2. analog
  3. 160072-63554

Bent Slightly Out of Shape

I scored an almost-mint Thorens TD-160 turntable last week and remembering back to the one I owned in the mid-70s, an ADC cartridge sounded very good on it. I found an ADC XLM Mk II for a reasonable price on Audio Asylum Trader and picked it up. The cartridge looks to be in good shape, other than the cantilever/stylus assembly is slightly skewed, not dead-ahead straight. My thinking is that when playing records, it will be pulled back to the correct angle by the groove-walls. Does that make sense or is it just wishful thinking? I went ahead and bought a brand-new Grado Blue also just as insurance, but I really want to install the ADC.
discnik
andysf's avatar
andysf
269 posts
 
KABUSA has ADC XLM MK II Improved NOS for $79.00 so not a big deal to replace it, in any case.  It is in the Specials section of his website.
audio2design
1,351 posts
 
@discnik ,

How are you liking the TD-160?  Friend asked me to put together a system for her son for christmas and I have an opportunity for a TD-160 MKii at what I thought was a really low price ($275) and appears to be in good shape. Her son likes retro, so she want to get something classic, as he will research everything.
discnik OP
161 posts
 
It took a month to get the cartridge installed in the headshell by a local tech known as Turtleman (not counting the 2-3 weeks it took me to decide to do it myself or farm that task out). I haven't even installed it yet because I'm already running a TD-145, a TD-320, and a TD-160 Super and one of the first two will probably have to be idled to use the 160. That project is on my to-do list over the next week or so. IMO, you can't go wrong with a Thorens.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,810 posts
 
@audio2design We'd a 160 with a Grace arm and AT95 cartridge and it was great. Bright and clear and musical. For $275, and clean, it's worth it.
More to discover