TD135 vs Rega planar 3

[Inigo71]

I finally finished the restoration of my Thorens TD135, and wanted to make a comparison to my Planar 3, now it sounds much better than before. I connected both Turn Tables with identical Rega A2D pre amps, identical Ortofon OM5E cartridges conected with QED cables. My system is NAD 1000 preamp and a NAD 902 amp with Sansui speakers SP70.
I did a blind test with the help of my wife, and we both prefer the sound of the Thorens, it has more air, dynamism and detail. I was surprised, as I was expecting to get more or less the same sound or a better quality from the Rega as it is a modern design. I´ve always think that high end turntables sounded more or less the same, but I can tell that I prefer the Thorens. The only drawback of the Thorens is the rumble you get, specially with classical music and very low passages.
But overall I am very surprised with the performance of the TD135, I dont know if it is worth upgrading to a TD124?

[Mark E Smith's Dentist]

Well the TD-124 is one of the world's great turntables. It was used in studios across the world, it's a beautiful piece of design and engineering and most of them are still working 40-50 years on. As I understand it the 135 is the "baby" 124 - I've seen quite a few 124s (I don't think there are any fundamental differences between mk1 and 2) but have never closely inspected a 135.

The Rega is, to put it politely, built to a price. I'll say no more.


JT

[zwarte-romantiek]

The TD-124 and TD-135 have the same idler wheel driving system. The major advantage of a TD-124 is that you can choose your own tonearm / turntable combination.
I have a TD-135 myself, I like the BTD-12s tonearm. Uptil now it has not dissapointed me with varies cartridges.
And why else would EMT use the design of the BTD-12s to make it into an arm for themselfs if it had no potential?

Niels