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Traded my digital tuner for a strobe disc, still chasing the perfect deck alignment
About 6 months back I picked up a Thorens TD-160 from a swap meet in Cleveland for $120, but the speed kept drifting. I used to rely on a smartphone app to check pitch, but after a firmware update it started reading everything off by 3%. A buddy at the last Analog Tech Swap meet suggested I try a strobe disc and a cheap LED light instead. Honestly, it took me 4 evenings of adjusting the belt and the motor screws, but now the platter stays dead on 33.3 rpm. Ngl, the tactile rhythm of watching those marks freeze in the light feels way more solid than trusting a phone screen. Has anyone else abandoned digital calibration tools for these old school alignment tricks, or am I just being stubborn?
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wright.taylor1mo ago
That bit about the marks freezing in the light really hits home. I had the same thing happen with my old Dual 1229, the phone app kept telling me I was at 33.3 but something sounded off, like the piano was warbling on stuff with long held notes. Turned out the app was reading my ceiling fan's flicker or something weird. Grabbed a $6 strobe disc off ebay and a neon bulb from the hardware store, and once I got the belt tension right the marks just sat there still as could be. The phone got me close but the disc got me right. You're not being stubborn, you just found the tool that actually tells the truth.
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