Thorens TD 1500

A modern homage to the TD 150 of 1965: a true floating sub-chassis suspended on three conical springs, with balanced XLR outputs.

Revives the sprung sub-chassis that made Thorens (and inspired the Linn LP12).

Model history: A modern reinterpretation of the 1965 Thorens TD 150, keeping the suspended sub-chassis concept but fitted with a proper TP 150 tonearm (the original's arm was rudimentary), a lighter 1.4kg platter versus the original's 3.2kg, above-deck-adjustable suspension springs, electronic speed control with automatic speed change, and both RCA and balanced XLR outputs.

Checked against the manufacturer’s site: 2026-07

Who it suits

Best suited to: a first serious turntable for an existing or planned amp-and-speakers setup. Less ideal for: plugging straight into passive speakers with no amp — check the built-in phono stage row above, and note most hi-fi decks still need external amplification.

Compatibility and setup

• Manual operation: you cue and lift the tonearm by hand at the start and end of each side — there’s no auto-return or auto-lift.

Good to know

• No built-in phono stage — use an amplifier with a phono input or add a separate phono preamplifier.

Specifications

How it sits in the catalogue

Its belt-drive mechanism is the majority choice in the database (130 of 159). On price it sits toward the top of its category — 95% of priced hi-fi decks cost less.

Retailer searches

1 UK merchant stock Thorens — each outbound link searches the deck on that merchant’s site.

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