Suggestions for a two/three tonearm turntable

I'm very, very happy with my TW AC-3 on a Critical Mass Systems Black Platinum Filter on a QXK rack. I've got three arms mounted now, A Phantom I, Phantom II, and TW's own arm. It is a very quiet table and the triple motor (3 microprocessor controlled DC units) and the flat belt give excellent speed stability and drive. I really don't know how Thomas did it but this table has the decays that I've found wanting in other tables. The gel filled copper composite platter has got to have something to do with it. The bearing is also somewhat unique. At least I haven't seen anything like it. Right now I've got the MYSonic Labs Ultra Eminent BC (Japan model of the EX), Ortofon A90 and Dynavector XV-1t into a prototype 4 input Valvet Soulphono with pairs of custom silver toroid step up transformers for MC1,2 and 3 and loaded with TFK 803S and 801S tubes.

There are a lot of fine tables from which to choose. I'm sure everyone will recommend the table they own (myself included) and that speaks to the high quality and variety of modern and vintage turntable designs available. This is an expensive purchase you only want to do once, so my advice is not to purchase anything you haven't heard. Spending a little money to travel and audition is worth the upfront investment (if necessary) and long-term piece of mind.

I'm delighted with my Galibier turntable, www.galibierdesign.com Thom Mackris is a joy to work with. I've heard the TW turntables many times and they are also excellent. Jeff Catalono is one of the good guys in audio. Mike Lavigne's new NVS table is terrific and Jonathan Tinn is very customer-centric. One more piece of advice. In no small measure, you are purchasing the people behind the machine. Most high-end turntables are the product of one or two man companies. It is worth taking the time to get comfortable with whomever you purchase from. You will likely need them as a resource to get the most out of your turntable investment.

Good luck, enjoy the process and keep us posted on your decision.

regarding 2 or 3 arm turntables, and arm mounting choices.

over the last 5 years i've owned 5 tt's with multiple arms. in my experience, as you pursue better and better arms and higher levels of performance, the limitations of the arm board attachment scheme and the arm board material get more and more important. ultimately, any arm board that can potentially act like a trampoline will do exactly that. and it won't be until you actually improve that weak point and hear the result that you will realize how much it limited performance. high frequencies are blurred and bass is soft with compromised arm boards. overall musical energy is lost.

a single pivot point rotating arm board is very convienient and flexible for different arm mounting and lengths but is challenged to provide the solid base for ultimate precision performance. not that it cannot be done, but you would need a very massive plinth attachment and likely a hefty stainless steel arm board. (exactly how Jazdoc's Telos is attached to his Galibier).

the NVS uses a 'halo' scheme, with each arm board attached at 2 points, and 2 sizes of halo's for different length arms. the larger halo accomodates long and short arms. i know it took some work to get ultimate solidity for the very heavy Durand Telos arm (likely at least twice as heavy as any other arm i've used except the Rockport linear tracker).

every turntable arm mounting scheme is challenged to be optimal, not just tt's which accomodate multiple arms. at audio shows observing how arms are mounted on various tt's i often wonder how they might sound with better approaches to this issue.

this is not a matter of good and bad. tt's can and do sound good with less than ideal arm mounting approaches. it's that they can sound much better when this issue is truely optimized. and the better the tt, arm and cartridge are, the more this matters. at the bottom of the food chain precision is not always desired.

as far as rec's; i'm a direct drive guy, so i would strongly recommend 'The Beat' from Steve Dobbins for multiple arms as well as the Wave Kinetics NVS. with the NVS i recommend the stainless steel arm boards as optimal. with The Beat i'd have both the arm towers and arm boards done in stainless.

I heard great things from a three-arm table from Raul down here, a Micro Seiki 1500.

Just installed a Luxman PD555 and very happy, not the fastest "starter" around but once it gets the selected speed locked, it sounds great - I am using a 9 inch arm but waiting to have a second arm-board to install a 12 inch arm (Jelco, SME and Ortofon are on my list), but back to track.... Not sure if the 555 could be an option for you since there were only a few shipped to America.

I'm very happy my Galibier turntable and feel comfortable adding it to your list. http://www.galibierdesign.com/

Thom Mackris is one of the good guys and audio and very good to work with. The other suggestions so far are also very good.