KLUDGE@AGCB8.LARC.NASA.GOV (07/08/90)
Your THORENS turntable is completely USELESS. Everybody knows that TECHNOLOGY changes so FAST that only equipment which is a few MONTHS old is any good at ALL. Also with TURNTABLES the TONEARM will become SOFT and FLABBY if it's not CONTINUOUSLY subjected to the VIBRATION of a recording. This is why all TRUE audiophiles leave their turntables in operation ALL night, with a SERVANT to change the RECORD periodically. If you let your MOTOR cool DOWN too FAR, the LUBRICATION will CONGEAL and the motor will SIEZE UP. So it's VERY IMPORTANT not to allow it to SIT unused in a CLOSET or SOMETHING. If you WANT to USE it, you'll have to REPLACE the TONEARM and have the MOTOR reworked. Also you'll have to place SUPPORT STRUTS in the platter, to keep it from SAGGING. Since this will INCREASE the amount of TORQUE needed to DRIVE the DAMN thing, you'll probably want to install a BIGGER motor. In any event, since the RECORD industry has COMPLETELY switched over to the INFINITELY CLEARER sound of COMPACT DISKS, nobody in this MODERN AGE even THINKS about playing RECORDS. Your best BET is to CUT your LOSSES and try to get FIVE or TEN DOLLARS for your TURNTABLE with someone who only listens to ROCK music and won't KNOW the DIFFERENCE. seriously, though, I am using an Empire Transcriber from the 1940's with a modern Grado tonearm, and am delighted with it. The state of the art hasn't changed all that much, and though you'd probably want to change the cartridge, the turntable is well worth keeping. My only experience with Thorens equipment was with the autochange model that would flip the record over and play both sides, which my father owned years ago. Mercifully, it was stolen, after it had damaged much of his record collection. But if the equipment is at all well-built, it's worth using. --scott