Thorens - TD 1601 Sub-Chassis Turntable with TP 92 Tonearm and TAS 1600 Cartridge (Open Box)

An open-box TD 1601 from the earlier production run — the TP 92 tonearm generation, with a Thorens TAS 1600 moving coil already mounted. Same chassis, same motor, same platter, same automation, at a reduction.

This is an open-box unit: a returned or display piece, complete and fully functional, sold below the new price. Ask us about the specific deck before you order and we will tell you exactly what it looks like and what is in the box.

It is also an earlier-production TD 1601, and the difference is worth understanding rather than glossing over. Around 2024 Thorens replaced the TP 92 tonearm on the TD 1600 and TD 1601 platform with a newly developed arm, the TP 160. This deck carries the TP 92. Thorens has never published a formal changeover date — in fact their website still hosts a live TD 1601 page showing the TP 92 alongside a separate TD 1601 TP 160 page — so we are dating the transition from their brochure revisions and from when the trade press started covering the new arm, and saying so rather than pretending to certainty.

The TP 92 is not a lesser arm in any obvious way; it is a different one. It is a cardanic-bearing design with friction-free ferrite-magnet anti-skate, 232.8mm effective length, 17.8mm overhang, 23.66° offset and 11g effective mass, cut to Baerwald / Löfgren A geometry. The TP 160 that replaced it uses a knife-edge bearing with magnetic lateral guidance, runs a heavier 16g effective mass, and adds a detachable SME headshell that the TP 92 does not have. Whether that suits you depends entirely on your cartridge: 11g is a light-to-medium arm that pairs naturally with higher-compliance cartridges, while 16g suits the stiffer low-compliance moving coils.

A Thorens TAS 1600 moving coil is already mounted. That is a 0.4mV low-output MC with a solid boron cantilever and a Special Line Contact stylus, and it is the cartridge Thorens developed specifically for this turntable. You will need a moving-coil phono stage or a step-up.

Everything else is standard TD 1601: stabilised sub-chassis on three conical springs, electronically regulated AC synchronous motor from the outboard TPN 1600 linear supply, 4.2kg two-part machined aluminium platter, patented electric lift, touchless auto shut-off, and true balanced XLR alongside RCA.

Features

• Open box — complete and fully functional, at a reduction against new
• Earlier-production TD 1601 with the Thorens TP 92 tonearm
• Thorens TAS 1600 moving-coil cartridge already mounted
• Patented electric tonearm lift and touchless auto shut-off
• Stabilised sub-chassis on three conical springs
• Electronically regulated AC synchronous motor with an external TPN 1600 linear supply
• Two-part machined aluminium platter, 12 inches, 4.2kg
• True balanced XLR output as well as RCA

Specifications

• Condition: Open box. A returned or display unit, complete and fully functional, sold below the new price. Ask us about the specific deck in stock before ordering
• Type: Belt-driven turntable with a suspended sub-chassis, electric lift and auto shut-off
• Generation: Earlier production, fitted with the TP 92 tonearm. Thorens replaced this arm with the TP 160 on current production. Thorens has published no formal changeover date — their own site still hosts pages showing both arms — so this dating comes from their brochure revisions and from trade coverage of the TP 160’s introduction, not from a Thorens announcement
• Tonearm: Thorens TP 92, nine-inch. Cardanic bearing. Effective length 232.8mm, overhang 17.8mm, offset angle 23.66°, effective mass 11g. Anti-skate by ferrite magnets, friction-free. Baerwald / Löfgren A alignment geometry. Tube material, VTA adjustment and azimuth adjustment are not published in Thorens’ TP 92 datasheet
• How the TP 92 differs from the current TP 160: The TP 160 uses a knife-edge bearing with magnetic lateral guidance rather than a cardanic bearing, has a detachable SME-bayonet headshell where the TP 92 does not, uses a calibrated spring for anti-skate rather than magnets, and carries a heavier effective mass — 16g against 11g. Neither is simply better; the lighter TP 92 suits higher-compliance cartridges and the heavier TP 160 suits stiffer low-compliance moving coils
• Cartridge fitted: Thorens TAS 1600 moving coil, mounted. Low output: 0.4mV at 5.5cm/s, 12Ω internal impedance, recommended load above 100Ω, solid boron cantilever, Special Line Contact diamond stylus, 8.2g. You will need a moving-coil phono stage or a step-up transformer
• Drive: Belt drive with adjustable tension
• Motor: AC synchronous, fully electronically regulated and stabilised
• Sub-chassis: Stabilised sub-chassis on three conical springs, anchored against lateral movement
• Platter: Two-part machined aluminium, 12″, 4.2kg
• Speeds: 33 1/3 and 45rpm. No 78rpm capability is published
• Wow and flutter: Less than or equal to 0.06%. No measurement standard is cited
• Rumble / signal-to-noise: Not published
• Automatic functions: Patented electric tonearm lift and touchless optoelectronic auto shut-off, which stops the platter and raises the arm at the run-out groove
• Outputs: True balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA
• Dust cover: Acrylic dust cover included
• Dimensions: 454 x 180 x 369 mm (W x H x D)
• Weight: 11kg
• Power supply: External TPN 1600 linear power supply with a toroidal transformer, 2 x 16V
• Country of manufacture: Not published. Thorens prints no country-of-manufacture statement on this product’s page, datasheet or manual — only the company address in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, which is a registered office and not a factory. Trade press has reported Taiwanese manufacturing involvement across parts of the Thorens range; that is third-party reporting, not a Thorens statement, and we are not going to present it as one.