I’ve owned a few Thorens players, including three different TD124 players. All of those the first version (MK 1). Two were early with 4 digit serial numbers the other one was somewhat later in the production run with a 5 digit sn.. I sold the two early 4 digit decks. Still have the later one.
I’ve used a few different tonearms on mine, including an SME 3009 SII. And also the SII improved. I’ve used a Zeta (black) tonearm. I’ve used a Rega RB250 -modified by Expressimo- tonearm. I"ve used an Infinity Black Widow tonearm on it. I’ve used a Graham 2.2 tonearm on it.
And lastly, I set up a TD124 mkII with the factory oem TP14 tonearm on it. All of these arms worked well on the TD124. Although I might add that the TP14 was the most complex to make adjustments to.
I think the DL-103D moving coil cartridge is not as low in compliance as are the current DL-103 and 103-R versions, ... and so it may match ok to the SME 3009 SII with its 12grams effective mass. And the Shure V15VxMR will likely work ok on it as well. That Shure ,btw, is not as highly compliant as were its predecessors. More like a compliance rating around 20 whereas earlier versions were with a softer suspension.
The Rega was good, actually. In spite of its medium low effective mass rating, it worked well with both low compliant MC cartridges and also high compliant MM cartridges. A capable arm that offers very good value for the money.
The Zeta was good too, although finding one of those in good adjustment might be a challenge.
I’ve set up a TD124 with a Jelco SA-750D arm. It was quite good. It looked great with an excellent quality of build and finish. Excellent value at its price. This arm can work with low compliant cartridges as well as medium compliance cartridges. I heard it with a re-bodied Denon DL-103R mounted to it. I’ll bet the Shure V15VxMR will work on it ok.
The Infinity arm is perhaps the worlds lowest effective mass tonearm that was mass produced at 3grams effective mass and definitely requires a high compliance cartridge. I used a Shure V15VxMR on this arm with good results. I got better results with an earlier M91-E. Actually, I prefer the M91E to the V15VxMR on this arm.
I’ve used an ADC XLM-II and Sonus Blue cartridges on this arm and table to good effect. Though the ADC and Sonus offered less bass weight than any other cartridge tried on this arm. I also tried a Technics EPC-205-II to very good effect. More bass weight and very good overall impressions. Actually in today’s world, the BW arm is limited to vintage cartridges. I don’t know why I ventured down that particular rabbit hole. ;-)
The Graham is very good on the TD124 and might have an advantage in that its un-ipivot - pivot brg is less affected by drive train vibes than are gimbal bearing arms. I suspect that other un-ipivots would work well on the TD124.
Additionally, the SME 3009 SII with its clunky knife edge bearing seems less disturbed by the drive train vibes of that Thorens. With it mounted the table produced a nice quiet background -- for an idler.
Further notes on the SME 3009 SII while on the TD124.... This is a somewhat clunky implementation of the knife-edge bearing concept. I regard it as a ’blunt instrument’. It is far from being the last word on detail extraction. Although it did, for me, produce nice meaty slices of enjoyable music from my record collection. Good mid-range, mid bass and lower bass presence. Yeah, it allowed for the reproduction of strong body and slam on the TD124. I’ll give it that much. But for fine detail, inner detail -- not so much.
Another thing to consider is that with the built-in arm board support in this chassis Ten inch tonearms can’t be used. Mounting distance required puts the base body of such a tonearm right into the outer frame work of that chassis. 12 inch arms work fine on chassis mounted arm boards as well as arm boards separate from the chassis. And, by the way, with the right arm and cartridge the Td124 can reproduce some very fine detail. It can also produce a great big sound field with solid body and weighty slam.
Yet another consideration. If this TD124 has been in storage for a considerable number of years, a thorough clean-up, re-lube, and adjust is in order. Otherwise it won’t perform like it should---if at all. The motor gets most attention on these but the rest of the drive train is of concern.
-Steve
