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To those with multiple tables/arms/cartridges

How do you 'play' your system?
For 30 years I had only one turntable, one arm and one cartridge......and it never entered my mind that there was an alternative?
After upgrading my turntable nearly 5 years ago to a Raven AC-3 which allowed easy mounting of up to four tonearms......I decided to add two arms.
RAVEN
A few years later I became interested in Direct Drive turntables and purchased a vintage 30 year old Victor/JVC TT-81 followed shortly after by the top-of-the-line TT-101 and I designed and had cast 3 solid bronze armpods which I had lacquered in gloss black.
TT-101
By this time I had over 30 cartridges (both LOMCs and MMs) all mounted in their own headshells for easy interchange.
STORAGE

Every day I listen to vinyl for 3-4 hours and might play with one cartridge on one arm on one table for this whole day or even two or three days.
I then might decide to change to a different arm and cartridge on a the same table or perhaps the other.....and listen to the last side I had just heard on the previous play.
I am invariably thrilled and excited by the small differences in presentation I am able to hear....and I perhaps listen to this combination for the next few days before again lusting after a particular arm or cartridge change?

Is this the way most of you with multiple cartridges/arms listen?......or are there other intentions involved?
128x128halcro
hevac1
812 posts
 
I have a large record collection with quite a few Mono albums. I use a Graham B-44 with 2 arm wands. 1 is setup for Stereo and the other Mono. My VPS has 2 MC inputs. I swap inputs for Mono Or Stereo as both cartridges use different loading.
thuchan
1,009 posts
 
Dear Nandric,
never discuss a product's name :-) just google!
yes you are right on the SME and the dynamic balancing principle used here, the magnetic support is an additional feature allowing it's virtues only in a small corridor.
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Dear Nikola,
I know you are a passionate supporter of your (3rd) Basis Exclusive Phono Preamp........and it maybe has a better LOMC amp inside than my Halcro DM10..........but have you ever tried a SUT going into the MM amp and by-passing the MC amp altogether?
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Dear Henry, I am still suspect and threated as such by
the moderators. No idea why but I am original from the
Eastern bloc and begin to recognize some precarious
development in the West but, alas , it is to late to
emigrate back. I already posted my contribution about the
SUT's yesterday but my post was obviously suspect ...
So in short. I am scared by the complexity of SUT-carts
matching and also own 'some' (8)LOMC's which make possible
so many combinations that I prefer not to mess with them.
For some unknown reasons Herr Scheafer (ASR owner)
has not much with MM carts. My previous Basis (2009) had to my big
surprise no MM input at all so i was forced to buy the new
'Golden one' from 2010 which is provided with the MM input
but no adjustment possibility of any kind. So my Basis is
better suited for the MC carts while I myself still prefer
those above any MM cart that I own (about 25,sic!)
The 'sic!' means that I am crazy and this means that there
is no sense in asking me why I own so many MM carts.
lewm
13,118 posts
 
Nandric, I have been studying "vintage" phono stages for the last few months. By "vintage" I refer to units designed and built from the 70s to the 90s, not the real old pre-1970 units that by now need rebuilding. This is because I am so enamored of the Beveridges that I am now constructing a "second system" in my basement around them, but I don't want to spend a lot of money. Anyway, there are many fine full function preamplifiers from that era that do provide an MM input, or two or three, and these inputs frequently do provide for adjustable loading of MMs. Also, there is not much new under the sun in phono stage design, so many of these units are quite good sounding. I just bought a mint condition Quicksilver preamp AND a Klyne 6LX/P. I am going to compare them and keep the one I like best, but right now the Quicksilver is driving the Beveridges and sounds great. For well under US$1000 or about 700 Euros you can get a very nice MM phono stage.

I may have mentioned my decades old home-made Transmission Line woofer cabinets here before. They utilize KEF B139 woofers. I got them running this weekend to provide low bass for the Bevs, and, after much experimentation with positioning, they really work very very well. So I got a subwoofer system for zero dollars. I had been about to throw out the cabinets on several occasions in the past, pre-Beveridge.
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