Join me once again as I overhaul a beautiful and timeless Thorens TD 150 MK II belt drive turntable.

This one is actually a family affair. This Thorens TD 150 MK II belongs to my brother-in-law, Stewart. Stew inherited it after his brother, Pete, passed away, far too young, about a year ago. Rest in peace, Pete. This gorgeous and very cool Thorens TD 150 carries Pete’s personality and love of vinyl with it. She desperately needed some TLC, though, so Stew asked me if I could bring her back to life. You can anticipate my answer, so let’s take a look at that process in another overdue turntable article.

Background

I have a real fondness for proper old-school Thorens turntables like this 50+ year old TD 150. I’ve worked on all the classics over the years, including the Thorens TD 125, TD 124, TD 147, TD 160, and others I’ve not written about yet, but will in due course.

The Thorens TD 150 and TD 150 MK II are well-made, compact, transcription-style turntables. What does transcription mean? It was a term used back in the day to indicate that the inherent fidelity of the system was great enough that it could tolerate really critical use cases, like ‘transcribing’ vinyl to magnetic tape, for example.

Being made in West Germany, at the famous EMT factory no less, everything is metal, wood, with a sprinkling of high-quality plastics only where necessary. The balanced platter is weighty for the time, and sits atop a precision-machined bearing assembly that takes a considerable amount of oil to correctly fill. This one was totally dry!

Who is/was EMT..? Oh, they just made some of the greatest turntables ever, like the EMT-950:

One of the unique features of this and other Thorens machines from this era is the plug-in style adjustable headshell. By adjustable, I mean able to compensate for VTA errors, a very unusual feature. Usually, headshells are adjustable for azimuth only.

The TD 150 is a suspended sub-chassis design, like the Linn LP12, Ariston and Sota turntables from this era that again, will be the subjects of upcoming articles. Most of you will already know that I don’t love these wobbly designs, however. They certainly don’t work very well in many environments; this is indisputable, but with careful setup and the right environment and placement, they can work well enough.

The truth is, I prefer almost all Thorens models, including the TD 150, over these others, for reasons I’ll get into as I write more on these models. The mythology of certain brands comes back to that great British hi-fi press whitewash I’ve discussed previously.

Did the Brits want it known that a then Swiss company with a German-made turntable was better than lesser home-grown products? No, of course not, and they (What Hi-Fi?, HiFi Choice, Gramophone etc) did what they could along with the retail industry to inflate local manufacturers, without ethical consideration for the facts.

This approach fooled many, myself included as an impressionable teen, and I shudder to think of how I disparaged my Dad’s Pioneer PL-12, until indisputable evidence based on experience eventually proved otherwise. This is a conversation I’ve had with many customers, some of whom have been initially dubious, only to come back to tell me I was right.

Of course I’m right, facts are facts, stories are stories! Most people have never seen, let alone heard, the wonderful turntables I talk about here.

The great Ariston v Linn battle is another related tale that others have covered, so I won’t get into it here; suffice it to say that it gave Linn a very unfair jump, which the British hi-fi press then catapulted into true modern mythology. More on that another time 🙂

Thorens TD 150 MK II Specifications

Adapted by Liquid Mike from HiFi Wiki and Vinyl Engine

• Years of manufacture: 1969 – 1973
• Manufactured in: Germany at EMT, quite the pedigree!
• Color: Walnut, White
• Motor: 16-pole synchronous AC motor
• Power consumption: approximately 10 Watts
• Dimensions: 394 mm x 325 mm x 125 mm (WxHxD)
• Weight: 6.7 kg
• Original price without cartridge: 384 DM / $380 AUD (1970), with Stanton 500 cartridge: 508 DM / $500 AUD (1970) / $5000 AUD in 2025. That’s right, let that sink in.

Overhaul

As I mentioned, this Thorens TD 150 MK II had sat for a while and had likely not received service for decades. This is typical of many ownership scenarios; it’s not a criticism of previous owners of this TD 150, but it is not the way machines like this should be maintained. All electromechanical devices need cleaning, adjustment, parts replacement, and eventually refurbishment. Turntables are no different, so let’s give this lovely old girl the TLC she deserves.

Results

Nothing earth-shattering here folks but as usual, I think yuou’ll agree that a few hours work here on this beautiful Thorens TD 150 MK II were well worth it. For me, this is a timeless classic and the family heirloom aspect of it of course makes it priceless. The fact that it runs so well now is just icing on the cake.

OK, so what’s the bottom line and all that stuff when it comes to a deck like this early ’70s Thorens TD 150 MK II? Well, if you ask me, this is one of the great turntable bargains. These decks don’t go for a lot these days, and yet in terms of bang for your buck, I doubt you can do much better.

A well-fettled TD 150 like this one sounds far better than you might expect, certainly better than the stuff under $2000 new that I regularly listen to, for example. I listen to every deck I service through headphones, which really lets me hear what’s going on. I can always immediately pick a quiet, stable, musical turntable, and this is one.

Thanks!

I always like to thank readers for taking the time to visit and read these articles, so thank you! If you’ve found it enjoyable and informative tyou are welcome to like share and of course subscribe.

For those in Western Australia with Thorens TD 150s and other lovely Thorens turntables, you already know how happy I am to work on them, so if yours needs service, contact me