Turntable Reviews

Sunk into the plinth's back panel are two pairs each of nickel-plated, single-ended (RCA) and balanced (XLR) output jacks, plus ground screw and power cord receptacle. Four adjustable aluminum/rubber composite feet support the plinth.

Finally, the powder-black TPN 124 power supply, measuring 4" W × 3" H × 9" D, includes a toroidal transformer that causes "very little scatter," Kürten wrote. Translation: It doesn't leak EMI/RFI all over the place.

Setup
A pair of 1m singled-ended (RCA) Shindo Laboratory interconnects connected the TD 124 DD to my Tavish Audio Design Adagio and Luxman EQ-500 phono preamplifiers. A pair of Triode Wire Labs Spirit II interconnects joined each of these phono preamps in turn to the Shindo Allegro preamplifier, coupled to my Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion power amplifier (20Wpc into 8 ohms) using a 2m pair of Shindo XLR to RCA interconnects. A PS Audio BHK Signature preamplifier and an LKV Research Veros PWR+ class-D power amplifier (200Wpc into 8 ohms, 400Wpc into 4 ohms) were alternately employed using the same interconnects. A 2m run of AudioQuest Robin Hood speaker cables mated amplifiers to my DeVore Fidelity O/96 loudspeakers.

Setup was easy. My chores were limited to fitting the 7.7lb platter to the 'table's bearing, leveling the chassis, attaching the antiskating filament and counterweight, installing the cartridge, and mounting and adjusting the tonearm counterweight. Setting overhang isn't possible with an SPU, but azimuth, VTA, and VTF were easy enough to dial in using instructions from the information-packed manual.

Once set up, test taps on surfaces produced no sound through the speakers. With the platter spinning, I placed a stethoscope on the chassis, armboard, and plinth and heard only the faintest whirring. This is a quiet turntable.

Listening in color
I've heard about SPU cartridges for years, and I've read all of Art Dudley's SPU reviews. But until the TD 124 DD and SPU 124 cartridge arrived, I'd never experienced one in my system.

I was stunned by the sound of this cartridge, in combination, of course, with the new Thorens tonearm and 'table. Connected to my Tavish Audio Design phono preamp, with Shindo amplification and the DeVore Fidelity O/96 speakers, the TD 124 DD/SPU 124 combo presented a deep well of touch, tone, texture, and impact. Playing orchestral music, such as 1965's Concerto Grosso from His Master's Voice ALP 2090, performed by Yehudi Menuhin and the Bath Festival Orchestra, the DD/SPU combo manifested very physical textures in clean, muscular instrumental lines with realistic soundstage depth.

Listening to jazz vinyl on the Prestige, Blue Note, and Savoy labels was like a night out listening to live jazz: hard-plucked acoustic bass, pungent horns, and those visceral drums and cymbals, which aroused my inner 15-year-old drummer, who first rattled rudiments in marching corps. Favorite records became new events, communicated in lush tones and big yet finely wrought images. The TD 124 DD/SPU 124 pairing made music that unfurled from my O/96 speakers in big, bold strokes of color and hypertexture.

The TD 124 DD also excelled at rhythmic punch and dynamics, producing music with vigor and drive. The 'table's low noise floor made for stark dynamic contrasts as music burst from the subtlest ppp to the boldest fff. Indeed, occasionally the Thorens/SPU combo's dynamic range was a little bit too explosive.

That well-damped chassis and plinth helped create black backgrounds and reproduced natural-sounding sustain and decay, and when the information was on the recording, a deep soundstage. Peggy Lee's husky voice was way out front of her quartet on the recently reissued Black Coffee (Decca B0032834-01), as Cootie Chesterfield's trumpet wailed at the back of a deep soundstage. That natural reverb was on display on recordings ranging from John Coltrane's tenor saxophone to Paul McCartney's baritenor voice.

Speaking of: Playing my original 1967 stereo copy of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone PCS 7027), the new Thorens energized my listening room. The sound had bloom and weight. John Lennon's vocal on "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was spookily real through the Thorens. It produced images that were as large as if not larger than those produced by any turntable I've had in the house. When Lennon's double-tracked voice elongates the second word of the phrase, "kaleidoscope eyes," his vocal was so eerily clean, spacious, and present that it sounded sinister. The TD 124 DD/SPU 124 was a texture-and-detail champ.

Such hypertextural recasting of familiar records was a common event. Drummer Steve Gadd's punchy tom intro to Rickie Lee Jones's "We Belong Together" from 1981's Pirates (Warner Bros. Records BSK 3432) charged through my listening room like canons blasting. Ed Thigpen's pitch-bending drum work on "Cielito Lindo" (Out of the Storm, Verve V6-8663) had gripping texture and weight. Michael Henderson's electric bass on Miles Davis's Agharta (Columbia PG 33967) growled in massive, heaving, dry notes.

Playing familiar records with the Thorens TD 124 DD/SPU 124 combo was like gaining admission to a new world of color, texture, and soundstaging. It demanded my attention, record after record.

Thorens meets Luxman
When I replaced the Tavish Audio Design phono preamp with the Luxman EQ-500, I heard more treble. Cymbals had more shimmer. Brass instruments had more bite and luster. Acoustic bass grew tighter and gained definition. The Thorens with the Luxman produced more nuance, refinement, and precision. But it lost some liquidity and weight. The DD's big images and soundstage, its saturated tones, and its fleshy textures remained, the last trait even enhanced.

TD 124 DD, say hello to TD 124
My TD 124 has a strong motor, an upgraded motor suspension, fresh bearing oil, and a new belt; all that work was performed by NYC turntable-setup–guru Michael Trei. My original TD 124 has a 9" Jelco TS-350S tonearm.

I placed both TD 124s, the old and the new, on identical IKEA Aptitlig bamboo boards on top of three stacks of small mahogany squares on similar Salamander racks. I moved the SPU 124 cartridge back and forth between the two Thorens 'tables—both now attached to the Luxman pre—played records, and listened. The sonic differences between the two 'tables, with their respective tonearms, came clear. The two 'tables shared similar tone and texture, with similar soundstage dimensions, though the new 'table's stage was bigger The original Thorens sounded more relaxed, sweeter, with perhaps a more rose-colored view of the music. The newer 'table played with more force, drama, and drive. My inner Ken resonated with the vintage machine, which (in addition to the attributes listed above) had a better innate sense of what my old drummer's bones think of as flow, but I was taken by the new Thorens's gusto, vibrancy, and power.

TS 124 DD vs the Kuzma Stabi R
I hoisted my 66lb Kuzma Stabi R turntable, with its 4Point 11" tonearm and Koetsu Rosewood cart (circa $22,000 for the combo), atop the Salamander rack. Contrasting the Kuzma made it clear that despite the substantial design differences, the sonic similarities between the two Thorens turntables were greater than the differences. The Kuzma played with more authority than either Thorens model, with better-controlled dynamics. Where the Thorens TD 124 DD (with its native cartridge) was dynamically explosive, the Kuzma/Koetsu was better behaved, more orderly, and perhaps more realistic. The Kuzma was more neutral, with better top-to-bottom coherence—these advantages offset by a slightly more recessed and diffuse soundstage. The Stabi R was meticulous, analytical, and exacting; the Thorens delivered giant helpings of color, texture, and dynamics.

Conclusion
Gunter Kürten and the Thorens team have made good decisions in bringing to market a turntable that pays homage to the original TD 124 while updating it at the same time. The designers' most heretical move—replacing the original 124's peculiar drive system, which resulted in a turntable with fluidity and, well, drive—with direct drive has achieved an even more propulsive sound, with a somewhat larger soundstage and better dynamics. In the process they've made some clear, obvious improvements—a nonmagnetic main platter; a less tweaky cueing and braking system; a nifty antiskate scheme for the tonearm—and thrown in a high-performing, vintage-looking tonearm. Though not included, the SPU cartridge is highly recommended as an appropriate new/old companion. A successful balancing act.