VPI tables with two tone arms

[pete6737]

Hello all,
I am new to vinyl and I'm planning on buying my first turntable hopefully by the end of summer. I noticed some pictures of turntables with two tonearms and my question is what is that for? Thank you in advance for your replies, Pete

[Masterlu]

Having two arms with different carts give you additional versatility. For example, you can have a stereo cart in one, and a mono on the other.

[cmalak]

+1...different flavors. So not can you only have different carts to voice your system differently but also different tonearms which will bring their own sonic flavor to the mix. But as Ivan said, it's about having the ability to play around with different sonic flavors. If you had one tonearm and you want to switch to a different cart, you will have to swap out the current cart for the new one you want to try out. In most cases, that is an aggravating and time consuming process.

[PMCH]

I think 2 tonearms are beneficial for some. For me it is just an accident waiting to happen. I am used to having just one tonearm on the right side. Having a second arm just begs me to bump into the right side tonearm and do damage while using the second arm. I am too clutzy to use two tone arms or even a TT without cuing.

[bigfish427]

Amen to that, Paul.

I would like to purchase just another arm one day to be able to swap cartridges, but not add an additional tonearm assy.

[mulveling]

I definitely want a "daily driver" (but still very high quality) 2nd cartridge setup in order to keep the hours low on my Koetsus. And having a 2nd flavor on hand can definitely keep both flavors tasting far fresher, longer; no matter how great a particular wine or meal (or girl) is, you're going to crave something different eventually. And cartridges have almost as much "personality" as speakers (or girls). Another great option is a 2nd (or 3rd) arm to hold a mono-optimized cartridge (different stylus profile and wiring results in far better signal-to-noise with mono records).

There are 3 routes you can take if you want to run multiple cartridges:
1. a single tonearm with multiple interchangeable wands: reset VTF, VTA, antiskate upon a swap (and azimuth, if you can)
2. a single tonearm with interchangeable head-shells: reset VTF, VTA, antiskate upon a swap (and azimuth, if you can)
3. multiple tonearms (best): set it and forget it! you can also better optimize the arm & cartridge pairings.

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by mulveling

I definitely want a "daily driver" (but still very high quality) 2nd cartridge setup in order to keep the hours low on my Koetsus. And having a 2nd flavor on hand can definitely keep both flavors tasting far fresher, longer; no matter how great a particular wine or meal (or girl) is, you're going to crave something different eventually. And cartridges have almost as much "personality" as speakers (or girls). Another great option is a 2nd (or 3rd) arm to hold a mono-optimized cartridge (different stylus profile and wiring results in far better signal-to-noise with mono records).

There are 3 routes you can take if you want to run multiple cartridges:
1. a single tonearm with multiple interchangeable wands: reset VTF, VTA, antiskate upon a swap (and azimuth, if you can)
2. a single tonearm with interchangeable head-shells: reset VTF, VTA, antiskate upon a swap (and azimuth, if you can)
3. multiple tonearms (best): set it and forget it! you can also better optimize the arm & cartridge pairings.

Mike...how often do you swap your women?

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by cmalak

Mike...how often do you swap your women?

Nuff said?

[mulveling]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

Nuff said?

Haha, those are 2 fine looking examples. No further comment

[pete6737]

Thanks for the info! I'll probably just "settle" for only one tone arm for now