Thorens TT Comparison

[Progmeister]

I once owned a TD160BC and at the time i bought it i thought it was very good. However, as a platform for good quality tone arms it finds itself lacking. I have also found in the past that the majority of SME tone arms especially the early ones sound pretty dull and unexciting. Bland for want of a better word. I think i pretty much have to echo what the Doc says to be honest and i would sell it on so someone who is more likely to use it gets pleasure from it.

[paskinner]

[quote="Dr Bunsen Honeydew"][quote=
I have discovered from experience that published wow and flutter figs are just bullshit. Plus they are open to corruption and interpretation as parameters are not fully quoted. I have used a Thorens 150 not 160 and they are unacceptable to *my* ears. I also think that some people are not pitch perfect, in fact most people aren't. I am, since age of 13 I can sight read for voice and I am pitch perfect. I cannot play the guitar but give me one and I will tune it for you. This may be why but I cannot live with a belt drive TT even though I designed a couple. The Voyd avoids it with short belt bits to wobble between the three motors.[/quote]
Interesting; I can't have 'perfect pitch' because good belt driven decks sound stable to me...and I have yet to see any technical evidence that they aren't. No matter; I do hear pitch instability within individual vinyl recordings...an instability which is present regardless of which deck is used for replay. I don't know if this is problems with the cutting heads, dodgy recording equipment or what. But I hear it quite often. It can vary from track to track. Fortunately, I seem happy to ignore the flaws with vinyl because the overall result still pleases me. The undeniably more 'correct; CD often just irritates me.
Mind you, it doesn't take much to irritate me these days.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

For me it shows up most on piano, and I listen to a lot of piano. It is my first test of a TT and no belt drive I have heard apart from the Voyd has kept the piano in tune. Applemarcs SME did a quite good job but I could still hear it. Interestingly if you replace the belt with a cord (multi wrapped surgical silk) the problem goes away on non suspended turntables and I am sure the SME would benefit because the suspension is very stiff. It would be interesting to try that on one of the better up market Regas.

For anyone wanting to give it a try http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... re&_sop=15

[Lindsayt]

With a cord I'd be listening out for the knot going round the motor shaft every couple of seconds...

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

That is not how it is done, there is no knot. Get some and see. It is muti turn and then tuck the end in. You wrap it anti clockwise so the tucked in end is always trailing. Over time it loosens, so you wrap it again.

[Daniel Quinn]

Doc you have just given russ andrews an idea for a 1k belt.

[_D_S_J_R_]

The V15 II has a massive suck-out lower treble (5db or so at 6khz) which was always pointed out on reviews at the time. This will affect tonality more than the turntable. It tracks at 1g though, so wow won't really be an issue here. Regular belt changes (annually) keep the remaining at bay.

As for the sonics of the turntable, it's a mixture. I've heard them sound really good and can qualify that by saying that I set up a hell of a lot at the time, but at other times, not! My advice would be to sell the V15 II as it's working and work on say, an AT120E, 440MLa or a 2M Bronze - not sure if the Goldring 1042 works well in this deck and arm to be honest.

[AshM750.]

Doc you have just given russ andrews an idea for a 1k belt.

Ha! Ha! Now that is Funny

[AshM750.]

The V15 II has a massive suck-out lower treble (5db or so at 6khz) which was always pointed out on reviews at the time. This will affect tonality more than the turntable. It tracks at 1g though, so wow won't really be an issue here. Regular belt changes (annually) keep the remaining at bay.

As for the sonics of the turntable, it's a mixture. I've heard them sound really good and can qualify that by saying that I set up a hell of a lot at the time, but at other times, not! My advice would be to sell the V15 II as it's working and work on say, an AT120E, 440MLa or a 2M Bronze - not sure if the Goldring 1042 works well in this deck and arm to be honest.

Thanks for the reply, I have heard some bad reviews reference the SHURE V15 2 I do have the SHURE V15 5 aswell but I don't have a stylus. I have stuck it on eBay for now at a Russell Andrews Price to see if I get any joy, but if not then I will probably just drop the price and sell.

I think everyone is right turntables are for enthusiasts and although I love music, CDs are the way ahead for me.

[_D_S_J_R_]

I've all but dissed the V15 II. In fact, it's a good sounding cartridge and lovely in the mid and bass. It's just the treble balance isn't correct. There was an article in Hi Fi Sound at the time discussing how to modify the RIAA curve in a Quad 33 (the top end preamp of the era in the UK) to match it. The V15 III used laminated pole-pieces which all but cured this aspect (and showed up others, but there we are).

The V15 V was a huge step forwards in my book. I love this model dearly in original as well as MR and XMR versions. My own VMR had it's cantilever fractured accidentally (it wasn't me on this occasion) but I'm reliably told the Jico SAS stylus for this model is actually at least as good. In the meantime, when I have spare funds (not for the foreseeable future), I'd like to see if ESCo can repair it (I trust them more than any of the other UK stylus bodgers out there). A V15 VMR on a Thorens TD147 was actually one of the closest vinyl sounds to Decca master tape I've heard to date (phono stage was that in a Sony TA-5650 V-FET.