![]() ![]() Although sonorous and powerful sounding, it did not provide the refinement and air that I so craved, and which both a standard Thorens and the 160B with SME arm do provide.įor assessing the arm mainly I used the hybrid magnetostatic/dynamic Apogee Centaur, barely visible above, and the Revel Ultima Salon below. The obvious choice for a first step up would be Rega and the RB 250 does indeed provide very good sound at very low cost. From past experience however and in those circumstances at least, I had learned that that the RB250 in the guise of the Michell Tecnoarm was not the ideal arm for me. This provided the necessary backdrop for me to try out a different arm. The same is true to some extent for the original Thorens arm, but because the latter has a very tight bearing it may not produce the fullest bass but still sounds controlled and lively. In this case, it is the Denon D元04 which has a lower compliance than the arm likes. The crux of course as always in audio lies in the matching of individual components. Fortunately, the Origin Live arm was compatible with this. My TD 160 was already prepared by Arti of for fitting the SME arm. The sub-chassis may need some machining to make room for the new arm. The original Thorens may have a flat soundstage and sound thin in comparison, it does definitely rock. In other words, rhythmically it is not very well inspiring. While the refurbished 160 with its SME arm definitely sounds tonally much fuller, tracks better and sounds a lot more refined, the area where it’s lacking is PRAT. Sme tonearm to a thorens td 160 series#Used with the D元04, the SME makes for a luxurious, smooth and exceedingly refined sound, but quite woolly as well, with a distinct lack of midbass punch.Ībove and below: the refurbished Thorens TD160B MKII, with SME 3009 Series II tonearm.Īs I also have a stock TD160MKII a comparison is easy to make. In the time that this arm was first produced, cartridges were of the MM type and had much higher compliance than typical MC cartridges then and now. The SME 3009 SII improved (made from 1972 to 1981) by comparison has a very loose knife-edge bearing, where the arm actually sits freely inside two cavities, held in place only by gravity. Retail Price in the Netherlands: 650 euroĪfter having obtained a beautifully finished Thorens TD160B with all parts carefully cleaned and reconditioned, with completely new high gloss cabinet, the best motor and best bearing shaft and spindle made for this ‘table, topped off with a very nice “SME 3009 SII improved” arm, I marveled at its beauty, but could not help thinking that something was not right about its sound. A superb match with Thorens TD-160 Review sample kindly supplied by Origin Live ![]()
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