"Budget" turntable with 2 tonearms?

After doing some research on the forums and playing around with a Y splitter for a few months I think I've finally decided to get a dedicated mono cartridge. I think ideally a table with 2 arms would be best, but I cant seem to find any in a reasonable price range ($2k or under?). Know of any budget friendly way of getting 2 arms on a table?

 

Drill another hole in a Rega. The arm hole would have to be positioned to the front. But you could rotate the plinth 90° if it helps ergonomics. It would probably easier with an older model with the old base like on the RB300.

 

That's an interesting thought. I'm using a Rega P1 currently, theres some extra real estate on the front right of the plinth but I'm not sure if I could get it where the arms wouldn't interfere with each other

 

A Technics SP-15 or 25 in a typical ProBase style plinth would be an option to be able to mount two tonearms.

 

Your options are much greater if you just buy another table and pre for a dedicated mono system. If you can diy maybe a Denon saucer table in a custom plinth large enough for 2 arms.

 

The closest was the Avid Ingenium Twin at closer to $2800. Discontinued now, but they still have some unsold for sale.

 

Rega makes a Planer 78, formally the P-78. It's probably reasonably priced.

 

The OP may find something of interest in the thread I did when I added a 2nd arm to my turntable. A stand alone pod is a viable option, although more expensive than drilling the table. The pod does give room to changing arms if required without being locked into a fixed position and keeps the table in original condition for any future resale.
My Project project

 

Looks like a promising table, I can't seem to find any available for sale though

 

What are the benefits to another preamp? Are there preamps designed specifically for mono?

 

That's an awesome upgrade - I do love DIY projects like that but would be worried with something so precise I couldn't get it up and running as well as you did

 

If possible then stretch your budget a bit and get a Michell Gyro SE- probably one of the most affordable decks if you want to put two tonearms on your turntable.

Some information and pics from another forum:

Second tonearm on Gyro SE issue.- Vinyl Engine

 

I probably wouldn't bother modding an rp1 that much. What I would do is sell it and buy a good turntable with a removable headshell. Put your other cart on the spare headshell. The advantage is that you don't need a second phono input. It's a little less convenient, but works well.

For a 2 arm table, look at aftermarket mods for more common decks like Rega and Technics. Bear in mind a second tonearm isn't cheap and will add to the cost significantly, especially if you want a fancy arm.

 

Acoustand Solid Plinth 2 V2

 

Most Ortofon Cartridges have a Mono version. If you have a turntable with a universal headshell, you can simply swap the two headshells as needed. Using two versions of the same cartridge (for example 2M Bronze and 2M Mono) you won't have to mess with alignment at all, and in most cases, the Mono tracking force range overlaps the "regular" cartridge, so you won't even have to adjust tracking force and anti-skate. D

 

If you email them [email protected] you will be a fairly quick response.
They wrote,

"We stopped making the Ingenium Twin models, however we do still have some stock of the model variants below.
If one is of interest let me know and I'll double check the stock."

We have:

• Project 9” Twin
• Jelco 9” & SME 9”
• SME 12” Twin
• SME 9” & SME 12”
• SME 12” & Project 9”

​

They told me £1200.00 Inc. VAT plus shipping for the Pro-Ject 9" twin variant without the tonearms.

 

The problem with a 2 arms table is that you would need 2 inputs in your phone stage or 2 stages.
That was my nogo

 

Thanks for the help. I emailed them myself and am working with them to see what I can do within my budget. Do you have any familiarity/recommendations between those arms?

 

I use the Schiit Mani so getting a 2nd one is rather inexpensive. Isn't there some sort of RCA splitter that could be used to plug both arms into one input? Or does that cause some audible interference?

 

The Amari line of tables from China is based on the more expensive Hanss tables, and most of the models beyond the entry level ones can be fitted with two arms. The Amari LP-22S (around $1600) is shown below, along with the Hanss T-20 model it's based on. The Amari normally has the motor situated in the second arm pod location, but it can be placed on the side or off-center in the back, opening up the second arm location. You'd need to machine or otherwise acquire a tonearm mounting plate, though. The Amari comes with a basic tonearm, not sure how good it is, but it does have built-in adjustable speed control for the AC synchronous motor, and magnetic platter bearing, among other features ...


Amari LP-22S






Hanss T-20

 

Splitters and switches exist, but the two I have tried introduced more noise.
I bought the Schiit Sys and it hummed bad, Schiit claimed it was not the intended usage,

"Honestly though the Sys really isn’t suited for that kind of use, it really is intended for line level signals.
We can’t guarantee it will work in that configuration."
​

And I bought the Rek-O-Kut low-noise unit, but it wasn't.

I am not sure why, seems like isolation should be trivial, but has not been my experience.

To be clear, I still have multiple tables, one is an Ingenium with the 9" Pro-Ject arm (I never did get the twin), and a Sota Sapphire + ET2.
I do have two arm wands for the ET2, but it is still kind of a hassle to swap arms, and I still have to swap cables since the switch boxes did not work out.

 

I do own and like the 9" Pro-Ject arm fine, on a standard Ingenium.
If I was going to pull the trigger, and I still might, I'd get a 9 + 12 mixed setup.

Having 1 SME 12" and 1 Pro-Ject 9" on the same deck would feel more versatile to me.

 

There are a lot of phono preamps with two inputs, usually controlled via internal relay for low noise, some very reasonably priced too, but I doubt any as cheap as two Manis.

 

Do space limitations preclude having two tables? If not, you'll probably get more bang for your buck just keeping your Rega and spending ~$1000 on a used SOTA Sapphire, VPI HW-19, etc.

 

Do yourself a favor and buy a Jelco arm that allows quick swapping of carts like I do