TD 148 A - Turntable THORENS - Free user manual and instructions

Product Type	Belt-drive turntable
Motor	Electronic-controlled DC motor
Speeds	33 1/3, 45, 78 rpm
Platter Diameter	304 mm
Wow and Flutter (DIN/WRMS)	±0.07% / ±0.04%
Rumble (unweighted)	46 dB
Rumble (weighted)	72 dB
Effective Tonearm Length	211 mm
Offset Angle	26°
Overhang	19.5 mm
Tracking Force Range	0 to 3 g (adjustable)
Anti-skating	Adjustable, 0 to 3
Cartridge Included	Thorens TAS 267
Stylus	Elliptical diamond (ATN 95 E), 0.4 x 0.7 μm
Frequency Response	20 Hz – 20,000 Hz
Output Voltage	3.5 mV at 5 cm/s, 1 kHz
Tracking Capability	80 μm at 315 Hz
Cartridge Weight	5.7 g
Total Capacitance (leads + cables)	~160 pF
Power Supply	100–240 V AC, 50/60 Hz (via external transformer)
Power Consumption	1.5 W
Dimensions (W x H x D)	440 x 119 x 360 mm
Weight	Approx. 5.5 kg (estimate)
Operation	Manual and automatic start/stop; auto-return
Dust Cover	Included, hinged

Frequently Asked Questions - TD 148 A THORENS

How do I set up the Thorens TD 148 A for the first time?

Remove transportation locks under the platter, place the belt around the sub-platter and motor pulley, then install the platter guide and glass platter. Attach the hinges and dust cover. Connect the transformer to the DC jack and the RCA cables to your amplifier. Adjust the tonearm counterweight and tracking force as described in the manual.

How do I adjust the tracking force and anti-skating?

Turn tracking force to '0' and anti-skating knob fully counterclockwise. Screw on the counterweight, unlock the tonearm, and balance it by rotating the counterweight until the tonearm hovers. Set tracking force to 1.5 (for factory cartridge) and anti-skating to match the same number.

What cartridge can I use with this turntable?

Any standard half-inch mount cartridge weighing 3–10 grams is compatible. The factory cartridge is Thorens TAS 267. Consult a dealer for replacement recommendations.

How do I replace the stylus?

Gently pull the stylus guard forward to remove it. The stylus can be replaced by pulling the old one out and inserting a new compatible stylus (e.g., ATN 95 E for LP, ATN 9578 for 78 rpm).

What is the speed selection and record diameter setting?

Use the left knob to select 33, 45, or 78 rpm. The right button near the tonearm sets record diameter: 17 cm for singles, 30 cm for LPs. This affects automatic start positioning.

How do I connect the turntable to my amplifier?

Connect the RCA (phono) plugs to the phono input of your amplifier. The green/black striped wire is for ground: attach it to the ground screw on the amplifier. Use the included mains transformer to power the turntable.

Does the TD 148 A have automatic start and stop?

Yes. For automatic start, set lift lever UP, move knob to START, and the tonearm lowers. At the end of the record, the arm lifts and returns, and the motor stops. You can also manually stop via the knob or lift lever.

How do I clean and maintain the turntable?

Keep the dust cover closed when not in use. Clean the platter and cabinet with a soft, dry cloth. Replace the stylus after ~500 hours of play to avoid record damage. Store the original packaging for transport.

What safety precautions should I follow?

Do not expose to rain or moisture. Do not remove the cover; no user-serviceable parts inside. Use only the specified power transformer. Dispose of the unit according to local WEEE regulations.

What is the warranty coverage?

The warranty covers turntable, tonearm, motor, and power supply for legal warranty period. Cartridge is covered by its manufacturer. Damage from misuse or improper transport is not covered. Contact your dealer for service.

USER MANUAL TD 148 A THORENS

Close-up of a mechanical component with red connectors and a central metallic knob, no visible text or symbols

Fig. 1 a Fig. 1 b

Close-up of a red plastic clip attached to a metal surface next to a circular metallic object (no visible text or symbols)

Close-up of a circular mechanical component with a central shaft and concentric rings, no visible text or symbols.

Close-up of a circular mechanical component with concentric rings and a central shaft (no visible text or symbols)

Fig. 2 a Fig. 2 b Fig. 2 c

Close-up of a dark circular object with concentric rings and a central hole, possibly a disc or container (no visible text or symbols)

Close-up of a black plastic clip attached to a wooden surface (no text or symbols visible)

Close-up of a black mechanical component mounted on a wooden surface, with a white arrow pointing to it (no text or symbols visible)

Fig. 3 a Fig. 3 b

Close-up of a small mechanical component with a central shaft and circular base (no visible text or symbols)

Completely blank white image with no visible content, text, or symbols.

Close-up of a hand adjusting a metallic mechanical component (no visible text or symbols)

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Thorens Factory Warranty 16

Unpacking and Assembly 19

Electrical Connections 20

Tonearm and Pickup Cartridge 21

Operation of TD 148 A

Technical Data 25

23

15 CONTENTS

Dear THORENS customer,

Thank you very much for your confidence in our product, the record player TD 148 A. With the purchase of this device you have acquired a precision instrument for the purpose of playing back analogue records. This appliance however requires your attention with respect to setup, placement and handling in order to achieve a flawless operation. The TD 148 A has been designed and assembled completely in Germany which will guarantee you the highest quality to be maintained for years to come. Understandably, you want to listen to your beloved records right away but we strongly advise that you read these instructions attentively before proceeding with the setup, simply to ensure long-lasting listening pleasure. We have spared no efforts to pack all necessary information and comprehensive guidance into this manual, yet in the event that you have any further queries regarding your new record player please do not hesitate to ask your THORENS dealer for further assistance.

Sincerely yours, THORENS TEAM

WARRANTY

Legal warranty directives and regulations are to be applied here. In case a failure or malfunction occurs in your record player during the warranty period please inform your THORENS dealer or general representative and describe the malfunction that has occurred. If the malfunction cannot be remedied on site by sending you the respective user-serviceable spare part, you are kindly requested to send the unit in its original shipping box to the THORENS representative in your country. If the original shipping box is no longer in your possession your THORENS representative will be in the position to supply a new one for a small charge. Shipping costs to THORENS or to an authorized service centre must be prepaid because otherwise the parcel will be rejected upon arrival. After repair or service the unit will be returned to you free of charge. Whenever you ship this turntable kindly use the screws for the security during transportation.

Any damage or malfunction caused by failure to observe the instructions contained in this manual as well as damages occurred in transport or shipping are not covered by this warranty. This warranty only covers the turntable, tonearm and motor including power supply and mains transformer. The cartridge is covered by the warranty of the respective manufacturer thereof.

In the event that you have further queries or need assistance please do not hesitate to contact your authorised THORENS service.

WARNING!

To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not expose this product rain or moisture

Safety Instructions

To reduce risk of electric shock, do not remove the cover (or back). No user-serviceable parts inside.

WARNING

TO PREVENT FIRE OR SHOCK HAZARD, DO NOT EXPOSE THIS APPLIANCE TO RAIN OR MOISTURE.

EXPLANATION OF GRAPHICAL SYMBOLS

The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert you to the presence of uninsulated 'dangerous voltage' within the product's enclosure that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute an electric shock to persons.

The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert you to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance.

This product was tested and complies with all the requirements for the CE Mark.

Compliant to 2002/95/EC (RoHS)

IMPORTANT: DISPOSAL OF WASTE EQUIPMENT BY USERS IN PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

This symbol on the product or on its packaging indicates that this product must not be disposed off with your other household waste. Instead, it is your responsibility to dispose of your waste equipment by handing it over to a designated collection point for the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment. The separate collection and recycling of your waste equipment at the time of disposal will help to conserve natural resources and ensure that it is recycled in a manner that protects human health and the environment. For more information about where you can drop off your waste equipment for recycling, please contact your local city office, your household waste disposal service or the shop where you purchased the product.

Unpacking and set - up

Take the record player and all accessories out of the carton. Remove the two transportation locks (Fig. 1 a/b) by applying lateral pressure. The locks are located underneath the platter at the front left and at the rear right.

Place the belt around the sub platter and afterwards around the motor pulley left of the tonearm rest. Then put the black platter guide on the axis and afterwards the glass platter on the sub platter. It will be automatically centered by the platter guide (Fig. 2 a-c).

Insert each hinge into the respective recess (Fig. 3 a/b).

Hold the dust cover parallel to the hinges (opening angle approximately 60°), insert and push as far as it will go. Being in this position the dust cover may be removed at any time.

Close-up of a mechanical component with red connectors and a central metallic knob, no visible text or symbols

Fig. 1 a Fig. 1 b

Close-up of a red plastic clip attached to a metal surface next to a circular metallic object (no text or symbols visible)

Close-up of a circular mechanical component with concentric rings and a central shaft (no visible text or symbols)

Fig. 2 a Fig. 2 b Fig. 2 c

Close-up of a dark circular object with concentric rings and a central hole, possibly a disc or container (no visible text or symbols)

Close-up of a small mechanical component with a central shaft and circular base (no visible text or symbols)

Close-up of a black mechanical component mounted on a wooden surface, with a white arrow pointing to it (no text or symbols visible)

Fig. 3 a Fig. 3 b

Close-up of a black plastic clip attached to a wooden surface (no text or symbols visible)

The Ground Truth image displays a single, solid horizontal line. According to Rule 2 (UNDERSCORE & LINE RULES), this is a stylistic or background line, not a placeholder underscore. Therefore, the OCR result must ignore it and output nothing or only meaningful text. The provided OCR content is "____", which consists of four underscores. This is an incorrect interpretation of the line as a placeholder, violating the rule that stylistic lines must be ignored. The OCR has hallucinated underscores where none should exist based on the GT's visual context. Hence, the OCR result is inconsistent with the Ground Truth.

Electrical connections

By choosing the appropriate THORENS mains transformer this record player can be operated from nearly all existing public mains supplies. The low voltage plug on the cable that is coming from the mains transformer unit is to be inserted into jack 17 (Fig. 4) at the rear side of the record player.

The stereo signal leads have two phono plugs which are also known as „Cinch“ or RCA-plugs. They are marked with either the letter „L“ for the left channel or „R“ for the right channel. If these letters are missing then most likely the right channel is marked red, perhaps by featuring a red plug at both ends, and the left channel is marked white or black accordingly. The RCA-plugs are inserted into the phono input jacks of an amplifier or receiver. The separate single litz-wire is making a connection to ground and is to be fastened underneath the ground screw of the amplifier or receiver.

Fig. 4

IMPORTANT!

ALWAYS KEEP THE SHIPPING CARTON IN A DRY PLACE FOR THE EVENT THAT THE RECORD PLAYER HAS TO BE PACKED AGAIN FOR TRANSPORTATION. IN THIS CASE IT IS IMPORTANT TO DETACH THE PLATTER AND PUT IT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SHIPPINGBOX, JUST AS IT WAS ORIGINALLY DELIVERED TO YOU.

Adjusting tone arm and pick-up cartridge

Turn the tracking force adjuster (1) to „0“ and the anti-skating knob (2) counter-clockwise until it stops (Fig. 6).

Screw the tonearm counter weight (3) onto the rear tonearm tube (Fig. 5).

Unlock the tone arm (4) and move it a bit towards the centre of the platter. Bring the lift-lever (5) into position DOWN while holding back the tone arm (Fig. 6). By turning the counter weight (3) the tone arm can be precisely balanced in order to make it hover freely above the platter. Move the tone arm back to its rest. You can now adjust the tracking force (1) and the anti-skating force (2). Adjust to 1.5 mN (MilliNewton) for the factory-installed pick-up cartridge Thorens TAS 267. As for the required anti-skating force refer to the table below:

Scale Tracking force (1) Anti-skating force (2)

1 = 10 mN 1

1,25 = 12,5 mN 1,25

1,5 = 15 mN 1,5

2 = 20 mN 2

2,5 = 25 mN 2,5

3 = 30 mN 3

Close-up of a hand adjusting a mechanical component with a metallic lever (no visible text or symbols)

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

21 TONEARM AND PICKUP CARTRIDGE

Mounting or exchanging a pick-up cartridge

Instead of the factory-supplied pick-up cartridge any other cartridge with standard half-inch mounting holes and a weight between 3 and 10 grams can be installed. Please contact your Thorens dealer if you want to change cartridge. He will recommend a compatible cartridge and adjust it correctly.

Replacing the stylus

Any stylus is subject to wear even under normal playing conditions. Therefore, it is highly recommended to have the cartridge, respectively its stylus, inspected after about 500 hours of playing. This is because a worn or damaged stylus will eventually damage your precious vinyl records! In order to playback vintage shellac records (78's) with optimal results the original stylus should be exchanged with a suitable special stylus for shellacs. Please consult your THORENS dealer for further information and details.

Operation of TD 148 A

Selecting Speed

With the knob on the left the speed can be set at 33, 45 und 78rpm (Fig. 7)

Selecting record diameter

With the button (6) on the right near the tone arm, the diameter of the records can be pre-set, whereby 17 cm is used for „Single“ and 30 cm for „Long Play (LP)“ vinyl records. This function is necessary only when the record player is operated in its automatic mode. (Fig. 8)

Automatic start

Remove the transparent stylus guard by carefully-pulling it towards you.

The lift lever (5) must be in position UP. Move the knob (7) into position Start and the tone arm will be automatically lowered onto the record (Fig. 8)

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

Manual start and tone arm lift

Bring the lift-lever (5) into position UP.

Unlock the tone arm from its rest and move it above the lead-in groove of the record. The motor and platter will now start turning. By lowering the lift-lever (5) the tone arm gently declines, thus being very kind to your precious records. With the help of the lift-lever the tone arm may be moved up and down again anywhere across the record while the platter keeps turning (Fig. 8)

Stop

After reaching the lead-out groove the tone arm will be automatically lifted up and returned to its rest. The motor is switched off. You can also switch off the record player by either moving knob (7) into position Stop, or by raising lift-lever (5) into position UP and returning the tone arm manually to its rest. (Fig. 8)

Fig. 8

Technical Data
Measured values = typical values
Belt drive electronic-controlled DC motor

Mains voltage(Mains set)

100 – 240 V (AC)

Line frequency 50 / 60 Hz
Power requirement 1,5 W
Platter speeds 331/3, 45, 78 U / min

Wow and flutter (DIN/WRMS) ± 0,07/0,04 %
Platter ∅ 304 mm

Signal-to-noise ratio (DIN 45 500)
Rumble unweighted signal-to-noise ratio	46 dB
Rumble weights signal-to noise ratio	72 dB

Effective tonearm length 211 mm
Offset angle 26°

Overhang 19,5 mm
Tangential tracking error 0,15° / cm Rad.
Cartridge HiFi DIN 45 500

rot	R right channel		Thorens TAS 267
grün	RG	right channel ground
blau	GL	left channel ground
weiß	L	left channel

Diamant stylus	ATN 95 E
elliptical	0,4 x 0,7 μm
Diamant stylus for 78 U / min	ATN 9578
conical	65 μm

Technical Data

Measured values = typical values

Tracking force 1,5 g / mN

Frequency range 20 Hz - 20000 Hz

Output 3,5 mV / 5 cms-1 / 1 kHz

Tracking capability (315 Hz) 80 μm

Cartridge weight 5,7 g

Total capacitance

Tonearm leads and audio-cables ca. 160 pF

Dimensions (W x H x D) (mm) 440 x 119 x 360

TD 148 A

BEDIENUNGSANLEITUNG

USER GUIDE

Close-up of a mechanical component with red connectors and a central circular feature, no visible text or symbols.

Рис. 1 а Рис. 1 б

Close-up of a red plastic clip attached to a metallic coin with a hole, no visible text or symbols

Close-up of a circular mechanical component with concentric rings and a central shaft, no visible text or symbols.

Close-up of a small mechanical component with a central cylindrical body and a pink cap, resting on a flat surface (no visible text or symbols)

Circular mechanical component with concentric rings and central shaft (no visible text or symbols)

Close-up of a black mechanical component mounted on a wooden surface, with a white arrow pointing to it (no text or symbols visible)

Рис. 3 а Рис. 3 b

Close-up of a black plastic clip attached to a wooden surface (no text or symbols visible)

The Ground Truth image displays a single, solid horizontal line. According to Rule 2 (UNDERSCORE & LINE RULES), this is a stylistic or background line, not a placeholder underscore. Therefore, the OCR result must ignore it. The provided OCR content is "____", which consists of four underscores. This is an incorrect interpretation of the line as a placeholder, violating the rule that stylistic lines must be ignored. The OCR has hallucinated text (underscores) where none should exist, violating the rule to ignore such lines. Hence, the OCR result is inconsistent with the Ground Truth.

Close-up of a hand adjusting a metallic cylindrical component on a dark surface (no visible text or symbols)

Рис. 5

Рис. 6