Told you the Thorens was good. The weak point was the Shure. Oh well, you have an awesome table now and shouldn't miss it a bit. I'm still dueling my Sota Jewel vs the VPI 19 that I picked up. Quite different sound regardless of the cartridge. The VPI is "lighter" but the Sota has much more depth and fullness...
Entertaining A - B Comparison
So, I just sold what had been my first turntable - the trusty Thorens TD-160 Super with the Grace 707 arm and a Shure M97xe cartridge. Since I had to demo it for the fellow I had the opportunity to set it up next to my Sota Star which has a Audioquest PT-6 arm and an AT OC9 cartridge.
You know what? The Thorens/Shure combo did not come off as bad as one might have expected. No where near as much detail or refinement from the cartridge, or as stable an image from the table, but otherwise quite pleasant. And I know its not really all that "hi-fi" but that Shure has a very nice warm sound. Not terribly open in the highs, but warm with really natural timbres. You could do worse.
The OC9 by comparison has much better clarity, but it really is a bit dry sounding. Might be a reason to upgrade sooner or..... sooner.
At any rate, I watched my Thorens drive off in the back of this fellows hatchback. Based on what he was telling me he didn't seem cursed with the hi-fi bug. He just wanted to spin some records. I'm sure he'll enjoy it.
You know what? The Thorens/Shure combo did not come off as bad as one might have expected. No where near as much detail or refinement from the cartridge, or as stable an image from the table, but otherwise quite pleasant. And I know its not really all that "hi-fi" but that Shure has a very nice warm sound. Not terribly open in the highs, but warm with really natural timbres. You could do worse.
The OC9 by comparison has much better clarity, but it really is a bit dry sounding. Might be a reason to upgrade sooner or..... sooner.
At any rate, I watched my Thorens drive off in the back of this fellows hatchback. Based on what he was telling me he didn't seem cursed with the hi-fi bug. He just wanted to spin some records. I'm sure he'll enjoy it.