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Run Thorens Run ?

The play on John Updike's Run Rabbit Run aside, I have a few questions about setting up a Thorens TT and am hoping that an appeal to the collective consciousness will provide some enlightenment.

I'm returning to vinyl after a hiatus of 15 years and have acquired a Thorens TD 150. At the moment it is without an arm, but equipped with an armboard with an oval cut for an SME tonearm.

I'm thinking about purchasing a Basik tonearm, Goldring 1012 cartridge; finally an armboard for the Basik from Technical & General. The cost of these additional parts will run about 140 GBP shipped. Does this seem like a sound idea (will for example drilling out the armboard be an issue?), or should I be looking to some other strategy?

In short: Departing from the armless Thorens deck, how would you go about things to get it decently up and running (at reasonable cost)?

Many thanks in advance for your comments...
agonanon

Showing 2 responses by gregm

gregm
3,396 posts
 
I'd avoid drilling armboards, unless I had access to precision drills and was a skilled technician myself (I'm neither). OTOH, 140 quid for arm, board & cartridge is not excessive (it's not chicken feed either, mind you).
Instead, why not go for a SME 3009 series arm that would be plug & play? Plus a bog standard 50quid cartridge -- many good performers around!

Cheers & welcome to the glorious world of vinyl.
gregm
3,396 posts
 
Agonanon -- Shelters, Benz, Denon, maybe a Sumiko or an Ortofon, i.e. a cartridge that's reasonably rugged (Denon, for example) and offers a musical, if not exotically accurate, sound retrieval/reproduction.
There's a lot of on-line help in setting up a cartridge, better written & more detailed than I could ever produce. However, the prevailing issue is that you choose the arm first; then, experienced A'goners (Twl is a good example) can help you narrow down the choice of cartridge taking into ACCOUNT the arm's compliance. Cheers.
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