Thoughts on Thorens TD 126 MK III

[BLindsay]

My dad has a record player of the above mentioned model and i was just curious what you guys thought of it, decent? or should i look to getting something a bit newer, its in perfect condition.

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

My dad has a record player of the above mentioned model and i was just curious what you guys thought of it, decent? or should i look to getting something a bit newer, its in perfect condition.

The Thorens TD 126 series were the successors of the Thorens TD 125 MKII series turntables. I just finally retired my 35+ year old modified Thorens 125 MKII turntable with my replacement that you see both in my signature and my Gallery. The 126 turntables continued further development of the 125 series Thorens Turntables including the possibility of semi automatic operation of lifting the tonearm at the end of the disc. The tonearm could be changed on the 126 Series Turntables. But, unfortunately for you the MKIII (motor had a tachometer which resulted in poorer performance) version of the 126 Series Turntables was rated the poorest and performed sonically the poorest of the 126 (MK1,2, & 4 were better) turntables and poorer than both the TD 125 and TD 125MKII turntables.

It may still be worth it to you to start with this turntable and to replace it with a more modern machine in the future. I would suspect that you would need to spend in excess of $700 to $1,000 to observe much superior audio performance compared to your father's machine.

Rich

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

The Thorens TD 126 series were the successors of the Thorens TD 125 MKII series turntables. I just finally retired my 35+ year old modified Thorens 125 MKII turntable with my replacement that you see both in my signature and my Gallery. The 126 turntables continued further development of the 125 series Thorens Turntables including the possibility of semi automatic operation of lifting the tonearm at the end of the disc. The tonearm could be changed on the 126 Series Turntables. But, unfortunately for you the MKIII (motor had a tachometer which resulted in poorer performance) version of the 126 Series Turntables was rated the poorest and performed sonically the poorest of the 126 (MK1,2, & 4 were better) turntables and poorer than both the TD 125 and TD 125MKII turntables.

It may still be worth it to you to start with this turntable and to replace it with a more modern machine in the future. I would suspect that you would need to spend in excess of $700 to $1,000 to observe much superior audio performance compared to your father's machine.

Rich

ill have to double check with him, he was pretty sure it was the MK III but not 100% positive, i wantd to try it because i have never heard a record before and alot of people on the forums swear by their sound. Yeah i think he said it cost him quite a bit back in the day when he bought it

Thanks a bunch for the info