TT help.

[Upstatemax]

I have a Thorens TD 166MKII now and I'm looking to see if a more modern TT would perform better.

I'm looking to keep it pretty lite in the budget department. Something like the Rega RP1. It's an "entry level" TT, would it be any better than my old Thorens?

I have been thinking about this for a little while, but now I got in my new Cambridge 640P Phono Stage and I was excited to hook my vinyl back up and guess what, no right channel...

After trouble shooting, it's the TT. I plan on pulling it apart and hope to see a loose connection, but it has just pushed me even further into looking for a newer TT.

[dkg999]

The Thorens TT's were, and still are very good tables. Lot's of mods and upgrades for them. If it's a simple problem to fix I would look into cart upgrades before spending money on a new table.

[TroyD]

Exactly, I'd take it in for a new cartridge and a tuneup....but a new entry level table would probably be lateral at best.

BDT

[malvrich]

Contact Thorens 1st.
They are known for good CS. and will likely help by repairing the unit.
Dont know what they may charge tho.
Good luck :)

[Upstatemax]

Pulled the bottom off the TT and as I was hoping for, the right channel wire broke off.

I'm going to re-solder it and put her back in the lineup.

Thanks for the info so far! I figured it would be more of a lateral move but I wanted some input from people with more experiance...

[SCompRacer]

Good job on the fix! IIRC the Thorens TD166MK II was released as a more affordable table to improve market share yet performed so well, no one felt the need to upgrade it with a higher priced Thorens. What arm does it have on it? If a Thorens arm, it will be the limiting factor and can be improved with an upgrade (like a Rega RB300). That may also expand your cartridge choices due to cartridge compliance issues. Do some research on it.

You might find this history page interesting....

http://www.theanalogdept.com/thorens_history.htm

[Upstatemax]

Ok, so I re-soldered the connection and now I have zero sound from the TT. I can't find anything obvious...

F**k my life with this TT!

[Fongolio]

Last year a put a different arm on my Thorens TD-160 and the gains were huge. The arm is a first generation Mission 774 with silcone fluid damping. It made an already great sounding table sound amazing. There are lots of mods you can do with the 165. I agree with the above posters that buying an entry level table to replace the Thorens would only be a lateral move.

[quadzilla]

Ok, so I re-soldered the connection and now I have zero sound from the TT. I can't find anything obvious...

F**k my life with this TT!

Do you have an ohm meter? The first thing to check is continuity from the cart clips to your your phono stage.

[Upstatemax]

Do you have an ohm meter? The first thing to check is continuity from the cart clips to your your phono stage.

Yeah I do. I was thinking about it over dinner and I was thinking I need to find out how to test if the cart was damaged!

[Tour2ma]

Nice TT...

Get to know thevinylengine.com... They have your manuals, owners and service...
http://www.vinylengine.com/library/thorens/td166.shtml

Unless you are sure that your old M97XE does not have under a few hundred hours on it, forget the cartridge. You are going to want to replace (and upgrade) it. The VE site will help select your new cartridge as well, or at least narrow down your choice to good compliance matches for your Thorens' arm.

Focus your VOM efforts on the arm... Test from each of the phono cartridge leads to the each of the RCA terminations, both the center plugs and the surrounding shields. For each phono lead there should be continuity with one, and only one, of the four RCA ends. Check all 16 combos...

Also go through the service manual being sure to properly clean and lube all the bearings.

Your efforts will be rewarded...

[quadzilla]

What he said...

[Upstatemax]

Nice TT...

Get to know thevinylengine.com... They have your manuals, owners and service...
http://www.vinylengine.com/library/thorens/td166.shtml

Unless you are sure that your old M97XE does not have under a few hundred hours on it, forget the cartridge. You are going to want to replace (and upgrade) it. The VE site will help select your new cartridge as well, or at least narrow down your choice to good compliance matches for your Thorens' arm.

Focus your VOM efforts on the arm... Test from each of the phono cartridge leads to the each of the RCA terminations, both the center plugs and the surrounding shields. For each phono lead there should be continuity with one, and only one, of the four RCA ends. Check all 16 combos...

Also go through the service manual being sure to properly clean and lube all the bearings.

Your efforts will be rewarded...

Thanks for the info, i'll do this today.

As for the cart, it's for the most part brand new. I'll upgrade the cart in probably another year, vinyl is still fairly new to me and I have a lot to learn still!

I tested the cart last night and it was reading between 1,600-1850ohms on each channel. The Specs for the cart say it should be around 1,550ohms.

[Upstatemax]

IT'S ALIVE!

After going through the whole table checking all connections, doing some re-soldering and cleaning, the Thorens is ALIVE.

I found some of the ground connections to be fairly weak and I could barely if at all get continuity.

This shall get me by till I upgrade the tonearm.

Thanks for all the help!

[Tour2ma]

You're welcome... Glad to read the problem was where you could get to it...

Don't forget the lubbing...