All
Thorens
Website:https://www.thorens.com/
Est. year: 1883
Location: Switzerland
Thorens is a turntable maker that began in 1883 in Sainte-Croix in the Swiss canton of Vaud, where Hermann Thorens set up a workshop for music boxes and clock movements. Phonographs followed in 1903, and the name has been tied to record playback ever since. Today the company works from Bergisch Gladbach in Germany and sells its decks in around 70 countries, placing it among the oldest surviving names in home audio.
Range & what it's known for
The current catalogue centres on turntables, with direct-drive models such as the TD 403 DD, the TD 404 DD and the TD 124 DD, the latter a modern revival of a classic name fitted with a 12-inch tonearm. Around the decks the company offers its own tonearms, cartridges, phono preamplifiers such as the MC 1600, loudspeakers, cables and vinyl care products, roughly 53 items in total. Its reputation rests on belt-driven designs of past decades, including the TD 150 from 1965, the TD 160 from 1972 and the TD 309, which used a sub-chassis with a glass platter.
Who owns it and where it's made
After an insolvency in 1999, the rights to the Thorens name passed to Heinz Rohrer. In May 2018 Gunter Kürten, previously a manager at Denon and Elac, became chief executive, and the new Thorens GmbH was founded on 1 May 2018. Under Kürten operations moved from Switzerland to Bergisch Gladbach, and current products carry a Designed in Germany label.
The lineup in this catalog
Turntables, from about EUR 500 for the simplest decks to more than EUR 10,000 for the most elaborate.
Who it's for
Thorens is a sensible pick for someone building a whole record-playing chain under one badge, since deck, arm, cartridge and phono stage can all come from the same catalogue. Entry models suit a first serious record player, while the direct-drive TD 400 family and the TD 124 DD are the step up for anyone after heavier construction and longer tonearms. It also suits those who value a turntable name with a documented history going back to the nineteenth century and support in many markets.
Range & what it's known for
The current catalogue centres on turntables, with direct-drive models such as the TD 403 DD, the TD 404 DD and the TD 124 DD, the latter a modern revival of a classic name fitted with a 12-inch tonearm. Around the decks the company offers its own tonearms, cartridges, phono preamplifiers such as the MC 1600, loudspeakers, cables and vinyl care products, roughly 53 items in total. Its reputation rests on belt-driven designs of past decades, including the TD 150 from 1965, the TD 160 from 1972 and the TD 309, which used a sub-chassis with a glass platter.
Who owns it and where it's made
After an insolvency in 1999, the rights to the Thorens name passed to Heinz Rohrer. In May 2018 Gunter Kürten, previously a manager at Denon and Elac, became chief executive, and the new Thorens GmbH was founded on 1 May 2018. Under Kürten operations moved from Switzerland to Bergisch Gladbach, and current products carry a Designed in Germany label.
The lineup in this catalog
Turntables, from about EUR 500 for the simplest decks to more than EUR 10,000 for the most elaborate.
Who it's for
Thorens is a sensible pick for someone building a whole record-playing chain under one badge, since deck, arm, cartridge and phono stage can all come from the same catalogue. Entry models suit a first serious record player, while the direct-drive TD 400 family and the TD 124 DD are the step up for anyone after heavier construction and longer tonearms. It also suits those who value a turntable name with a documented history going back to the nineteenth century and support in many markets.
