Amazing quality. Quiet, superb tracking.

None.

This review is for the TD 145. This is a terrific turntable. I'm the original owner. I purchased new in 1976 (thereabouts). When the Telarc digital recording of the 1812 overture came out, I was just amazed that the Thorens tonearm and Pickering cartridge tracked cleanly through the cannon fire, delivering real punch and amazing sound. In the more than 25 years I've owned it, it's never let me down, and I've never even thought about replacing it.

Clear, detailed and open midrange, deep and taut bass lines

Out of production, spare parts hard to find

I have bought TD 145 MkI second hand 2 months ago. It looks perfect. With Audio technica AT 95e is excellent perofrmer. Handling is easy. Midrange are phantastic, open, clear and detailed. Bass is taut. This turnable perfectly fit in my System Cyrus dad 3 CD player, Cyrus One amp and Mission774 Loudspeakers

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Sanyo Q 40, various Technics and Pioneer turnables

No wow,no flutter,speed stability,musicality,incredible bargain used

vintage stuff so check the bearing, tonearm, pulley etc.;original wire and grounding sucks;card board bottom plate;very light TP16mk2 tonearm only allows for high compliance cartridges; mine runs a little too fast

I bought a pickup on a flee market for 5 euro(=5 US$). Thought it was broken,but it had an extension cable and a Stanton cartridge that looked nice. Anyway, 3 months later i spent 270 euro on the table and another 160 euro on a used Musical Fidelity XLP preamp. My living room is filling up with used LP´s. Yes,after 17 years i´m back into vinyl. I have a Sony X7ESD CD player, a top model in it´s day. The pickup is a 1979 Thorens TD145 mk2. I got a 22 mm MDF bottom plate with 3 spikes,i put a few drops of oil in the bearing,i had the wire changed to Van den Hul MCS150 tonearm wire and D502 interlink cable,the guy also made a proper ground connection with an external ground wire (got rid of the hum),i had a new Ortofon Super OM20 cartridge installed,a hifi dealer in town readjusted the tonearm wich had a little play and repaired the "clutch" of the innner and outer motor pulley. Yes, a lot of work and hassle and i spent more money than i intended to. And maybe i should get a new original belt,another 35 euro. BUT. The amount of MUSIC this old pickup can wrench out of an old LP from a flee market after proper cleaning is incredible. Wide and deep stereo image, fat bass, crisp highs etc. The LP is a pain compared to the CD:clean the stylus,clean the LP,scratches,pops,hangers,skippers etc. But a good LP just gets me more involved in the music than a CD. And it´s a great way to deal with your midlife crisis,reliving the 70ies with The Eagles,Steve Miller etc. etc....

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Pioneer Pl-120

Low cost. Well made..Musical Sound

None

The Thorens TD 145 MK II is a fine turntable from the last great era of Thorens. I bought this from a friend for $100, had new interconnect cables and a Shure V 15 III installed and added a Ringmat 250 to replace the stock rubber mat. This is a very musical and reliable LP spinner for a VERY low price! If you find one of these in good condition for under $200 grab it! The tonearm is easy to set up and will track almost any LP you throw at it.

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Thorens TD 150 MK II

A very good neutral sound at an affordable price, rock solid TT , dead silent, what more ?

underrated.

This review is for Thorens TD 160mk2, a TD 145 without automatic stop feature. Bought in 1978, I’m still using it on a regular basis. I never tweaked it and therefore can’t figure out wether this TT might sound better (or worse) after extensive settings and upgrades. I just replaced the lousy captive interconnect with a cheap Monster cable because one channel disappeared after 15 years.During all these 24 years, I only tried different cartridges in the same league as the TD 160 (more specifically as the original tonearm) : Shure M95ED (supplied with the Thorens) was quickly replaced by an excellent M97HE, then an Ortofon MC10s and finally Shure M97XE. The rule in the 70’s was the crucial match between cartridge and loudspeakers, provided you’ve got a good phono stage from your amplifier ; replacing my ageing speakers with better performers (of the transparent kind) immediately highlighted the Ortofon shortcomings (a bit bright and somehow thin in the mid) . The M97XE solved this. This TT is for no-brainer music lover who vastly prefers spending the (too limited ) time left for music in playing records rather than in tweaking the equipment. This TT is still incredibly silent and stone reliable, despite overnight parties, moves, children etc..it provides a really smooth , punchy and balanced sound, depending of course on the recorded material . I assume, there are far better contenders in the highend market, but at which obscene cost ? Not to mention the painfull setting process to get the best from it ? My TD 160 mk2 + Shure M97 Xe sits on a Soundstyle X105 and is partnered to a Marantz PM17mk2 amplifier and ATC A7 speakers, all cables from Qed. A true winner combination. For what I paid, back in 1978, and for the price you could find it in the second hand market, I would still rate it 5 stars. Splendid job, Thorens !

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TD 145, Lenco L85 and many poor jap designs

Rock solid and reliable, very good neutral sound, nice design and construction

underrated and sadly discontinuited

This review is for Thorens TD 160mk2. Bought in 1978, I’m still using it on a regular basis. I never tweaked it and therefore can’t figure out wether this TT might sound better (or worse) after extensive setting and upgrades. I just replaced the lousy captive interconnect with a cheap Monster cable because one channel disappeared after 15 years.During these 24 years, I only experimented different cartridges in the same league as the TD 160 (more specifically as the original tonearm) : Shure M95ED (supplied with the Thorens) was quicly replaced by an excellent M97HE, then an Ortofon MC10s and finally Shure M97XE. The rule in the 70’s was the crucial match between cartridge and loudspeakers, provided you’ve got a good phono stage from your amplifier ; replacing my ageing speakers with better performers (of the ruthless and transparent kind) immediately highlighted the Ortofon shortcomings (a bit bright and somehow thin) . The M97XE solved this. This TT is for no-brainer music lover who vastly prefers to spend the (too short ) time left for music in playing records rather than in tweaking the equipment. This TT is still incredibly silent and stone reliable, despite overnight parties, moves, children etc..it provide a really smooth , punchy and balanced sound, depending of course on the recorded material. However it’s not perfect (limited bass extension and dynamic to name a few) and I assume, there are far better contenders in the highend market, but at which obscene cost ? Not to mention the painfull setting process to get the best from it ? My TD 160 mk2 + Shure M97 Xe is partnered with a Marantz PM17mk2 amplifier and ATC A7 speakers. For the price I paid back in 1978 and how you might spend to pick up one in the second hand market, I would still rate it with 5 stars. Splendid job Thorens !

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Thorens TD 166, TD145 and some cheapo stuff from Japan

Outstanding craftsmanship

The cue controls have never worked correctly

Very good turntable, the craftsmanship of the player is amazing. Has a shure cartridge replaced a while back.

Outstanding value TD 160-C which is similar to the 145(wish I discovered this table years ago, before I spend some bucks and bought my Linn)!

speed not adjustable, mine played a bit too fast, (I was able to correct it, see below) but it's nothing a VPI PLC or SDS won't correct)

I purchased my Thorens TD-160C a year ago after noticing this turntable (and two others collecting dust) while installing a new washer and dryer in this customer's home. He said the Thorens was for sale, so we immediately negotiated and finally settled on $100--. I noticed on the orig owner's manual, it had a Pickering cartridge pictured on the unit, so I decided to install a Pickering XUV-4500Q that I had purchased 10 years ago (but didn't really quite like on my previous tables) I must say, with this Pickering cartridge, this table sounds BETTER than my Linn Sondek ever did (so far)! I'm not saying the Linn is not a fine table, too, but it's taken me a few more bucks to get about the same performance I've been able to achieve from this Thorens (for a mere fraction of the price)! For comparison purposes, my Linn is currently a Valhalla w/Basik LVX arm and Audio Technica AT-440 cart. (the Pickering cartridge didn't sound quite as good on the Linn as it does on my Thorens). One major disadvantage(to me) was the fact this Thorens table played a bit too fast,even with a new belt (what I did was machined a few thousandths off the pulley, which corrected it, but this is likely not a good idea long-term) IMHO, for what a used Linn costs these days, the Thorens 145/160/165 series and a used VPI PLC speed controller will be a much better value overall! I am seriously considering selling the Valhalla'd Linn and using the $$ to buy a VPI PLC or maybe even VPI's newest SDS speed control for my Thorens instead! My thoughts.

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Perpetuum Ebner, Technics SL-B2, Sony PS-3300, Linn Sondek LP-12

Neutrality, tonearm quality, isolation, construction quality, looks.

Age. Mid-70's vintage means parts (except belts) are very costly. Luckily this model is stone reliable and parts are very seldom needed.

This is my second TD-145. I regretted having sold the first so this one has a permanent home. The TD-145 is much like the original AR XA turntable of the 1960's but much more sophisticated and better constructed. Rumble is way below audibility. Speed accuracy is excellent. Isolation is first-rate. The Thorens tonearm is not the best but it's very, very good.

Properly set up (not difficult but be careful) this turntable is about as neutral as they come. Bass is rock solid, high frequency tracking is exceptional. Any noise you hear is already on the record. Plus, it looks as good as it sounds.

Few turntables are as good as a Thorens and this isn't even their top model. As good as: An AR XA or XB sounds as good but is a fragile beast. A DUAL 1219/1229/1249/5000/701 but they are getting harder to find in A1 condition. Very few direct-drives (a few Sony models and maybe a Denon or a concrete-based Kenwood and, of course, a Technics SP10). There are better machines available but not that much better and the cheapest (a Rega or a Pro-Ject 1.2) go for 4 times what you can get a nice TD-145 for.

This may be the cheapest intro into "high-end" turntables. Compare the sound and quality to your typical 70s or 80s Japanese table and the Thorens will win handily. It's way past the point of diminishing returns.

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DUAL 1219 and 1229. Sony PS-X50, Technics SL3300, AR XA, XB, XB-77.

Beautiful build, longevity; silent performer

no longer made

What can I say. I've had it all these years (since 1975) and had only one small problem: the wires connecting to the stylus oxidized and had to be replaced.

These units are legendary. I once had a friend from Arkansas who testified that the only thing that was salvageable after a tornado was his Thorens.

These can be had for a song on the internet. If you have old vinyl, see what's really been cut on it by roadtesting one of the Thorens units.

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Technics SL-1200MK2