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Thorens Gallery

This is a photo gallery of Thorens turntables in use from around the world.   

Indexed by model number.

an open invitation: 

If you have a Thorens turntable that is either; a) not already featured here, or  b) is of exceptional condition, or c)  is collectible no matter what condition please see this image upload faq link for submissions into the Thorens Gallery.

mailto: webmaster@theanalogdept.com

TD111, 121, 124, 224 & 135: the idler drive models.  

Pat OMalley's TD111 (USA)

Dave Archambault's TD111 (USA)

Tom Bagshaw's TD124 (USA)

Beatlebum's TD124 (USA)

Carlo's TD124 (Germany)

Robert Chamber's TD121 (USA)

Steve Clarke's TD124 (USA)

Gary Dahl's TD124 (USA)

Jerry Giesting's TD124 (USA)

Guido's TD124 (Belgium)

Neil Hollow (Ireland)

Ed Johnson's TD124 (USA)

Tom Jung's TD124  (Switzerland)

KKs124 (UK)

Pigdog's TD124 MK1 with Clearaudio TQ1 2000 tonearm

John Hamm's TD124 MKII (USA)

Tum's  TD124 (Thailand)

Dmitry Tektonidi's TD124 MKII with custom plinth (Israel)

td124 badly hacked 

Burt von Boltons' TD124 Mk II (Sweden)

Chris Bingham's TD124 MKII (Northern Ireland)

a psychedelic TD124 MKII found in NYC (USA)

Abe Revilla's TD124 mkII (USA)

Serge's collection of Thorens tables (Switzerland)

Allan Songer's TD124 (USA)

Shinji T's TD124 mkII (Japan)

Gert_Sorensen's TD126-III and TD124-II (Denmark)

Jean Veys TD124 Mk II (Belgium)

Peters TDW224 (USA)  A unique and very cool record changer that goes to extremes in order to maintain correct vta.

TD150 MK 1 and MK 2 The first belt drive model Thorens 

Bill Agee's TD150 AB (USA)

Silvio Anfossi's TD150 (Italy)

 Bobbo the Soundnut rescues a TD150 (USA)

 Curt_Bostrom (Sweden)

 Jon Bridgman's TD150 (USA)

 Cham's TD150 with mods (Singapore)

 Per Karlsson's TD150 (Sweden)

 Colin Martin's TD150 with Ladegaard air bearing linear tracking tonearm (UK)

Ronald_Knowlen's TD150MkII (USA)

 John Koning's TD150 (NL)

Nick Panayiotou's TD150 mkII (UK)

Dave Roberts' TD150 MK II (United Kingdom)

 Par's TD150 (Sweden)

 B_Price's TD150 Mk II (USA)

Monty Sexton's TD150 (USA)

Shinji T's TD150 modified (Japan)

John Simpson's TD150 MK II (UK)

 user510's TD150 MkII  (USA)

Here's a NO-NO

TD125 mk 1 & mk 2: The 2nd Thorens belt drive.  A higher priced  model above the TD150  with electronic pitch control

JH's TD125 (Canada)

 2Channelman's TD125 (Canada)

D_Ashton's TD125 mkII (Australia)

Beatlebum's TD125 (USA)

 Xico's TD125 (Brazil)

Neil Hollow's TD125 mkII with custom plinth (Ireland)

 Marco Sandrin's "custom" TD125 (Italy)

 Bushman's collection of Thorens tables (South Africa) All are very custom.

 Gian Luca Marchetti, TD125 MK I with Rabco linear tracking tonearm. (Italy)

 Percy Mistrys' TD125 (USA)

 AKA_Munkie_NL, a stable of Thorens (Holland)

Doug Olsen's TD125 with custom plinth (USA)

Alex Pointl's TD125 with custom plinth (Holland)

Silvio Anfossi's TD125 (Italy)

Robert Mudge's TD125 MKII (Canada)

Ed Smith's custom TD125 MKII (USA)

Jorge Madeira's custom TD125 MKII (Portugal)

 MC_Chia's TD125 mk2 (Malaysia)

 Darkstar's TD125 Mk II/SME (USA)

Rene_F..TD125 Mk II (Germany)

John Lewington's TD125 Mk II (USA)

Gordy's TD125 MKII (USA)

 David I Ramsey  TD125 MKII with SME 309 (USA)

HHSCOTTFAN's TD125 MKII (USA)

 Jeff Starr's TD125 MK II (USA)

Bill Way's TD125 mkII (USA)  with custom plinth by Jim Campbell

TD125 LB:  the LB designation means "long base" .  This model was designed to include the longer 12 inch tonearms.

 RonWill's TD125-LB (Singapore) This is a restoration article.

 Holger's collection (Germany)  An impressive collection of many different Thorens tables including TD124 models and the pictured TD125 LB Mk II.

Chris Nelson's TD125-LB

The Thorens TD160 and its less expensive little brother, the TD165.

Successor to the TD150

 Carbonman's old TD160 MKII (Canada)

 Antonio_Diaz's TD160B (Spain)

 Jim Blackburn's custom TD160 (USA)

 Colin Clarke's TD160B (UK)

 Mark Feldshers' TD160 (Israel)

Thomas Kamvoussioras's TD160 Mk II with Vacuum platter mat (Greece)

 Rolf_Kelch modify's his old TD160 MKII (Germany)

 Werner Ogier's TD160  (Belgium)

Doug Olsen's very custom TD160 (USA)

 Guy_Pallister's TD165 (USA)

Joel Scilley's TD160 in Custom Plinth (USA)

 Shaun Smith's TD160 (United Kingdom) with custom stainless steel surround.

Bill Summers' TD160 and TD166 (UK)

 user510's TD160 (USA)

Simon_Wilson's TD160 (UK)

Chris Foden's TD160 (UK)

A 'Virtual' TD160  (USA)

OK, so what is different and what is the same between the TD160 and its little brother, the TD165..?  Details, mainly.  The 3-spring suspended layout is the same.  The floating chassis forms a rigid platform for both the platter bearing and tonearm on both of these tables.  Indeed, it is the same stamped plate.  The cabinetry is identical and much of the tonearm is the same, but there are also differences.  The platter bearing for the TD165 houses a 7mm spindle rather than the 10mm spindle shaft of its larger sibling.  The inner driven platter for the TD165 is die cast resin (aka plastic) rather than the cast zinc metal of its brother.  The tonearms differ in the anti-skate devices used.  The TD165 used what was known as the TP11 tonearm.  Essentially the same gimbal pivot design as the TP16, used by the TD160, but with a weight-on-a-string design to counteract the skating forces that all pivoting tonearms must deal with.  The TP16 of the TD160 used, by comparison a pair of opposing magnets, one fixed, the other adjustable for position in location about a metal ring.  Adjust the one magnet closer to the ring and anti-skating bias was increased.  Who is to say which of the two arms was actually better..?  However the TP16 was sold as the superior unit.  

Which is actually the better sounding table..?  In truth they are close but with slight variations in overall tonal signature.

The Thorens TD160 Super

Analogfan's TD160 Super (USA)

 Brian Kearn's TD160 Super (Ireland)

 Patrick_Ng, TD160Super (Singapore)

Artur Santos, TD160 Super (Portugal)

Henk plinthed TD160 super (Uk)

What about the 'Super' designation....why is it so super..?  Here's a little story.

The story begins with a UK Thorens distributor called Metrosound, and later to be known as Cambrasound.  Metrosound was the kind of company that listened to its customers comments.  When they began hearing numerous comments from TD160 owners who claimed to have modified and indeed improved the sound of their samples,  Metrosound decided to investigate on their own.  They set service manager Charles Trayhorn on a mission of producing a modified TD160 in an effort to persuade the manufacturer, Thorens,  to produce such a version. 

 What Trayhorn built used a different mat, used no foam damping in the springs, and the undersides of the motorboard and sub-chassis were damped with bituminous felt.  The plastic TD160 armboard was replaced with a high density version and left blank to incorporate many different tonearms apart from the standard Thorens TP16.  The standard cabinetry surround was replaced with a larger, more solid one and the plastic dustcover hinges were replaced with metal ones and the top trim facia received a slightly different paint scheme. This is essentially what Thorens themselves built, dubbing it the TD160 Super. The factory TD160 Supers were all based on the TD160 mkII model.

Typically, the TD160 Super came without tonearm so that the customer could choose his/her favorite arm and allow the dealer to drill the armboard to fit.  Metrosound/Cambrasound was just such a company that could do this.  The TD160 Super sold in limited quantities and always cost significantly more than its standard TD160 MkII brother.  Even without a tonearm.

TD160S

Gordon Dyer's TD160S Mk IV (UK)

Dirk van der Sloot's TD160S Mk V (Holland)

The TD160S, like the Mk IV and MkV versions are actually successors to the TD147 which came equipped with the TP16 mk IV and TP90 tonearms respectively. The Mk V is from 1988 to approximately1991. These models, like the TD145, 146 and 147 featured auto-lift and shut-off operations.  Like the TD147 they feature a more solid cabinet.  The TD160S should not be confused with the earlier and more specialized TD160 Super. 

The Thorens TD145, the design of the TD160 but with the added complexity of auto-stop with arm-lift.

Rolf Eriksson's TD145 MkII (Sweden)

Ivan's TD145 (Croatia)

TD145 anon (Canada) inside the box photos show the mechanisms.

 Allan Spivak's TD145 MK II with Mission arm (Canada)

TD166: Successor to the TD165

Tito Dasgupta's TD166 mkII (India)

Euvrard, Jerome's TD166 MK II (France)

Stefan_Ludke's TD166 with custom plinth (Germany)

Phil_M's TD166 MK VI  (UK) This unit was sold by Thorens up into the mid 1990s.

Napoleon's custom TD166 (Canada)

Jim Nicholl's custom TD166 (USA)

Frank Veldkamp's TD166 with custom surround (Australia)

Frank Domenici's TD166 mk II (USA)

Gary McGee's TD166 mk II (USA)

Martin Krauhs' TD166 mkV (Austria)

TD146: semi-auto version of TD166

Juergen Gammer's TD146 (Germany)

Adrian Schmidtke's TD146 (Germany)

TD147: Successor to the TD145

  Robert Veenema (Netherlands)

Chris Burmajster's TD147 Jubilee (UK)

TD147 Jubilee JH (Canada)

TD126 MK 1, 2, 3 and 4.  Successor to the TD125 

George Barros's TD126 MK II (USA)

Reynaldo Mendez's TD126 MK III (Venezuela)

Boban Nikolic's TD126 mk III with tweaks (?)

Carbonman's TD126 MKIII (Canada)

John Elison's TD126 MK III (USA)

Don Hopkins TD126 III / SME (USA)

Peter_Mueller's TD126 III Centennial edition with SME (Germany)

Yaxkin Restrepo's TD126 Mk II (Mexico)

 Erwin Rast-Schulz's TD126 MK III Centennial  (Germany)

TD127: a TD126 with a long base plinth to mount a 12 inch tonearm.

Tom C's TD127 (China)

TD226: a special TD126 that accomodates two (2) tonearms.

Richard Cheong's TD226 (Hong Kong)

 Rolf_Kelch's TD226 incorporates autolift function to SME tonearms (Germany)  Very custom.

The Thorens Reference: The factory turns their designers loose to build a 'cost no object' best sounding turntable.  

Jürgen Loos' Thorens Reference (Switzerland)

Pham Thanh Cuong (Viet Nam)

 Thorens Reference (unknown)

Thorens Reference 1, (SN# 22) Rolf restores a customer's table

Thorens Reference (SN#34)

 Found in a NY garage.  Now resurrected and ready.

Rolf_Kelch designs and  builds the Rolf Kelch Reference II (Germany)

Rolf_Kelch_Reference_II_Build_No3 (Germany)

 Comparing the Reference I to the Reference II

Thorens Prestige: After making the limited edition Reference, Thorens offers this flagship model

Francisco_Garcia's Thorens Prestige (Spain)

Pham Thanh Cuong's Prestige

Thorens Prestige restoration project (Germany)

This forlorn Prestige test mule is found abandoned deep within an old German Turntable factory.  Watch it transform into full glory.

The TD321, 320, 318, 316 and Phantasie

 Tom Jung's TD-320 (modified by Rolf Kelch Electronics) (Switzerland)

 Jan de Groot's TD316 with mods (The Netherlands)

 Bill_Hayes TD321 (USA)

Paul Johnstone's TD320 (Australia)

Rolf_Kelch's Thorens collection (Germany)

Brian Kearn's TD321 (Ireland)

Colin Royle's 'four' TD321 / SME players (United Kingdom)

Heikki's TD316 mkIII (Finland)

Soundbug1's Thorens 'Phantasie' (USA)

Note about the Phantasie:  It was a special model TD320 constructed in solid clear cast acrylic instead of the usual medium density fiberboard. (MDF)  These were issued to Thorens dealers worldwide as a marketing device to gather attention to the brand.  These models could be ordered from the factory by customers but the price was not low.

TD520 / 521

Circa 1985 - 2001

 Thomas Appel's TD520 (Germany)

Christoph Hegemeier's TD520 (Germany)

With its wider plinth to accommodate 12 inch tonearms, the TD520 carries on in the tradition of the TD125 LB (Long Base), and the TD127.....only in an updated design more akin to the TD3xx and TD2001 models

 TD521 S  in transparent acrylic

TD2001, TD3001/ Ambiance.

Mario Mueller's TD2001BC (Germany

 Rolf_Kelch rescues a wrecked  Thorens Ambiance (Germany)

 Ron Kraft's TD2001 (Ger)

TD280, 290

 Lise Steen's TD280 MKII (Denmark)

 ramossp' s TD290 (USA)

Various non hi-fi Thorens turntable models dating from the turn of the 20th century and its acoustic wind-up gramophones  to the portables and compacts made throughout the century.

Camera Box Portable Thorens 78 player (NL)

Jos Van den Broeck's portable wind-up Thorens  (Belgium)

Barry Halpern's Model No.229 (USA)

Jac's 1933 acoustic model ? (USA)

Jos's wind-up portable Thorens (Belgium)

Gian Luca Tugnoli, Thorens 808 portable (Italy)

Rene's Thorens Model No. 244  (Holland)

Thorens Musico (Germany)

Jorge Vicedo's Thorens model CD30 changer (Spain)

misc photo

Note: all photos supplied by owners....