Vinyl record players are the part of Hi-Fi that time has truly no power over. No matter how far scientific and technological progress has come, high-quality mechanics and precision tuning are still highly valued. That is why Thorens turntables, which originate from Switzerland, have enjoyed special recognition for decades.
And in the beginning there was music
The history of Thorens began in 1883, more than 130 years ago. It was then that Hermann Thorens’ family business was registered in the Swiss town of Saint-Croix.
The main products were clocks and music boxes. In fact, since its inception, the company has been involved in music reproduction and has remained true to its chosen path for over a century. In 1903, the first Edison-type phonographs of the Thorens brand were released, and in 1906, horn gramophones for shellac records appeared — the grandfather of the modern vinyl record player.
Forty-four years after its founding, in 1927, the Thorens family business was transformed into a joint-stock company, Hermann Thorens SA. A year later, in 1928, the company received a patent for the world’s first direct-drive electric motor for electric gramophones. Another year later, another landmark event took place — the creation of an electric pickup head with a moving magnet, which made it possible to achieve a previously unattainable level of playback quality. In fact, electric gramophones with MM-type pickups are the direct ancestors of vinyl record players.
In addition, the first half of the 20th century was marked by the appearance of a number of completely different products that also left their mark on history. From 1913 to 1964, Thorens produced lighters with automatic ignition (the prototype of the legendary Zippo) and Thorens Riviera mechanical razors.
The vinyl era
Everything changed in the 1950s. It was then that a new type of gramophone record appeared — vinyl LPs recorded at a speed of 33 1/3 revolutions per minute. Higher recording quality and the ability to record an entire album on one record took the very principle of music consumption to a new level. Thorens, in turn, began producing high-quality Hi-Fi turntables. The first and truly legendary TD124 model was introduced in 1957. It was a four-speed turntable with a roller drive, a 10-watt motor, a stroboscope, and a magnetic brake for speed control. Based on the ideas laid down in the first model, three more turntables were released between 1958 and 1961: the TD184, TD134, and TD135, which formed a complete line of turntables. All new models were equipped with Thorens’ signature tonearms.
In 1962, two more notable models appeared. The Thorens TD121 combined traditional high quality with the lowest possible cost. Many solutions were borrowed from the TD135 and the classic 124, but the TD121 had only one speed of 33.1/3 rpm, no strobe, and a simpler design than its predecessors. This was a significant step towards popularizing the brand and making it more accessible to the masses. Another significant step was taken in the direction of convenience. The Thorens TDW224 is an automatic changer based on the TD135 model with the addition of a disc-changing mechanism. The device is capable of sequentially playing up to eight discs.
With new strength
In 1963, Thorens merged with another Swiss company, Paillard SA, which manufactured Bolex movie cameras and Hermes typewriters. Two years later, a new top-of-the-line TD150 turntable with the proprietary TP13 tonearm was created.
The new model had a sub-chassis with three-point support, on which the tonearm and bearing were mounted. At the same time, a 16-pole synchronous AC motor was installed on the main chassis. A 7-pound double-layer zinc disc is mounted on a bearing with a 10 mm stainless steel shaft, bronze bushing, and ball bearing. It is driven by a belt drive. The use of a belt instead of rollers reduced detonation, as the drive belt naturally dampens the speed fluctuations of the electric motor. The innovations implemented in the TD150 model have reduced noise levels, increased operational stability, and raised the overall sound quality to new heights. A significant part of the design solutions of the TD150 model are still used in one form or another.