3 Tonearms 1 preamp

The easiest solution is to switch your phono pre to one that has at least 3 inputs (Aesthetix Rhea for example but many others as well depending on your budget).

Thanks CMALAK,
I was hoping for something a little more affordable. I am also happy with the preamp I have.

Have you considered a creek pre? They are passive and should do a great job. OBH12 or 14

Thanks everyone!
The use of a passive preamp is interesting as well as installing a home made switch with rca jacks. It may end up I do one of these options.What I was hoping is to find a product that was designed to do exactly what I need. It seems that the need for a device such as this exists in other applications besides turntables and tonearms.

Good Point Veridian. This is the reason I posted the question. The problem is looked at from others and the solution is thought thru. I have one question though, how does a phono pre with multiple inputs arrive at this without switches, wires and jacks in the path?

I had a similar dilema, three tables and one phono section, a Fon Lo Thingee by Blue Circle. I liked it so much I had a custom Phono section made by Blue Circle that incorporated three Fon Lo Thingee Phono sections put into a "Proper Box" with a Grayhill three position selector switch going to one output. Each phono section has its own input with selectable gain and loading. The design utlized the existing Biggee power supply and SP capacitor pack to save a few dollars. I think it is really great and perfect solution for me.

that is why I use McIntosh C20.....

Thanks everyone.
With my budget I think that the idea of adding a selector switch and phono jacks at the preamp is the way to go. I will get the switch and jacks from an old receiver. No real estate on the pre so I'll make a box that rests on top and will enter thru the rca holes once the jacks are removed and hard wire direct. If I ever want to trade to another pre it will be simple to restore to original. Anything I have overlooked or need to consider is welcomed and encouraged.

I remember talking to one of Stuart Hegeman's technicians back in the early eighties about modifying my Hapi 2. He emphatically advised me that it was a bad idea. It seems that the topography of a preamp is very important and is taken into consideration during it's design. Adding extra RCA jacks and a selector switch might have the effect of creating an antenna to catch stray RF noise from the circuit and ruining the entire preamp. Needless to say, I took his advice. If I were to have 3 tonearms and cartridges, I would get 3 separate preamps. Keep it simple (circuit wise).

Thanks for the advice Heyraz. That will lead to the same problem at the final preamp. Maybe Veridian can comment on the results of his conversion with the addition of the selector switch. I am learning that most every change is a compromise in some regard.The simplest compromise is the financial one but it is also the most difficult to justify in these times.

Unfortunately, finances are always the impediment. My preamp (Forte 44) has 5 high level inputs, so I could get away with 3 discrete tonearm/preamps. If I were limited to one preamp input, I'd probably swap cables whenever I decided to listen to a different tonearm/cartridge for the cleanest possible sound. Otherwise, what's the point. Besides, how often to you think you'll be swapping? Weakest link in the chain theory carries much significance with me. Cool idea though, 3 tonearms. Much easier than changing headshells.

Heyraz what you say makes good sense and that is what i've been doing. It creates problems with location of equipment to make it accessable and out of the way.Thought if it didn't sound good I could allways go back to cable swapping.
I will try the box I described a few posts back and hear the results.I'm pretty sure something will be lost but if I'm lucky I won't be able to detect it with my old ears. If I can hear it than in the trash it will go as it was going anyway and back to cable swapping. And BTW you or at least I would switch very often if it was easier. Since I don't have the one perfect needle, cartridge and tonearm some records may sound better with a differant approach.In fact some records do sound better , what works best for one doesn't allways work best for others.

I have 2 cartridges now, a Grado Signature 8 on a spare headshell and a Grado Reference Sonata 1 that I listen to. I recently swapped back the Signature just to check it out again, but I didn't even bother finishing one side. The Sonata was so much more refined, I'm giving the Signature to my son. I like your approach though, and I plan on trying out other cartridges in the near future. Your turntable project must have cost a lot of money, good tonearms alone aren't cheap, never mind the cartridges. I thought if you were going to the expense of assembling such an instrument, you would want the best possible scenario. In fact, I'll bet you end up with the 3 discrete setups I described earlier or finding a preamp with more than one phono input. BTW, have you considered using a line preamp in front of your main preamp to handle handle phono preamp switching? I picked up a used Acurus preamp from ebay for around $300 recently, it has 6 high level inputs. I own 3 phono sections, all sounding different, but I settled on the one I preferred. The argument could be made some music sounds better on one preamp than the another. I'll bet there's as much character in a preamp as there is in a cartridge. You know, tube vs solid state.

An issue I did not see brought up here is unless you are using identical cartridges on each tone arm, you will need to adjust the settings of the phono pre for each cart.

Well to take the guessing out I will tell you I am using an ATP-12T with an AT-160LC , AN AT-1010 with a SIGNET TK7E and an EPA-100 with an AT-150MLX going to a UREI transcription preamp that has been custom modded by a shop here in town. Also use an ADCOM GFP-400 for now which has an excellent phono section.(my opinion)The reason for the 1 table with 3 arms is to thin out my office / listening room by removing some of the turntables I have. The custom plinth is an experiment using 3 layers of 3/4''in. MDF with 2 layers of 1/2''in. hardy cement board sandwiched between. Results are amazing. This is rock solid and I cannot hear any feedback at all. My room is 12 X 12 and can play very loud with no audible feedback that I can hear. That was definatly not the case prior.

It's obvious to me now. You need a 9 position switch so you can run 3 cartridges through 3 preamps onto your high level input. Then, you can really customize your sound!!!
(took me 3 scotches to have this epiphany). Three is apparently the magic number here!

never said it was high level or that I wanted to customize the sound. I guess that is why all of these items were purchased here.not good enough as they climded up. The Sp-10 mkll really adds to the flavor.