Thorens TP 160 Tonearm

Thorens TP 160 — A Studio-Inspired Arm Built for the Finest Cartridges

The TP 160 is Thorens' most advanced tonearm — a 9-inch, J-shaped radial design developed by renowned Thorens designer Helmut Thiele, and the first arm in Thorens' history to feature a knife-edge (cutting) bearing. It is now the standard arm on the TD 1600, TD 1601, and TD 404 DD, and is available as a standalone upgrade for compatible turntables.

The Bearing: Where It Starts In the TP 160's knife-edge bearing, a hardened steel blade meets a two-part bearing shell, enabling virtually linear contact with zero axial play. A traditional weakness of knife-edge designs is undefined lateral limitation — the blade can drift sideways in its shell. The TP 160 solves this with a magnetic side guide that keeps the bearing precisely centered without contact or friction. The result is a bearing that is both ultra-sensitive vertically and precisely controlled laterally — exactly what demanding MC cartridges need to perform at their best.

For horizontal movement, the arm is equipped with high-quality Japanese ball bearings, adjusted for perfect smoothness and freedom from play, maintaining these qualities even under demanding everyday use.

Cartridge Compatibility The TP 160 accommodates cartridges in the newly designed standard headshell, or any other headshell with an SME bayonet connection, including integrated cartridges like the Ortofon SPU. Since effective lengths can vary between cartridges, axial adjustment of the arm tube is provided to ensure perfect overhang at all times. A scaled, two-part counterweight allows precise tracking force adjustment and supports cartridges weighing up to 30 grams.

Full Adjustability VTA is adjusted via a lockable fine-thread mechanism on the tonearm base, and anti-skating is handled by a calibrated, continuously adjustable spring mechanism. The headshell rotates for azimuth adjustment and is factory set to an exact parallel position, so no correction is typically needed with high-quality cartridges.

Design The large-caliber, resonance-optimized aluminum arm tube provides exceptional rigidity, and the energy-dissipating bearing construction allows the TP 160 to perform outstandingly even with mechanically demanding MC cartridges. Thorens designer Helmut Thiele has given the TP 160 a powerful, clean form that looks at home on both vintage and modern turntables.

The TP 160 can also be retrofitted to existing TD 1600 and TD 1601 models — contact your Thorens dealer for details.

The TP 160 is the arm Thorens builds when there are no compromises on the table — precise, adjustable, and engineered to let even the most demanding cartridge do its best work.

Click here to download the datasheet!