I would be inerested in your opinions on the following.
I have 2 Rega arms, RB300 and a RB220.
2 re-wire kits, both single wire cartridge to plug, but 1 short kit with phono sockets on about 6" of cable.
I also have 2 turntables, Rega Planar 2 plinth and a Thorens TD160 which is being renovated.
My quandry is which Arm and rewire kit to match with which Turntable.
My thoughts so far is that the short rewire kit may be better on the Rega plinth as dressing the short wires would be easier with no suspension.
Opinions and thoughts would be most welcome.
I have 2 Rega arms, RB300 and a RB220.
2 re-wire kits, both single wire cartridge to plug, but 1 short kit with phono sockets on about 6" of cable.
I also have 2 turntables, Rega Planar 2 plinth and a Thorens TD160 which is being renovated.
My quandry is which Arm and rewire kit to match with which Turntable.
My thoughts so far is that the short rewire kit may be better on the Rega plinth as dressing the short wires would be easier with no suspension.
Opinions and thoughts would be most welcome.
RB 300 on the Rega deck with short kit and RB 220 on the Thorens would be my choice . The RB 300 and Planer 2 is a superb combination and ( in my opinion ) better than the Thorens although thats not a bad deck either .
If I remember correctly, in the reviews by Hi-Fi Choice (or was it Audiophile or HFN&RR) around 1991 RB300/TD160 Mk?? combo scored better than plain Planar 3.
I have an RB300 on my TD160. Funnily enough the arm is Thorens branded, I guess they sold them for a while. I like the combination. Yes you probably want the longer wire for dressing the cable. Depending on when your 160 was made you may need to modify the subchassis to mount a Rega arm. What other mods do you have planned for the Thorens?
I have had Rega RB250 and then RB300 on my custom Thorens TD160 Mk1 since about 20 years ago. Cartridge is a Goldring 1022.
The TD160 Mk1 had a 10mm diameter bearing shaft and conseuently is the one to have.
I have mine set up to perfection and rakes through the tracking error tests on the Hi-Fi news test record with ease, even the torture test track 4 or something like that.
It is cracker with the RB300 and it's a pity I can't let you hear it.
A little unfair to compare a Planer 2 but it wouldn't match a TD160 with a RB300 but when you go for a legacy suspended turntable it is like buying an old Ferrari, it needs specialist care and attention, it needs a Thorens belt, forget the 3rd party ones. I put Linn LP12 springs in mine and then had to extend the 3 suspension struts etc. etc. etc.
If I couldn't do any of this and I only mentioned 1% of the customisation I would stay clear unless you know or can pay someone to do it. The problem is tuning it and moving it. I tune the suspension where the turntable sits and it doesn't shift after that. This is how precise it all gets when you are extracting the most from a suspended platter turntable.
The TD160 Mk1 had a 10mm diameter bearing shaft and conseuently is the one to have.
I have mine set up to perfection and rakes through the tracking error tests on the Hi-Fi news test record with ease, even the torture test track 4 or something like that.
It is cracker with the RB300 and it's a pity I can't let you hear it.
A little unfair to compare a Planer 2 but it wouldn't match a TD160 with a RB300 but when you go for a legacy suspended turntable it is like buying an old Ferrari, it needs specialist care and attention, it needs a Thorens belt, forget the 3rd party ones. I put Linn LP12 springs in mine and then had to extend the 3 suspension struts etc. etc. etc.
If I couldn't do any of this and I only mentioned 1% of the customisation I would stay clear unless you know or can pay someone to do it. The problem is tuning it and moving it. I tune the suspension where the turntable sits and it doesn't shift after that. This is how precise it all gets when you are extracting the most from a suspended platter turntable.
Here it is and I need to get the cotton buds out...
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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