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
Anyway he uses one system to listen to instrumental jazz, another for classical, and a third for vocals.
I've heard this before.......and also the Hesson method of 'bright' and 'warm' cartridges balancing 'warm' and bright' LPs.

These don't seem to work that well for me as after I have decided that a 'full-bodied' cartridge like say the Fidelity Research FR-6SE is great for my 'bright' sounding LPs......when I switch to a more neutral cartridge directly after listening to this combination........I hear nuances that escaped the previous cartridge and re-listen to that 'bright' LP all over again.

I think that really good cartridges (and arms) are better than just 'tone-controls'.
They give one the ability to discover differences in presentation without changing speakers, amplification or rooms?

Then again there are folk who have different rooms, speakers and systems :-)
'For more than 30 years I had only one turntable,one arm and one cartridge...' and than become member of this forum. I assume nobody would own more cars than just one if there were no neighbours with more than one. Besides there are many diseases which are contagious. In my case however I was straightaway infected with the tonearm sickness. I assume that I have some natural resistance against TT's disease which 'explains' the story above but with the added curious result that I owned 12 tonearms and still just one turntable. But on this one I installed two tonearms with, stupid me, fast headshells. Than with my participation in the MM thread I also learned to hunt for the 'carts of the month' on ebay such that in no time I become collector with more than 30 carts. Changing those in fast headshells + Basis Exclusive phono-pre which need to be opened for each sdjustment caused me at last to buy an second TT on which I installed my 'old love' the FR-64s. Actually it was Henry who 'caused' this change because he asked the question: ''why don't you use your FR-64?''
Henry obviously like to question many things but this thread of his has no sense whatever. We all know that there are no rational answers to those 'why' questions. So we are, so to speak, forced to invent whatever reasons to justify what we have done. How is one supposed to do that without tell tales? The rest of us than need to pretend not only to understand what other have done but also to feel sympathy and/or empathy for the guy in question and hope for some kindness in return. Considering 'some' anymosity between 'some' members I am very sceptical about this thread (grin).
I have 7 turntables set up ready to roll and many others in house. Some perfect classics (idlers, idler plus belt, direct drive) as well as new state of the art.

With all those, I end up using the most neutral, quiet belt drive table as on a wide variety of records it just shows more, has more dynamics, exaggerates nothing, just delivers what is on the record.

In the end, when you have a very low distortion device with extreme speed stability it just is more satisfying than more colored turntables, as alluring as it seems (before you do it) to have a "real warm table" for "easy listening" and others with other colorations. Colorations mean distortion is covering up true detail, and even on less than the best records, that gets old.
I have 3 turntables up and "running" at all times and own 5 total, if you count the broken TT101 I just bought. I use a highly modified Lenco for MM cartridges and the two others for various low output cartridges. The Lenco set-up feeds a tube MM phono stage, and the other two feed the phono section of my Atma MP1 full-function preamp. I have no idea why I do this, or how my audio life got so complicated. I am kind of like the derelict in Syntax's cartoon, except that this obsession did not make me poor. I guess I started out with an interest in learning for myself how turntables per se affect sound. I've also had some fun restoring or overseeing the restoration of some excellent vintage turntables, in the bargain.

Apparently my odyssey was a waste of time and money. Omsed has all the answers. Still, it's been fun, and I think I'm done.