All things vinyl

Refurbishing a Thorens TD160 – Soundproofing the Platter and Sub-Platter

The plan here was to absorb as much vibration as possible without affecting the outward look of the platter. This required some thinking outside of the box and honestly if it didn’t work as well as other methods, I would rather keep the ‘chrome’ look of the outer edge. That said I’ve used this technique before and it does make a significant difference to the sound quality, so I was confident it would do the same here.

Firstly, with the inner platter, I masked off the area where it comes into...


Refurbishing a Thorens TD160 - Veneering the Plinth

From an aesthetic point of view this was one of the more important tasks. I’d bought some iron on Zebrano wood veneer some years back which had – despite the warnings on the packaging – been stored in the garage.

The original plinth was in poor condition, bashed, cracked and worn, so the only option is to re veneer.

I started by filling in the worst of the lumps, especially in the corners. Then the plan was to spray the inside with Plasti...


Refurbishing a Thorens TD160 – Soundproofing the Chassis

Swapping the springs out was the first job, it a straightforward job, it’s pretty much a like for like swap and took less that fifteen minutes. You’ll need a socket set, you could use  an adjustable spanner, I wouldn’t use pliers as it may risk damaging the nuts.

The only hassle is getting the tension right when reassembling it. There might be some very clever techniques that help with this, but I found common sense and trial and error worked for me. Oh and obviously a spirit level.

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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,...


The Great HiFi Debate: Warmth vs. Precision

The Great HiFi Debate: Warmth vs. Precision

In the world of high-fidelity (HiFi) audio, enthusiasts often find themselves drawn to personal preferences of the interpretation and character of vinyl playback, that sparks varying opinions and preferences among audiophiles.