Turntable Reviews

Manufacturer's Comment

While we have not yet had the opportunity to check the sample TD-I50AB sent to The Stereophile, there is little doubt but that the tonearm on this unit was seriously damaged in transit or has a serious manufacturing defect. The 5°tilt in the head shell and the ½-gram vertical friction are completely beyond the design and quality control limits established by Thorens.

The speed accuracy tolerances of this unit are ±1% of the nominal speed, which corresponds to 1/6 of a semitone. On early units the speed was at the upper limit of these tolerances, and slight modifications were introduced in June of 1966 to reduce the average speed by slightly less than 1/3rpm.

The spring suspension of the TD-I50AB has also been modified to provide much improved damping, and this appears to have eliminated the source of your objections concerning bouncy floors and the operation of the cueing lever. These new suspensions are available at no charge to any owner of early-model TD-l50AB's by writing directly to ELPA Marketing Industries.

The unique dual-drive motor, by the way, is of Thorens design and is manufactured by Thorens.