TD160 Face lift with LP12 BooPlinth Hack

[JamieMcC]

I picked up an old beat up Thorens TD160 a while back with the intention of making it a bit of a project. Its been sat on the shelf in the garage since but during a bit of net surfing on some turntable stuff last week I stumbled across the BooPlinth which is a Bamboo aftermarket plinth for the Linn Sondek LP12 with a whopping £1,950 price tag!  http://www.booplinth.com/

My pockets are not that deep but it did spark my imagination and after a quick measure up of the TD160 I found a new use for a Ikea Bamboo chopping board (I picked a few extra up on my last visit to the store). I finished putting it all back together yesterday and hooked up to the Eros

I'm pretty chuffed with how this one has turned out.

Cheers
Jamie

[adeep42]

Wow!!! That is just stunning. The carbon fiber looks awesome. But that's not just any TD-160. You've got an SME tonearm. What cartridge are you using?

Btw, do you know this site; www.vinylnirvana.com

Alan

[Doc B.]

Very nice!

[howardnair]

Very nice. Makes me wonder the lp 12 plinth I made out of blood wood would be worth what???

[JamieMcC]

Wow!!! That is just stunning. The carbon fiber looks awesome. But that's not just any TD-160. You've got an SME tonearm. What cartridge are you using?

Btw, do you know this site; www.vinylnirvana.com

Alan

Hi Alan

I'm using a vintage A&R P77 cart with a Jico SAS stylus. I recently picked up a Shure V15 mark III which should arrive this week luckily both the P77 and Shure can use the same Jico SAS stylus     

Thanks for the nice feed back and thanks to Bottlehead as well Doc it was you guys and the many posts on the forum that opened my eyes to a whole new exciting world of DIY audio.

[Sugar Man]

Simply gorgeous! Where did you get the carbon fiber?  And most importantly, how does it sound?

[JamieMcC]

Simply gorgeous! Where did you get the carbon fiber?  And most importantly, how does it sound?

The carbon fibre I use sometimes in my day job as a boatbuilder so I keep a small stock of different grades of fabric and resins.

It sounds good and I have an idea for another LP12 inspired mod for it which I hope will make it sound even better if it works

[JamieMcC]

Finished making and installing my other LP12 inspired mod yesterday a carbon fibre subframe  Sounds good so far. Its a about half a kilo lighter than the metal one and is more ridged. Next step is to try adding that half a kilo of mass back into the underside of the flywheel.