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Thorens TD 160 record Player - Electrical Feedback !


Penlan

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I have a Thorens record player, and although most of time great, occasionally I get, what I will call, loud feedback.
I've checked the wiring and all seems ok, so I'm at a loss to understand why there's the noise.
Sometimes it will happen when I touch the unit - though there's no feeling of a electrical 'tingle'... :O 
I'm assuming (always a dangerous thing) it's some form of earthing problem. But there's nothing obvious.

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When you say "feedback" do you mean that in the sense of the high pitched sound that is emitted by speakers if they are too close to the microphones?

 

Or a deeper mains hum which is often due to an earthing problem?

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I think it's more the mains hum, the only problem is there doesn't appear to be a natural (provided) 240V earth connection provided.

The metal deck is earthed to the shrouded fine wires that come from the pickup, but I'm not of a mind to connect those to the mains. :help:

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Get the amplifier checked over. That's where the mains is in a circuit network also carrying the teeny weeny little audio signal from the stylus. One degrading component or poor connection is all it takes to get some coupling of the mains frequency to the audio signal, which then gets amplified.(The mains on the deck should be solely confined to the motor, and doesn't go anywhere near the audio signal if the deck has a decent component layout. When next you have the hum, unplug the deck and see if the hum remains.)

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Many thanks for the information - I've now found some useful web sites on mods, repairs etc., for the TD160.
I have also ordered up a new set of tone arm wires as I think there may be a problem in there, somewhere.

However, from the comments on Audio web sites, this does seem to be a worthwhile refurbishment.
I had this Thorens given to me many years ago by my late father,

...... but it has only just arrived via a relation - Don't ask, family politics    :nono:

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Feedback is the essence of life .A  controlled guitar feeding back along with mics,bass and big amplifiers is the true sound of the gods .OK I was deaf for a week afterwards but it was fun .Be proud of your feedback and love it ... :smoke:

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Horsetan, not normally, though all the gear is now in the same room - I just load up CD's and let them run....

However, last Wednesday we had a Retro-Discs evening in our local Royal British Legion Club and the Thorens played up, I had to use a cheapo plastic Sony deck, which although OK, there's an element of "...got all the gear, but doesn't work..."  :scared: 
.
I'm determined at the next do, it all works perfectly..... no humming.

I'm running it through a Pioneer SA-760 amp, with matching Pioneer CD and Cassette decks, plus a laptop internet connection.

As I'm a bit (most bits according to my wife) deaf, I have trouble making sure the speakers are giving the ranges of xxHz I want. Out of four sets of speakers I have, I ended up using cheap Sonys - for the tinnier, high end sounds - and some large JVC's. Strangely  the Roberts and Wharfedales I have just didn't have the depth of base and middle tones (or whatever it's called) to give the overall performance I wanted.
I'm told the evening was very successful, but as I had my head buried in all the records, CD's etc., and not a lot to drink, I'm not sure, though they do want another one.  I'm told it could be heard way outside the Club - and indeed, at home, when I think all the household is out, they say they can hear the sound driving up the road.... sounds all right to me, but then I'm deaf'ish..... :sungum:

When I'm playing with train set, the music tends to be Debussy etc.,  

.... But down the Club >>> Rock-on >> aka 'Tranny' Music way down west, and NO not that tranny, it's the Transit Van travelling up the A30, M5 etc., at 68mph and the CDs loud enough for the sides of the van to be vibrating and one foot tapping to the music - 68mph.....  

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My Linn Sondek LP12 has a very thin earth wire on the phono output lead which is connected via a spade connector to a screw terminal on the back of the pre-amplifier next to the phono input. It's always under tension from the weight of the decks phono leads. Could yours have broken ?

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