I rarely get time to sit down to an album these days. If background music required then it's normally a CD or SACD or rips streamed from hard drive through the Oppo or if around the house then its headphones and the Fiio X3 that I would normally take away to work.
 
B

BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW

Guest
stevebrock said:
PP - is it the allure of classic old TT ?

Why don't you go for a Clearaudio Concept ?

I had a Concept for a day or so, and I've no idea how it sounds, but it's definitely an incredibly dull, uninspiring object. If you're going to pay £1000 + on a piece of audio equipment, it's not only got to sound good, it's got to be a good, inspired design.

Just my opinion FWIW.
 

stevebrock

New member
Nov 13, 2009
183
0
0
Visit site
Fair play BB

my RP6 was great, the Gyrodec is just in another league, it's the depth of the bass that gets me with it, lots more detail to - don't get me wrong could quite easily live with an RP6 - but the Gyro just looks and sounds stunning!
 
stevebrock said:
PP - is it the allure of classic old TT ?

Why don't you go for a Clearaudio Concept ?

Possibly. Not a deal maker or breaker but vintage TT for the price of RP6 or ClearAudio. If it really is stonking sounding it may be worth it...

Rega I like and ClearAudio also appeals but the Rega is a minimalist design, much the same as the Pro-ject.
 

CJSF

New member
May 25, 2011
251
1
0
Visit site
The Rock iFor has a link to is the same spec., as mine was. Minimalist it was, frankly I am interested in sound, a Rock of that spec., will blow you socks off 'in the nicest posible way' . . . provided the matching kit is 'up to' it! My system was: Rogers LS35a on Foundation Designer Stands, EAR 509 Mono Blocks, Foundation PreAmp, + TT as described earlier. The studio was a bit special too, perfect dimentions and appropriatly damped.

Cables played a very important part, I still use the same interconects and speaker cables in my present system, I have found nothing better, different yes but not better.

Putting a 'classic TT' into an existing system may not work streight off, requires a lot of faith in ones own assesment and if required, what to tweak and/or what to change with no garentes?

Despite this I would do it but thats a bit steep on price, although they do say 'talk to us' . . . toung in cheak?

CJSF
 
CJSF said:
The Rock iFor has a link to is the same spec., as mine was. Minimalist it was, frankly I am interested in sound, a Rock of that spec., will blow you socks off 'in the nicest posible way' . . . provided the matching kit is 'up to' it! My system was: Rogers LS35a on Foundation Designer Stands, EAR 509 Mono Blocks, Foundation PreAmp, + TT as described earlier. The studio was a bit special too, perfect dimentions and appropriatly damped.

Cables played a very important part, I still use the same interconects and speaker cables in my present system, I have found nothing better, different yes but not better.

Putting a 'classic TT' into an existing system may not work streight off, requires a lot of faith in ones own assesment and if required, what to tweak and/or what to change with no garentes?

Despite this I would do it but thats a bit steep on price, although they do say 'talk to us' . . . toung in cheak?

CJSF

I issue is I don't want to run with the crowd i.e. Pro-ject, Rega, ClearAudio etc etc despite having deep admiration for these brands. Much the same as cars: Practically every third car is a German (VW, Audi, BMW, Merc, Skoda, Seat...) and wonderful cars they are I like something that's a little different, hence why I've owned two Alfas since 2007.

Chances are I will end up with a Rega or another Pro-ject, purely because the search for the 'right' turntable, that's a little different (and doesn't break the bank), will prove too tricky to accomplish (probably).
 
CJSF said:
The Rock iFor has a link to is the same spec., as mine was. Minimalist it was, frankly I am interested in sound, a Rock of that spec., will blow you socks off 'in the nicest posible way' . . . provided the matching kit is 'up to' it! My system was: Rogers LS35a on Foundation Designer Stands, EAR 509 Mono Blocks, Foundation PreAmp, + TT as described earlier. The studio was a bit special too, perfect dimentions and appropriatly damped.

Cables played a very important part, I still use the same interconects and speaker cables in my present system, I have found nothing better, different yes but not better.

Putting a 'classic TT' into an existing system may not work streight off, requires a lot of faith in ones own assesment and if required, what to tweak and/or what to change with no garentes?

Despite this I would do it but thats a bit steep on price, although they do say 'talk to us' . . . toung in cheak?

CJSF

Very probably not worth talking to (see my latest comment to PP's post re cartridge), and agreed it is a lot 'steep'.
 
Perhaps this might be worth watching PP.

Its got no arm or armboard but looks in good nick (bits are still available I am sure). You'd have to source the'paddle' tonearm attachment and armboard which might prove a hassle.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Superb-Townshend-Cranfield-Rock-Elite-Model-2-Audiophile-Turntable-Ship-W-W-/121797474644?hash=item1c5bb1f954:g:9CUAAOSw5ZBWLRXO
 
plastic penguin said:
ifor said:

Thanks. But a grand for a 25-30 years old turntable is a little concerning. The one I looked at was around the £600 - even that price is pushing the envelope for a vintage turntable..

I'd say that was Emporiumhifi for you..... overpriced to hell.

I wouldn't pay that for a Rock 7 even.

Little story... They were selling a Benz Micro Glider cartridge that I thought was a little overpriced, asked them if they would take less, and next thing I know is they had upped the advertised price by £100. :)

Best avoided....

They still have it listed (for £650.... hah! I wonder if they actually manage to sell anything...)
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts