3 Tonearms 1 preamp

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.

Bob, I did not find much loss in my conversion, but my system is tuned for tone, not high resolution, so Ymmv. I also have a preamp with an integral phono stage and just took two of the extra line level inputs and ran them to the phono stage, a different animal than what you will be doing.

On the other hand, you can buy a small project box for $8.00, four sets of RCAs for another $15.00 and a selector switch for less than $10.00 and you are there and can make up your own mind. If it works for you, you can hardwire it in. Cheap and simple. Just keep those signal paths as short as possible.

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.