4
PSA: Dropped $400 on a "restored" vintage turntable that was a complete lemon
I bought this Thorens TD-160 off some guy on Facebook Marketplace who said he fully restored it. Got it home, set it up, and the motor started grinding after like 10 minutes of play. Turns out he just cleaned the dust off and replaced nothing inside the platter bearing. Did any of you get burned buying vintage audio gear that was hyped up as "restored" but was really just wiped down?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
claire_wells8714d agoTop Commenter
The bearing on my TD-160 was bone dry too when I opened it up, and a $12 bottle of synthetic oil saved it from turning into a paperweight. Idk why these guys think dusting the dust cover counts as a restoration.
6
claire_walker14d ago
The real scam with these "restored" turntables is that nobody ever touches the suspension springs. On a Thorens TD-160 the whole chassis floats on springs and if they're 50 years old and sagging or uneven, the thing will skip on any warped record no matter how shiny the platter looks. $400 is rough though, especially when a proper rebuild kit for the bearing is like $30 and an afternoon of your time. Last time I saw a "fully restored" Dual on Craigslist the guy had literally just sprayed the inside with WD-40 and called it a day.
1