[sebastian589]

I have the option of buying a Thorens TD125 MkII Turntable with an SME 3009 Tonearm for three hundred bucks, the turntable is being sold by an audiophile (speakers not headphones) so everything is in good condition. I've heard pretty good things about the two though I have found limited impressions, so the main question is whether this is a good deal for the price? I'm looking to get into vinyl (all i have now is a sony 90 dollar TT which i bought on a whim) so I thought this might be a good start as the names are familiar

Thanks

 

[memepool]

Very good deal indeed. You'll be hard pressed to find a better turntable than the Thorens for less than 3000USD today.

A recent test in the UK magazine Hi-Fi world compared it to the state of the art Origin Live Aurora Gold in stock form and decided there wasn't much in it, each being better in some ways but no overall winner.

The SME 3009 is a lovely arm but a bit old fashioned sounding so depending on your taste in music you may want to upgrade this as some stage. It sounds amazing with classical music, jazz and acoustic stuff but a bit coloured compared to a more modern arm like the Rega RB250.

I upgraded my TD125 with a fully tweaked Origin Live OL1 arm which sounds excellent.

If you decide to stick with the SME for now then hunt around on ebay for a Shure V15III or V15IV without a stylus which you should be able to find for around 50USD . A custom top class stylus is available from Jico in Japan for 100USD. This was the classic match for the SME3009 Series 2 which yours is most likely to be as it's on a TD125.

 

[nc8000]

At that price I would go for it. I haven't listened to the Thorens for many years but I used to have the SME3009 arm on a Dennon deck until that got replaced by the Rega 25. I liked it a lot, it was my first decent arm/deck combo bought when I was in college about 25 years ago.

 

[java]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sebastian589 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have the option of buying a Thorens TD125 MkII Turntable with an SME 3009 Tonearm for three hundred bucks, the turntable is being sold by an audiophile (speakers not headphones) so everything is in good condition. I've heard pretty good things about the two though I have found limited impressions, so the main question is whether this is a good deal for the price? I'm looking to get into vinyl (all i have now is a sony 90 dollar TT which i bought on a whim) so I thought this might be a good start as the names are familiar Thanks

That is a very decent turntable and well worth having, due to my location, I will not hazard a guess as to how big a bargain that may be ...

 

[JadeEast]

Buy it!

 

[sebastian589]

Oh lord this is tough, right now I am debating whether I will purchase the TT or a pair of RS-2's, right now I own an Onyko Dvd player for a transport which feeds a Channel Islands VDA-1, and I love the combo so my problem is whether or not this turntable will approach the same quality of sound. This may be one of those questions that could merit an entire thread/discussion, but which will give you a better bang for your buck, a 500-600 dollar vinyl rig, or a 500-600 dollar digital rig?

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sebastian589 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh lord this is tough, right now I am debating whether I will purchase the TT or a pair of RS-2's, right now I own an Onyko Dvd player for a transport which feeds a Channel Islands VDA-1, and I love the combo so my problem is whether or not this turntable will approach the same quality of sound

Having never heard your digital front end I couldn't say but my TD125 is more than a match for my Studer A727 CD player on most recordings and that's no mean feat.

If you don't like it you can always sell it for a profit and buy even better cans

. You could easily get 300USD for that SME arm alone on ebay. Look

http://cgi.ebay.com/SME-3009-Early-S...QQcmdZViewItem

These decks were the top of line Thorens in the 1970's and you'd have to spend 10 x that today to get a comparable level of engineering. If you are at all curious about vinyl you are unlikely to get a better opportunity than this seriously.

 

[JadeEast]

Just do the right thing.
Buy it and give it a home.
You will at least get make money if this deck doesn't work for you.
As well ask when you buy it what extra cartridges and extras he mave
have for it.

 

[sebastian589]

I hate all of you, I'll send the man an e-mail but I will also need to look at a decent phono pre-amp, any recomendations for one thats pretty cheap that can hold me over?

 

[sebastian589]

Oh what a cruel world it is, the turntable has since been sold, I thought my place in line was reserved but alas I was mistaken, well I guess fate has made my decision for me, now I'm just dissapointed, I will keep my eyes peeled for another one though

 

[memepool]

They seem to turn up often enough on audiogon but generally for between 450-550 depending on what arm is on there. Don't worry about the arm too much as it's usually worth upgrading unless you're musical tastes are confiend to the things I mentioned. The TD126 is also a very good buy but avoid the MK3 as it has speed stability issues.
The lesser models like the TD150/160 are also worth a look although prices on these are getting higher it seems. 150-350 depending on the version is about right.

 

[islewind]

Now you know to buy the next one you see at that price...

 

[cleophus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by memepool /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very good deal indeed. You'll be hard pressed to find a better turntable than the Thorens for less than 3000USD today. A recent test in the UK magazine Hi-Fi world compared it to the state of the art Origin Live Aurora Gold in stock form and decided there wasn't much in it, each being better in some ways but no overall winner. The SME 3009 is a lovely arm but a bit old fashioned sounding so depending on your taste in music you may want to upgrade this as some stage. It sounds amazing with classical music, jazz and acoustic stuff but a bit coloured compared to a more modern arm like the Rega RB250. I upgraded my TD125 with a fully tweaked Origin Live OL1 arm which sounds excellent. If you decide to stick with the SME for now then hunt around on ebay for a Shure V15III or V15IV without a stylus which you should be able to find for around 50USD . A custom top class stylus is available from Jico in Japan for 100USD. This was the classic match for the SME3009 Series 2 which yours is most likely to be as it's on a TD125.

The Shure V15Typelll is a classic!But the mass of it always scared me.
Like a supertanker riding your records.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cleophus /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Shure V15Typelll is a classic!But the mass of it always scared me. Like a supertanker riding your records.

It's a good match for the SME 3009 S2 or III though. It's too high compliance for most arms these days although the V15IV has the damper which means it can work on a medium mass arm.