Vintage turntable windfall

[GWN]

I finished terminating a set of QED speaker cables for an acquaintance of mine a few days ago. He was a bit strapped for cash so he ask me if I would be interested in trading for a few vintage turntables he had. He mentioned he had a couple of Thorens and a Revolver turntable in the basement. I was interested because I do all of the turntable set-ups for a local hi-fi store and in the process end up getting quite a bit of work refurbishing older turntables, changing cartridges, etc. So I'm always looking for spare parts.

He showed up with the following tables for trade

Thorens TD166 MK2 Mahogany base with Audiotechnica AT140 cartridge and Thorens Q-up tonearm lift
Thorens TD166 MK2 Black with AT 120 cartridge.
Thorens TD125 Mk2 with AKG P10 cartridge
Walker CJ58 MK2 with Alphason Opal tonearm and Grado Z+ cartridge
Revolver turntable with Grado ZF1 cartridge
Roksan Xerxes with SME III arm and unknown AKG cartridge.

The TD166 mahogany is like new so is the Walker. The TD125 is in pretty rough shape but works fine. The Roksan has the dreaded plinth dip so may not be recoverable.

I now have 9 turntables in the house (4 Thorens, 2 Revolver, 1 Roksan, 1 VPI and 1 Walker). I'm going to need more phono pre-amps. Many of you are probably saying so what, you got a few crappy turntables for your QED cables. But you would be surprized how good some of these tables sound when properly set up. Though some folk that are into vintage gear might get a kick out of this. Not a bad haul for a few hours of work terminating some cables.

 

[stryker]

I have a chance to pick up a Thorens TD 126 MK III here locally. Any idea on what it is worth not knowing what it may need? It is supposedly in "superb" condition. The price is $400 w/ Shure cartridge but I am guessing the seller is open to haggling.

There's also a Garrard 401, SME tonearm and Shure catrtridge. I have no idea about these items and I will look them up, but any info. is appreciated. Thanks.

EDIT: Strike that request. From what I've read, these older tables need some tweaking and the money is better spent on the newer tables by Music Hall and others and putting in a good cartridge. However, I must first overcome the wife acceptance factor. She looked over my shoulder earlier this evening and shouted "you're not getting a turntable!" Sigh. Sometimes I wish I was a rich, single electro-engineering geek. I'd get no sex, but boy would I have a mean stereo system!

 

[TN98]

I have two vintage turntable set up. One is the Thorens TD124, SME3009, Shure type III. The other is Garrard 301, SME3012, Ortofon SPU Classic (mono).
I'm a long term vinyl fan but newbie for the headphones world. I used to listened to the speakers system with the Linn and Roksan Xerxes. I bought this two as a collective item since it looks so cool. I bought a Thai built tube phono stage for MM (about $150) to play some old records (Jazz, Classical, Oldies). They sound fine to me.
I'm waiting my PPX3 to come. I end up this waiting period by bought the Hybrid amp Chinese made from Shenzhen. I first play it through HD650/Zu Mobius with the Naim CD and my old Rotel CDP. It sounds smooth but kind of thin especially bass region. Then I gave the TD124 a try. It just awesome, much more bass and very musical compare to the CD. Now it just sound right. The bass is tighter , more extended and faster in any respect. You kind of referring to the real drum set for the real band playing live. I have to crank the volume up a bit since the output from CD is very high. It might not quiet as CD but with the TD124 I can listen from the beginning till the end of the album. I'm very enjoying so much. Wait till I try with the PPX3.

The Garrard 401 is seem to have a good or better performance than the 301 which in the same league as TD124 but it doesn't have a classic look for me. As a collector may be I'll own one soon anyway. I didn't add it on my signature, actually I also own the Roksan Xerxes (very very good sound), TD125, TD146 and TD126 too.
All in all I would say that even a low profile turntable will sound right and better than the digital source in term of musical IMO.

Sorry for my English.

 

[GWN]

I envy your TD124. That is one fine turntable. Expensive and hard to find in good shape. I was really pleased to see the Roksan Xerxes complete with the external power supply. I looks wonderfull and has no scratches. But the split plinth has the infamous tonerarm dip causing the area where the SME is mounted to be about 1/8 lower than the rest of the plinth. I will have to search the web to find a way to slavage that one. I'll remove the plinth to see if I can use it as a template to cut and rout a new one out of MDF. A shame considering the shape the rest of the turntable. The SME tonearm looks new and the external power supply work perfectly.

 

[TN98]

The reason I haven't play it for a while is the plinth problem. You can go and check at the Roksan website. They offer the adapter to raise the height of the plinth. I'm about to buy one. Actually it will lift the platter higher so it doesn't touch the plinth. The tone arm you can lift it by it self to level with the platter.