In 1883, the Thorens family business was first registered in Sainte-Croix (Ste-Croix), Vaud, Switzerland by Hermann Thorens.  They originally manufactured musical boxes and clock movements, and started producing Edison-type phonographs in 1903.  In 1957, Thorens introduced the TD 124, and the TD series has been the benchmark of high end analog turntables.

Perhaps many of you still remember the massive Thorens Reference turntable.  It was many audiophiles ultimate turntable dream, including me.  With the reference design in mind and the modern day technology and new material construction, the new Thorens flagship TD-550 was born.  

As far as I know, there are two customers in Vancouver with TD-550.  One with DaVinci tonearm, and one with 12" Ortofon tonearm.  We have deicded to try and mount a new Vertere SG-1 tonearm with our TD-550, and the choice of cartridge is Kiseki Purple Heart N.S.  The combination is an absolute beauty.

Like reviewer Ken Micallef said: "The Thorens TD550 is a stellar piece of LP playback machinery. Its sound was typically glorious. Transparent to the source, highly resolving with powerful bass notes (when on the recording), the TD550 table was also very illustrative of the entire musical picture the respective LPs presented. Every LP was a different experience, with its local color, effects, hall or studio ambience and tonality its own."