Turntables — Thorens TD 124 DD 140th Anniversary

The TD 124 DD 140th Anniversary is a limited run of the Thorens direct-drive TD 124 DD, built to mark 140 years of the company and sold only as a complete set with tonearm and a matching Ortofon moving coil cartridge. Production is limited to 140 units, and the set price in Europe is EUR 11,999. The plinth and armboard are finished in real wood veneer, high-gloss lacquered and polished by hand, and carry a special anniversary badge.

Key specs that matter

Speeds of 33.3 and 45 rpm come from a high precision direct-drive motor, with wow and flutter of 0.04 percent or less to DIN WRMS. The mains supply is external, accepts 115 V or 230 V at 60 or 50 Hz and draws 5 W. The TP 124 tonearm has an effective length of 232.8 mm, an offset angle of 23.66 degrees, 17.8 mm overhang and 15 g of effective mass. The deck carries two sets of output sockets, one XLR and one RCA. The deck measures 425 x 350 x 185 mm and has a weight of 17 kg, not counting the separate power supply.

Engineering and use context

This edition departs from the regular TD 124 DD chiefly in its two-layer platter. The existing aluminium platter, which weighs 3.5 kg on its own, is joined to a 5 mm layer of solid copper, which adds mass, and Thorens states that the two different materials cancel out each other's resonances. The TP 124 arm in this edition is wired with high-purity silver from the cartridge to the outputs. It uses a torsion-resistant arm tube, a relatively high effective mass and an SME-type coupling, so the headshell can be removed and swapped. An electrical lift raises and lowers the arm. The cartridge is a special SPU 124 produced by Ortofon for this set, with coils wound from pure silver in the classic Bakelite housing, and it is not sold separately. Thorens describes the motor as maintenance-free and intended to recall the running behaviour of the original TD 124 from the 1960s.

Pairing

Because the SPU 124 is a moving coil design, the chain must include moving coil gain, either built into the phono amplifier or supplied by a transformer. The balanced XLR output suits phono preamplifiers that accept a balanced input, which keeps the signal path differential from the arm onward, while the RCA pair suits conventional phono inputs. With the SME-type coupling, a spare headshell carrying a second cartridge can be kept ready and exchanged in seconds.

Alternatives

The standard Thorens TD 124 DD is the same direct-drive design with a single-material aluminium platter and without the silver-wired arm and anniversary cartridge.