Thorens TD 125 vs. new cheap TT?

There's plenty of archived info & knowledgable Thorens fans in the Vinyl Asylum.

The TD125 is a superb belt-drive turntable, they don't build them like this anymore. Try a Stanton 681EEE, great value for money, then I suppose a NAD PP2, unless you can find something better used here on Audiogon.

You will be hard pressed to find a better TT with arm for $300. Rega type (there are a lot of clones these days) are about your only alternative. I would steer clear of direct drive at this price point, even used.
As for affordable phono I recommend the Rotel RQ-970BX, excellent at only about $200 retail.
Someone here on Audiogon has the Ortofon OM20mm for sale for $100 new, a safe bet. I also saw a Clearaudio Aurum Classic used for about the same.(Im looking for a cartridge also)
Your TD 125 is probably ok if the platter runs true and you dont hear any unusual noise. You might want to put some fresh oil in the bearing someday.

If the Thorens does not have any serious damage, keep it.

It's a much better deck than the new $500-$600 belt drives offered (even with the stock Thorens arm).

Check out the following WWW address for suspension tuning info.

http://www.theanalogdept.com/td125_susp.htm

BEFORE you spin any further clean out the main bearing and refill it with fresh oil.

Singer sewing machine oil (the one specifically for sewing machines) is fine/safe to use and it's readily available @ fabric shops.