All things vinyl — turntables

Restoring the Thorens TD160 Turntable Dustcover

Restoring the Thorens TD160 Turntable Dustcover

The dustcover of by eBay purchase Thorens TD160 was in very poor condition. It was scratched, marked and in some places had some nasty blotches. In keeping with the ‘use what you have’ ethos of this restoration, I already had a 3M headlight restoration kit that I had used a few years earlier with great success. How different can it be? The kit comprised of a 500, 800 and 3000 grit sanding discs. Basically, you start with the 500 systematically cutting back the surface until it look ‘frosted’. Then repeat with the 800 and again with the 3000. Then...


Two Hacks to Upgrade an SME Tonearm for Less Than $50

In the world of high-fidelity vinyl playback, few components are as iconic as the SME 3009 Series II Improved tonearm. Built with exquisite British engineering and used on everything from Linn LP12s to Thorens TD160s, it was long considered the gold standard of tonearms in the 1970s and early 80s. But as technology and materials have evolved, so too have modern tonearms, many of which now outperform older designs in specific areas — especially when paired with modern moving coil (MC) cartridges.

Modern arms tend to be straight rather than curved, tapered to reduce resonant modes, and often constructed from...


Refurbishing a Thorens TD160 – An impulse Purchase

You know how it is, you make an impulse purchase on eBay. I did. It was a tatty old Thorens TD160 deck. It was in a poor state and was only fit for parts, but it was cheap. From memory around £25-30. My intention was to restore it to its former glory. That was ten years ago. 

 

A couple of months ago, I finally retrieved it from the loft and decided to follow through on that rash decision.

As you can see from these pictures,...