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Vintage Audio (record players, hi-fi etc) Amplifiers, speakers, gramophones and other audio equipment.

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Old 21st Jun 2017, 1:37 am   #1
silver ghost
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Location: Bergen, Norway
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Default Sorting out a Thorens record player.

This is a Thorens TD190 I've had for many years, it's not expensive or fancy at all, but it has all three speeds 33/45/78.

Last year I made a post on it and was given lots of good advice to track down the cause of the trouble. It came out of long term storage and I could not get any sound at all. It wasn't until last night I had any success though.

It has a new rubber belt now, and I changed to a Ortofon OM cartridge to use it in the aplifier's built in phono connection. I had to find a way omit the MC phono step amplifier. There was sound right away, but the table turned a tad too slow and the sound was sluggish.

After much back and forth with strobe discs, trying to find a way to adjust the speed on the motor, I had the metal plate and bottom off to inspect parts. I could not find anything directly wrong, but one of the tiny parts in connection with the tonearm-lift needed a light push to move again. The grease wasn't directly hard or dry, but sticky enough to slow things down. I had a drop of telfon oil to the cogs and turning parts I could reach; the sound is snappy and right again.

It's hard to get to the parts, I haven't done a complete disassembly but done my best to reach moving parts with a few drops of oil. I guess grease turns sticky with age; it's smooth between my fingers but still messing up the parts in there.

Is there any rules when tinkering with this? I feel it's closer to the internals of a watch than a three speed hub ;- )

Is Tri-Flow grease or oil a good idea? Anything very fancy? I have had very sluggish gear shifting after bike mechanics have greased my hub gears with the best of grease but lots of it and a bit too heavy. I oil them now in stead. I know it's not the best of comparison, but unfortunately the only referance point I have to various types of oils and grease.
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Old 21st Jun 2017, 9:21 am   #2
Edward Huggins
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Default Re: sorting out a Thorens record player

I have one of these and use Sewing machine oil which retains its viscosity over time. There are no heavy linkages in this deck so I recommend you to try it. The TD190 may be regarded as a Budget unit, but it has the distinction of being almost unique as a 3 speed, fully automatic, single player, Hi Fi turntable.
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Old 21st Jun 2017, 3:49 pm   #3
silver ghost
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Default Re: Sorting out a Thorens record player.

Thanks for the tip. It's for the 3 speeds I have kept it. I like to look at something which sounds better, but at the moment this is what I have. I could try upgrading the tone arm, but I'm not sure how much advantage there is to it. The sound't isn't bad with a Ortofon OM30, or even OM10. I have to try the eliptic stylus at some point too. Experimenting is a bit expensive, but I guess that's how we get some where.

I like one of those 50s Garrard players tii, mostly because of the look. I like the idea of vintage, some of the 70s and 80s decks looks very promising sound wise. I'm not quite sure what to look for, another option is to splash out on a brand new turn table :- )
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Old 27th Jun 2017, 2:03 am   #4
silver ghost
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Default Re: Sorting out a Thorens record player.

I have been looking at tonearms; new and used. The TD190 seem to need a bit extra to be able to fit on a better tone arm.

What is the benefit of a better tonearm?

The original one sounds best with a basic ortofon OM cartrige, I tried a few fancier MC cartriges, but the sound turned a bit deep and dark, like higher tones was muffled down.
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Old 27th Jun 2017, 2:53 pm   #5
Edward Huggins
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Default Re: Sorting out a Thorens record player.

The TD190 was designed as an integrated unit and there is no provision to fit a "better" tone arm to this due to the automatic nature of this unit. Even if you were able to do it, it is highly unlikely you would be able to hear any difference, let alone go to the expense of fitting a MC cartridge to this which it just not designed for. Leave well alone and enjoy it as an all-in-one budget auto deck. If the urge to tweak pesisits, upgrade the Ortofon stylus.
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Old 28th Jun 2017, 2:13 pm   #6
silver ghost
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Default Re: Sorting out a Thorens record player.

Thanks, I will take your advice. I will have to find a new deck then. The one I have is not bad at all, but I'm keeping it for it's 78 rmp setting. I have seen some clever guys with access to lathe machines make new drive pulleys to get 78 rpm. For some decks there seem to be solutions, but it's pretty high tech and requires precision engineering.
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Old 4th Jul 2017, 8:12 pm   #7
qualityten
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Default Re: Sorting out a Thorens record player.

Look out for a TD150, or TD160. They will give you good quality results and the scope for changing tonearms (although the ones they come with are pretty good).
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