Two Turntables? Why

chicks dig turntables......multiple.:-)

i've had as many as 5 at once, had one for a long time, now i have three.

if you asked me 2 years ago i would have said i would only have one turntable forever.

what changed?

i realized (1) how much i enjoyed vinyl, (2) how different drive approaches had different musical characters, (3) i enjoyed each of those characters in a different way, and (4) i just think turntables are cool things to mess around with.

so i found 2 more turntables i liked enough to own and bought them. and i'm really enjoying having these three.

check back in 2-3 years and we will see if i still have three, or maybe by then 4.

I have six turntables.  I have four systems.  Each has a turntable, my main system has two.  I need to get rid of one and am about to put one up for sale as soon as I have time.

The reason I have two turntables is that I buy a lot of used records.  In general, I play new or NM records on my best table, which also has a more expensive cartridge.  The used records that are VG+ (or sometimes worse) generally get played on the other turntable which has a less expensive cartridge.  Sound quality is pretty close, but I'd rather have the cartridge that cost twice as much last longer and not wear it out playing records that are less than perfect. 

My second turntable is a Technics SL1200 MK2 which also gives me the option of easily switching out different cartridges.  I have three different cartridges that all sound different that I can swap out.

That all probably still sounds crazy, and perhaps it is.

How many watches, shoes, guns, rifles, rods/reels, cars,.....etc. They all have a purpose and useful features that the others may lack. Why do you ask?

Nothing beats and old and inexpensive 1200 mk2 (or 5) for switching headshells and cartridges

Why not?

I have three totally different systems divided over two rooms. One is what could be called mainstream modern high end, with big dipole panels and solid state amplification. The other system in the room is vintage Japanese (a personal 1970's nostalgia 'thing') and the third system in an upstairs room is high efficiency dynamic speakers with single ended tube amplification.

These systems are worlds apart with very different strenghts and weaknesses. This is why I simply fail to understand these endless and boring 'which is better' debates about tubes versus solid state, or dynamic versus panel speakers for that matter. They're different approaches to the real thing and neither of them will ever fully reach their objective.

Having the possibility to enjoy these different takes on reality is one of the great joys of being an audiophile. Some people will say it's bullsh*t, but we love it, don't we kids?

But there's one 'which is better' debate that does have a right to exist. So let's hear it again: analog really is better than digital. So as a vinyl enthousiast and record collector it is the most natural thing to have a turntable in each of these three systems (and one of these tables holds three different tonearms). I don't understand why anyone would have it any other way.