New arm suggestions needed
dromunds
Posts: 10,125
No, it’s not an Ed Gein thread. (“He always had a hand to lend.”). I’m looking for an arm for a Thorens TD-150 and wondering if anyone has any suggestions. Also, wondering if anyone has an arm sitting in the proverbial closet they’d be willing to part with. The table currently has a wooden arm that was made by a guy in California until he passed a few years back but it has issues and it’s time to move on. Thanks. Don
Comments
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Have zero knowledge with the Thorens's and of no help there.
However, I do have an extra arm I was using with my Denon DP. An SME Series III.
The III requires medium-high compliance cartridges if interested.
Skip
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SME arms work very well with Thorens turntables FWIWEnjoying the journey while never attaining the destination.
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You'll want to choose a replacement tonearm that is similar in weight to the original in order to maintain the correct suspension tuning.
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Vinyl Nirvana might give you some ideas. SME and Rega arms seem to be the most popular.
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PM coming, Skip. Thorens used SME arms. I had a few back in the day on other tables, including a Denon DP-75. Wish I never sold that table.
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Roger
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There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
Ken brings up a valid point regarding tonearm weight. I ran into that on a Linn LP12. Cranking up the tension on the arm side suspension with a heavier arm caused more issues that cancelled the better arms contributions.
I'm sure you're aware a new arm with different center of pivot to spindle specs will require a new arm board.
I've seen folks with a Micro Seiki MA505 MKII on the TD-150. That was a great arm. I had one on a dual arm Nottingham Space Deck. I had both straight and curved arms for it. Another arm that qualified for the wish I never sold that...
Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 * -
Yes, I’ve made several arm boards, including for the arm currently on the Thorens. Thanks for the advice on the Micro Seiki and also reiterating tonearm weight concerns. Don
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For folks that like to run multiple cartridges, while the MA505 straight arms did not have a removable headshell, the arms were easily swapped via thumb screw. The straight pipes had fixed headshell while the curved arms had removable headshells.
I had another arm that was held on by thumbscrew, a Moerch DP6 (Dual Pivot). Moerch offered both 9" and 12" arms for it. They also had four choices of effective mass arms identified by a color dot to easily match cartridge compliance. The DP6 isn't a real heavy arm. It's a fantastic performing arm but I think pricing keeps it off a suggested arm list.
My patented on the fly VTA adjuster for the DP6.
Duh, I had a MKIII.
Post edited by SCompRacer onSalk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 * -
SeleniumFalcon wrote: »You'll want to choose a replacement tonearm that is similar in weight to the original in order to maintain the correct suspension tuning.
Agree.
Also, the SME Series III had additional weights to be able to use with the Low Compliance cartridges.
But, by adding those weights.... I always wondered if that changed anything with the original design of the tonearm's capabilities of proper compliance?
