One turntable with two arms, or two turntables with one each - which would you prefer?


Which would you prefer, if budget allowed: one turntable with two tonearms or two turntables with one each? What would your decision criteria be?

And the corollary: one phono preamp with multiple inputs or two phono preamps?

Assume a fixed budget, but for the purposes of this question, the budget is up to the responder. Admittedly for this type of setup, there will be a sizeable investment once all components of the chain are factored in.

I'm curious to hear how people would decide for themselves the answer to this question. Or maybe you've already made this decision - what do you like about your decision or what would you differently next time?

Cheers.

dullgrin

Showing 5 responses by terry9

No question, more is better. My sample of B25 is 19 layers of birch, 18 of phenolic in 19mm, right on spec.

@pindac I use Panzerholz quite a bit. My DIY air bearing turntable uses a platter board made of Pz topped with carbon composite. Dead as a tomb - and quite unnecessary as the air bearing produces no noise whatsoever (it’s air in all 3 dimensions). So that was an unnecessary expense but it looks pretty fine.

The motor board is where a massive slab of Pz really makes a difference. It’s one of several measures to reduce motor noise, and that is down to the noise of the sleeve bearings in a low power precision motor. I've tested that and can demonstrate.

I also use Pz in my DIY air bearing tonearm wand. The cartridge has a very low compliance and couples nicely with a heavy, resonance-resisting wand. What works best is to have the Pz layers perpendicular to the axis of the wand, so that there are hundreds of birch / phenolic boundaries between the stylus and the air bushing.

DIY forever!

I find that Pz warps only when left unsealed. Is your experience otherwise? Thanks!

Panzerholz is a material like any other. It has it's uses in places which require good rigidity and high damping, like tonearm wands for low compliance cartridges and turntable motor boards. No magic, just engineering.