Thorens TD 146
I found very little info on the 146. Much more on the 145/147. The tonearm looks a bit different than the 145 arm. I assume this a good performer for the money, going for $300-$600, depending on condition. My guess is it doesn’t reach lofty heights until the tonearm swapped out to a Jelco, SME, ..... I have an opportunity for a very clean one locally.
hvy: The earlier TD145 had auto stop, but I don't recall it lifting. There was a TD147 in the shops around the time the TD146 was new, but other than a different arm I don't know the difference. I heard the TD146 in the early 80's (I think) when visiting my folks in Iowa and saw the new TD147 when I got back to LA. I still had 2 TD160/Sme combos that cost very little so didn't go for it. Also, as mentioned, auto stop didn't interest me back then.deKay |
@dekay Yes the 145 has the autostop and auto lifting feature. I have one in my storage unit and it is darn near perfect. |
I bought a TD146 in, I believe, 1984 and used it for about 25 years. The TP-11 MkII tonearm was a bit different than I was used to seeing on Thorens tables. Instead of a removable headshell, the tonearm on the 146 had a removable wand (TP-63) with integrated headshell and the anti-skating was adjusted by moving a string-suspended weight, instead of a knob-selected setting. The 146 had an auto-lift and shut-off mechanism which utilized an optical sensor that sensed the faster arm movement in the lead-out groove. This generally worked well unless the record had been stamped off-center. I had two LP's and quite a few of the large-hole 45 RPM singles that were stamped enough off-center that the arm would lift before the last song was finished. It's likely that there was an adjustment that could have corrected this but it occurred so seldom that I lived with it. |
How limited would my cartridge choices be with the lower mass 146 arm? I assume the Denon 103, and wood/other versions of the 103, need not apply. The 146 is local to me, and the asking price is $600, but it's apparently minty. I can't help but think about spending around $1200, and the jump in performance that might buy. Something like the Linn that popped up here with the Valhalla PS. It's under $1500, and the arm looks pretty serious. No affiliation with the seller as I digress. (-: |
