Why do you have more than one turntable?

Running 50 year old gear one needs a backup TT every now and then.

 

There's pure collectors of audio. Like vehicles. Some of it is used daily or often. Some need more than one to use daily or often. Some want it to collect, and rarely if ever use. On those two things. Some are in between those two extremes. On many things in their lives. Clarification.

Those who deal with modern records, and two speed life. In audio, have it simpler. If you listen to 3 speeds, you have more to deal with. How much you can compromise in small ways to listen to what you want, what your budget, and lifestyle can handle are major factors. No one size fits all people in anything. We're all individuals here.

 

Even these guys...

 

I have a Mitsu LT-3 for the new records and those without issues. I have a Connoisseur BD2/A I picked up that happily plows through my dollar bin G-VG Blue Note, Savoy and Prestige records.

Now that the Mac MA5100 is deployed, I can switch between them as I desire. And I have a world of mono options to play with, too, with that integrated.

 

I have 4. I upgraded and didn't sell. I hardly use one.

 

I don’t, but the reason I would want a second one would be to minimize changeover time between records.

 

After buying a Dual 1219 from a "side gig repair guy" several years ago I developed an interest in the Dual idler drives. Probably has a lot to do with it being the "other", not a belt not a direct, something a little different. That and the way they are put together, quality of their sound reproduction, even the way they look appeals to me. Rather than depend on the repair guy, I started picking up Duals from junk shops and e-bay in various conditions and trying to work on them myself. So I think I've got two or three Dual 1219, two Dual 1019 and a Dual 1229. I've got one in the living room, one in the basement in the two places I listen. The 1019 is in another room, used for checking out/working on equipment. Then there are two or three in various states of repair.

 

I have three in the same main system. Two are similar but different Pro-Jects with two very different cart types. The third is an old 1977 Dual 721 that doesn’t get much use, but I adore it. It is like a very old dog: you love it and is part of your family, but you don’t call on it to play much anymore.

my gear takes up three racks, so I have three top surfaces. I figure that if I have the room, there is no reason to get rid of one just to get rid of it. If I got a tube amp that I would want on the top of one of the racks, I wouldn’t hesitate on ditching the old Dual. The two Pro-Jects stay because I use both of them equally due to their carts.

 

Having two identical testing setups has really allowed me to hear improvements and get more out of my vinyl records.
When I get through tuning up my turntables I suppose one of them will be my "main table" out in the big setup.
Right now I am trying out tone arms and suspension setups and generally sorting out how to get world class sound for very little money.

In my case having two turntables allowed me to learn weak spots.
This taught me to implement suspended silicone floating stands to sit the table on.
So I made some isolation platforms and immediately enjoyed more clarity and the removal of any possibility of bass feedback at loud volume.

Then I compared tonearms and taught myself to tune up bearings and improve the arms.
But at the end of the day I couldn't make my Technics tonearm sound like a vintage tonearm.
So I replaced it with a vintage tone arm.
Now the OTHER turntable needed a better arm as suddenly it sounded horrible by comparison.

So having TWO tables has been a big help in hearing improvements side by side.
Using two identical phono pres /cables/setting/cartridges.

Every improvement is immediately apparent.
And they are BIG improvements!
Turntables are simply crying out to be worked on.
They are MECHANICAL things.
They deserve to be listened to and set up properly.

Tonearms matter.
Suspension matters.
Stability matters.
Timing matters.
And by having TWO of everything for instant comparison you quickly will find out what needs to be addressed next in your quest for better sound.
That's been my experience.

 

Perfect disquisition. In my case, I have several: a Fons International Mk. I in the main system, upstairs, coupled with a Graham Slee Jazz Club phono preamp for electrically recorded 78s and LPs. In the subsidiary system, downstairs, right now a Technics SP-15 coupled with a Graham Slee Accession; that's the system for acoustic recordings and, secondarily, for test plays of electrical 78s when I'm sorting duplicates. The Technics is actually a "backup" for the Strathclyde STD 305D that normally lives in that system but is in the shop at the moment; because my turntables are all old and mostly orphans, selected first and foremost on the basis of widely variable speed around 78 RPM, service on them tends to be slow, and it's only prudent to have a spare. I have another Fons (CQ 30, same thing as the Int'l Mk. I but in a nicer plinth) that I recently inherited from a friend who, much to our mutual distress, has hit health problems that put him out of the record playing business. I also have a Dual 1218 that I keep for sentimental reasons; when I bought it, very well used, in college, it was my first "good" turntable. Finally, I have an '80s vintage Technics linear tracker, 33/45 only, that is mine solely because I rescued it from somebody's trash on the roadside. That one I'm thinking to pass to my teen daughter if I can get her interested in records in some minor way (right now, true to her age group, she's interested only in streaming music through her phone).

If you define "turntable" more broadly to include antiques, I have a bunch of spring-driven machines: 3 Edison diamond disc phonographs (one of the largest pre-electrical-recording type with LP gearing, one from the end of the company's days with a modified horn design, one from the company's initial release of machines when it introduced the format); 3 Pathephones (one with a gigantic open horn; one, another sentimental item, my first spring machine, an upright cabinet model; and my "avatar" machine, which I've sold to another collector who hasn't taken it yet); 4 Victor machines (2 open-horn, with one yet another sentimental item, the last big Christmas present I received from my now-deceased parents; one Orthophonic Credenza, with a folded re-entrant exponential horn, the biggest Victor ever produced, designed for the then-new electrical recordings; one older cabinet tabletop model that a friend recently passed to me); a Columbia AH front-mount open-horn machine that was a legacy from a deceased friend. Although wider than it truly needs to be, this array of machines still couldn't be reduced to one and play everything that it does.

 

I do not but wouldn't mind. Different turntables are cool.

 

1 of mine is a gramophone & 1 is electric. I use my gramophone for playing gramophone records & the electric 1 for playing the other records.

 

I have five stereo systems in my house but only two turntables.

I think I need three more.

 

Three more stereo systems? Sounds like a great idea to me!

 

A 5-systems house is probably on the larger side for LS3/5As

 

Three of those systems are in pretty small rooms. And I like those systems every bit as much as the big room setups, maybe more.

I've got a pair of Magnepans coming this fall, not sure where I'll put those.

 

I'm a five system guy.
Big one in the main room (25x40).
Nearfield in the Control Room (10x10).
Home theater room with newest biggest Marantz and a projector.
Live music practice room sound system (JBL/1000 watts per channel four amps).
Small room setup using Krell and some monitor bookshelf speakers.

And the other day a guy in the neighborhood dumped a pair of loudspeakers on me.
He lost his hearing and couldn't use them no more.
Now where on earth do THESE things go?
And what about a new turntable setup for these too?

 

WATT Puppies? If so, definitely calls for a vintage SOTA of some kind.

 

I honestly have two because I wanted to "upgrade" and I lusted after a certain turntable. I found it used on Audiogon nearby for a great price. My wife seeing me carry it into the house was very awkward to say the least.

I now have "it" in my music room and my other one in the Office. Great to have two options - for instance I was listening to a Song's Ohia album that sounded terrible - I just bought it - and I tried it on the second turntable and it sounded great - that told me the issue was a worn stylus and that resolved it.

Having redundancy in this hobby is a very good thing.

 

Aeriel 10t loudspeakers.
They require about 500 watts RMS as the load they present is ridiculous.
I have the required amount of power to exceed that in watts, not a problem.
The problem is these won't sound correct until they are used in a large listening space.

My own large space already has Harbeths and four subs in it and the sound is jaw dropping.
I honestly have no interest in tearing it all apart and setting the Aeriels in that setup instead.
But I guess I will at some point screw around and ruin my main system at some point.

I am always screwing around and having to re-tune.
Move a speaker a quarter of an inch and the sound changes so dramatically you might think you are on drugs...

So I guess the next time I ruin everything I will take the opportunity to try out the Aeriels.
They sound a lot darker and more resonant than the Harbeths in comparison.
Even where they sit I have some impression of them.
And they sound big and deep and clear.

But those Harbeths simply disappear and leave you with a room full of live musicians.
So I don't hold out hope there will be an actual improvement.
But you never know!

 

I've said this before in another thread, I think, but I can't imagine running just one table. Three is the right number for me. I use either my Benz LPs or VdH Colibri MC cartridge on one deck that is used only for M/NM/Audiophile pressings, another one that I run an AT VM750SH MM on for less than NM records so I can replace the stylus when needed without breaking the bank and a third dedicated mono deck for all mono records regardless of condition. All 3 tables get a lot of playtime.

 

I really like how you used the MDF shelves underneath!

 

I was thinking of starting a thread on High Availability - looks like you have that covered.

 

Ah. Then you definitely need a Linn!

 

Well obviously, I am only, and always, speaking from my perspective. My opinion is why have one when you can have two. Like I said, collectors collect and that is on topic with the OP’s question - why have two turntables. Which is silly to start with, some of us have more then one room. Am I supposed to cart my TT from my office to my living room every day after work? My family has more then one chair each as well fwiw. Sometimes we want to sit in different chairs.

Couldn’t care less what anyone else does or thinks. But do appreciate the lecture and to be honest I’m still not clear on what point you are trying to make.