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Turntable advice-thorens questions

Hello! I'm looking at some of the restored Thorens units here for sale in the $1500.00 range. My question is-am I going to get the most bang for my buck by doing this or should I be looking at a new unit? Right now I have a fairly nice 2 channel system I have around $12k invested, so something that will do justice to my $$ spent.
Thanks for your advice.
mopoarnut
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Linn LP-12 is the best Thorens I know; better bearing and platter. A good second hand should be within your price range.

Regards,
weiserb's avatar
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weiserb
476 posts
 
You can get a very nice Linn LP12 for that money or a VPI
I upgraded from Thorens to Linn and never looked back. The Linn sounds fuller, richer and more life like. quieter too.

The gentleman who sold me my LP12 upgraded to a VPI at multiples of the Linns price and felt, that while the VPI was better, he was not sure it was worth the much higher cost.
jeremy72
97 posts
 
Vintage Linn Lp12 is overrated imo and are tweaky as heck, especially earlier versions. They can sound nice but suspension are a pain to setup and need alot of attention to be anything worth while. Look inside a vintage Lp12 and look inside a vintage Thorens TD150 and they are almost identical. Imo I'd get a restored and replinthed td125 with fixed suspension and call it a day.
ferrari
617 posts
 
With over 53 years in this hobby and having been down every route imaginable. My best advise is to buy a VPI or Sota. Both are American made tables, should service be an issue these companies remain in business and are financially stable. Both VPI and Sota have clear upgrade paths so that your purchase does not become obsolete. Plus one can call them and get advice. Another table I recommend is the Rega P2 or P3 as well as the Nottingham. With these tables that are UK built you will have to rely on your dealer for service, should that become an issue but both Rega and Nottingham are well built precision tables.
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Jeremy 72, You abviously recognised the origin of LP-12.
I stated 'the best Thorens' that I know. There is no question about that the bearing, the platter and the suspension of Lp 12 is better than by any Thorens. BtW the
steel plate by LP 12 is the part of suspension. The Linn
may be 'overrated' in comparison with some other turntables
but not in comparison to Thorens. This however is what we are talking about. I owned LP-12 for 10 years and moved on to Kuzma Stabi Reference. I want mention the price difference. But to my knowledge geting a good second hand LP-12 for $1500 is still a bargain.

Regards,
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