Vintage turntables quality and sound review Thorens /Sansui

Here i look at build quality of two vintage turntables one mid one high level .
The thorens wuth sme 3--9 arm and the Sansui 222 mk 2

[NOONEAm]

I am getting back into vinyl again and just loving it! I didn’t have a high end turntable when I bought my first serious stereo, but it was affordable and still works as good as it did in 1980. I bought a new LP every 2 weeks from 1973 to 1988. I never got into CD’s I thought they were a fad, but that said I did buy 2 of them!
I am now 63 and have an upgraded and restored Marantz TT1000, which looked great in the 80’s and nearly 40yrs later still excites me every time it hits the vinyl.
Thanks for your passion for sound excellence putting your videos out there.

[The-Spotlight-Kid]

More Gr8 tips, i owned a Thorens TD150 that often came s/h fitted with same 3009.. (fixed h/shell on mine) ..tonearm, very early in my life of s/h buying to get the best from my 45' & 33.3 vinyl collection (45's long gone now) & I must say I've never seen a better engineered bearing on other later vintage t/turntables I owned, I sold it to a good friend & maintained it as a favour for his 10'ish years of ownership & the amount of time it takes to drop a TD150's sub-platter & its spindle to sink fully to the bottom of its cleaned out & freshly.. (few drops, no room for more down their) ..oiled bearing well was ridiculously long, I wish I'd timed it for interest alone, the passing minutes where trying to push it to go set it up quicker was met with strong resistance, some oil overflowed a bit, so we waited & waited. When it fully sank, giving it & it's fitted outer platter & spinning push, saw it spinning silently for a good few minutes, I showed him how pressing an ear tight to the plinth, you hear nor feel anything audible or vibrationsl, it spins for ages as long as the motor's drive-belt is removed. That alone to me, reeks of top quality Swiss engineering I've not seen beaten, tho i've seen how I've not had near as many vintage t/table as this guy, so maybe other vintage decks show this TD150's bearing quality, but I missed owning such decks. I sold that deck converted.
P.S. & btw, i dropped that Thorens 150... (after removing the original wood plinth) ..into a lump of overly (six inch) thick & wider.. (for 12'inch tonearm notions) solid wood jig-sawed out only to closely accommodate the floating sub-chassis & arm-board's free movement, gave it huge improvement but only really noticed when I screwed the overhanging top metal plate into that new plinth with 3" spaced & deep brass screws, gravity alone did not show hardly any improvement, i only then first stumbled across the obvious physics clue, that sinking resonances away is key in t/table's top sound quality design, it's own wood plinth is o.k. but rather thin but the difference gobsmack me for the improvement gained after firmly screwing that metal top-plate that's glued to rests only on 4 thin wood corners in it's original plinth. Even as-is, i reckon a Linn Ittok & good m.c. would get unbelievably close to £3000* (*years back) ..worth of the most basic but complete new Linn Sondek t/table, arm & m.c. cart' ...TD150 is highly upgradable too, if that's in your bag

[stephenhill]

I'm totally obsessive enough with tinkering and adjusting, then I watch your excellent, informative and entertaining videos which get me at it again! I have the Thorens td150 mk2 which I absolutely love and have no need for anything else. Keep up the good work.

[Stuck_in_the_s]

Brilliant video, thank you. I had an early 70s Thorens TD160 for a number of years before the upgrade bug bit and I upgraded to a Roksan deck. The Thorens was a great deck I loved the look of it, and it also sounded great. When I was a kid my dad was well into his hi-fi and vinyl records. I’ve turned into him, because that’s pretty much me today! My dad bought a Sansui SR-222 Mk II identical to that one in about 1978 (I think it was £70 new). Sadly, last year we lost my dad and I was crushed. After a while I cleared out his garage and there it was - the classic Sansui!! AT-110 cartridge all ready fitted to the removable headshell. I took the deck home and cleaned it up - it was filthy. I sourced a new belt from eBay, wired a plug on the bare power lead and then I was ready to test it. It powered on and the platter began to spin. I dropped the needle and Stevie Wonder suddenly burst forth from the speakers (also my dad’s old Mordaunt Shorts). I have to say I’m so pleased to have it, it sounds great! I need to get a new clip to hold the tonearm in place as that’s broken, but pretty sure I can find one on eBay or somewhere - and it doesn’t stop it being used on a second system.

[thomasoshea]

The "splash" when the drums and cymbals kick in on Miles Davies' "So What" is so fantastic on vinyl/tube amp set up.

[romanserdyuk]

I like your frank and simple explanations and appreciate your advices based on experience.

[lactobacillusprime]

I find myself listening to vinyl or cd or even tapes enjoying the music more by handeling the media picking it out spending more time on an album than the instant acces streaming digital media.

[darrensworkshop]

Thanks for re-introducing me to hi-fi. I'm now building my retro system..Three amps brought already so I can switch over for different sounds and looks. Keep up the good work my friend.

[gregbranson]

Always enjoy your videos Kevin. It is great to see someone so enthusiastic about vintage HiFi. Just picked up a Sansui AU-101 that takes me back to my youth in the 70s.

[lactobacillusprime]

Thanks for the explanation and comparison. Very clearly done! The better turntable making the sound more defined and instruments more clearly distinguishable is something that when you experience spoils you forever ;)

[metphmet]

I currently have a TD150 and I use to have a TD 126 equipped with SME 3009 or Linn arm. Very good turntables indeed. But, but I have also a precise sound stage with my CD with a lot of presence of the musicians. I am more a classical music lover and I go often to the concert . My conclusion is that CD can give a terrific experience.

[rmzidann]

Obviously I am watching this video 3 years later… but boy, I can totally relate. I just listened to jazz album that was sitting on my Technichs 1500 MK2 TT with a AT VM540ml cartridge and I was blown away at how good my vinyl sounded vs my Eversolo DMP-A6 streamer with the Denafrips Iris DDC and Pontus 2 DAC. It was way more engaging. The album was on the platter under the dustcover for a year… lol

[osbert]

Great video. Think you describe the advantages of vinyl over digital very well! I have the same tone arm (SME 3009) on a 70's Ariston deck. I also have a Thorens TD160 and TD 166 with stock arms. The only thing different that I would recommend is a cartridge from the 70's...a Shure V15 Type III or a Stanton 681eee make all the difference to the rather lifeless Ortofon Blue.

[madmeister]

Another great video. Thorens TD150 and 160 are fantastic turntables that bat way above their price point. Way back in 1965, if Thorens made washing machines instead of turntables the Linn Sondek LP12 would not exist. However, if it did it would look nothing like it does today. Thorens have left a great legacy that others try to emulate.

[timuroguz]

Really solid observations and comments. Thanks!

[dougg]

I have a Thorens TD166 and I highly recommend this turntable for someone looking to get into vintage vinyl. I think they go for about 650 dollars as the vinyl resurgence has driven prices up.

[markbryant]

i bought a thorens td160 15 years ago. i'd had a rega planer 3 that wasn't impressive at all and also a technics sp10. these were my quality tables. i'd had some cheapies too. I still remember the first time playing a record on the thorens. ive still got it and still use it every day. a fantastic table.

[MikeLeePhoto]

The Sansui 222 mk 1 & 2 were very popular here in Aust in the late 70s-early 80s. Like the Thorens they were great to modify.

[SimonBrowneNZ]

Oh darn. I have a Thorens TD125 that has been just waiting to be played “for decades “ while I’ve been enjoying the convenience of streaming albeit good stuff from Tidal. I’ll just have to hook it up and revel in the sound again. Your explanation at the end got me in the same way you were talking about Elvis Costello signing his heart out - emotional connection is what I call it. You know it when you feel it. It happens on BGT with the best singers; you get a connection that you can feel in your gut. Thanks for such an honest heart-felt review. Kind regards, Simon, Aotearoa NZ.

[bartvanransbeeck]

I remember in my secondhand audioshop, after a demo of expensif valve amps from kebshule, put the nad 3020, and it was of the same quality musicality