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Thorens td124 cost today

koi

pfm Member
What do we reckon the cost of the td124 would be if made today

This turntable is really top quality compared to some new stuff I have seen come onto the marketplace.

Makes you think if Hi-Fi has really moved on that much.
 
Tough question as the modern audio market simply isn't of the scale to be able to invest in so many bespoke castings and machining processes. If anything like it (or a Garrard or EMT) was made today it would be CNC machined I guess, and when you look at decks built in such a way they are at the top end of the market. The only deck I can think of at a price below that of the real high-end super-decks such as TechDas, SME etc that has anything like the build quality is the new Technics SL-1200 variant. I guess they expect to sell a lot of them over the years so can afford rather more than band-sawing a few slabs of MDF and machining some acrylic the way most modern decks are made.

Bottom line: I've no idea, but I doubt I could afford one!

A more interesting question would be to ask whether this is a sensible way to make a record player? I love the TD-124 and consider its ergonomic design the best of any deck ever made at any time by anyone, but I can't help think it is rather more complex than it needs to be and with so many moving parts and mechanical interfaces it can't ever hope to be as quiet as a good direct drive deck.
 
I picked up a 124 for peanuts in the late 1970s.
I was astounded when some guy offered me his LP12 in a direct swap.
I kept the LP12 for over 30 years but I somehow wish I would have kept the 124.
ISTR it had an SME arm with it; could have even been a 12" one.

Simon
 
Not sure 'giant killer' is the right phrase for a €7k deck with a tonearm that goes for about £1.5k second hand!

PS I'd also argue it was possible to get a TD-124 working to top level performance a lot cheaper than that!
 
Considering the TTs I like more than it are Techdas and Thorens ref, and the owner sold off his top of the line Brinkmann and SME, and click on the link at the bottom of the post to see the turntables the other owner previously owned
 
Td124

I find it simply awesome and a joy to use it just ticks all the boxes for me.
 
There are a few things that really bug me aesthetically: a) the lines are all just too harsh/sharp, real ones have a truly beautiful almost Henry Moore sculptural form that this lacks, b) the colour is wrong, personally I’d have gone with the cream of the MkI, though the light grey of the MkII would have been fine, and c) WTF were they thinking sticking a fine-speed control there? If it needed one (why would it?) it should be on top of the speed selector in its rightful place, and d) it should obviously be 4 speed.

24573070931_3d2d6aaba2_b.jpg


I’m sorry, but my mid-60s MkII just looks way, way better IMHO. I can see the attraction of a totally silent 124 though!
 
Oh yes, I couldn’t agree more Tony. The new Thorens seems to be a Technics at heart.
 
I see only one US dealer that has posted a price for the TD-124 DD. $14,000.

(Insert the usual comments about the ridiculous price of audio equipment here.)
 
What do we reckon the cost of the td124 would be if made today

This turntable is really top quality compared to some new stuff I have seen come onto the marketplace.

Makes you think if Hi-Fi has really moved on that much.

As noted above, the potential sales volume will dictate method of mfr. Particularly when we are dealing with up front costs associated with casting molds. Such costs can easily exceed $100K in today's North American industry. So the more likely method to re-produce a TD124 chassis would be a process affectionately known in the trade as "a hog-out". Where the chassis is carved from a single billet of Aluminum via cnc mill. Less expensive, but definitely not cheap. (I consider the idea of products and tooling manufactured in China as a non-starter)

My question would be; why reproduce a TD124 when you already have enough used samples in circulation? And...spare parts are still plentiful. If it were my choice, and resources were not a problem, I'd want to update the original design into something superior. Superior in performance. I'm not certain that the aesthetics of the original needs any improvements. It's got that 1950's Harley Earl* look going for it.
*Influential General Motors auto designer from late forties into mid fifties.
-Steve
 
8000€ it would seem. Now with something that looks like a Technics DD drive. Didn't see that coming.

https://www.thorens.com/en/thorens®-td-124-dd-en.html
I remain skeptical on this one...pending reviews. And I'm skeptical of it particularly after reading the review of the TD 402DD..https://www.analogplanet.com/content/thorens-td402-dd-direct-drive-semi-automatic-turntable by Fremer on his analogplanet blog.
That said, They did get a positive review on the TD1600/1601 from the same reviewer. Two very different turntables.

-Steve
 
By the way, B&O are about to release a new Beogram 4000.
How much will it cost I wonder. ;)
 
...My question would be; why reproduce a TD124 when you already have enough used samples in circulation? And...spare parts are still plentiful. If it were my choice, and resources were not a problem, I'd want to update the original design into something superior. Superior in performance. I'm not certain that the aesthetics of the original needs any improvements. It's got that 1950's Harley Earl* look going for it.
*Influential General Motors auto designer from late forties into mid fifties.
-Steve

It’s worth making a new TD 124 as getting an original up and running - and then maintaining it - is not a simple task. The complexity put me off buying one, so I’m glad to see the new one even if direct drive does seem a surprising move.
 


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