Thorens - TD280MkII Turntable

The turntable was serviced in December 2025, during which it received a new drive belt and stylus. (see Thakker invoice at the end of the photos!)
It sounds extremely beautiful and detailed.
It will be shipped carefully packaged!


"The Thorens TD280 MkII is an inexpensive integrated record player with a two speed belt-driven turntable and a low-mass tonearm. Its 12-inch, dynamically balanced, cast zinc-alloy platter weighs 3 pounds, including the heavy rubber mat. It rests on a smaller inner platter, which is coupled to the motor pulley by a soft rubber belt. The speed of the low -voltage, twenty-four-pole synchronous motor is changed electronically for either 33-1/3- or 45-rpm operation.

The record player is powered from a small remote transformer that plugs directly into a wall socket and connects to the TD280 MkII through a 6-foot cable. It supplies 16 volts AC to the motor-drive circuits. This power-supply system allows the TD280 MkII to be used without modification in any part of the world, since only the external transformer need be changed to accommodate different line voltages and frequencies (or electrical-socket configurations).

The straight tubular tonearm has a nonremovable headshell, which can be rotated through 360 degrees for ease in mounting and adjusting a cartridge. The counterweight is threaded onto the rear of the arm tube and rotated to balance the arm when the cartridge has been properly mounted and aligned. A separate calibrated ring on the front of the weight is set to 0 after balancing the arm, and the entire weight is then rotated to place the desired tracking-force marking opposite an index line on the arm tube. The calibrations cover 0 to 5 grams in 0.5-gram steps. A small antiskating adjustment knob is located on the arm base near the pivots. Its scale is calibrated from 0 to 3 grams in 0.25-gram steps.

A large, pointed bar knob selects the turntable speed, with an off setting in the middle. A button next to it turns on the motor initially, though it need not be used thereafter. Another bar knob operates the electronic arm lift, which will not lower the pickup unless the turntable is running (the lift can be held in its lowered position but will not latch there without a powered platter). The arm must be slid out of its retaining post manually, but it can then be placed over the desired part of the record and lowered slowly and smoothly by the lift mechanism. At the end of the record, the arm lifts automatically, and the motor shuts off. The arm must be returned manually to its rest position in the retaining post.

The turntable and arm are mounted rigidly to the wooden base. The entire record player is supported on four damped, spring-mounted feet, which isolate it from external vibration. A clear-plastic dust cover, hinged to remain open at any angle up to 90 degrees, is furnished with the player. The wooden base and motorboard, like the arm and record mat, are finished in black The overall dimensions of the TD280 MkII are 17-1/4 inches wide, 14 inches deep, and 5-1/4 inches high (with the cover closed). It weighs 16ft pounds."