3 Tonearms 1 preamp

If you have the real estate on your present preamp just add a selector switch and two more sets of RCAs. Or have a tech do it for you. It should be on the back panel and should do the switching before the active circuit. I converted the first three inputs on my preamp to be phonos, but I have six turntables and may have to add a few more inputs. Who says we're normal!

Bob there are certainly passive preamps with switching or devices such as the Manley Labs Skipjack, which is a very high quality input switcher. The problem is that the phono signal is the smallest, and most frail, signal in your entire system. Do you really want to add a switch box followed by another set of interconnects and have that signal compromised even further? Not to mention the variable of capacitance in adding all of this stuff. It's not a desireable answer at all. Better to get a phono preamp design that accomodates multiple inputs, modify your existing phono stage or add other phono preamps and run then into your available line inputs.

Bob, to do what you want to do is a compromise, and you will have switches in the signal path before the RIAA EQ lifts the voltage of the signal, unless you use seperate phono preamps into seperate line level inputs in your preamp.

That said, if you choose to use swiching, keeping the wiring as short as possible, with the least amount of breaks, makes the most sense, and that generally calls for switching right at the input of the phono preamp. You still will have the switch contacts and the short lengths of wire, but at least you don't have the breaks and cable effects of additional interconnects and their added capacitance as well as the overall longer signal path.

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.