The Raison d' etre of having an 'ARMS RACE': Many people, including me, will wonder why there is a need to have so many tonearms and cartridges in an audio system such as this. Well, I've seen people with 2 turntables each with a different tonearm, and 1 turntable with 2 tonearms, but this is the first time for me to see 2 high quality German-made turntables with 6 tonearms and 6 cartridges mounted on them, ready to pounce on any given vinyl. Why?
Here's why. In my past conversations with the Emperor, when he had only 1 TT and about 2 to 3 arms and carts, he was telling me that first off, a type of cart needs to be matched with a certain type of tonearm - like the mass/compliance thingy. Agreed. Secondly, one wants to have several flavors given that most carts have its own 'house sound'. Agreed. And thirdly, there are recordings that will sound poorly on one cart but glorious on another cart/arm combination. When I heard this, I felt that it was such a brilliant idea. So, if the Deccas don't sound good on one combi, then another combi, with its own synergistic trademark, might be able to adapt to such characteristics. It is a 'mix and match' kind of thing, somewhat akin to what some audio hobbyists do in having many pre-amps, amps, and speakers; they rotate the gears to match a particular system. But in this case, the last
raison, it is about matching a specific recording label to a cart/arm combination.
Voila! One again, you have the cakes, eat them, and give the rest to your kids, to boot.
While this is already complex to some, and me, things gets even more puzzling with the Emperor's phono stages, repeat, stages with an S. There are at least 4 brands in my recollection, each with multiple inputs either in MM or MC format. And there are a few step-up trannys as well. AND, there are 2 or 3 line stages as well, hooked on to the different phono stages to feed the 6-headed analog spinners, as Comrade JD once said, it's '2 short of being an octopus'.
What marvels me, is that the Emperor knows where each cart's phono stage and line stage is, by clicking a knob and shifting to one or the other line stage, he instantly can play a record on any of the 6 carts, without plugging or unplugging any cables. As they say, it is 'automatic'.
I say this as an analog mortal who in his life was always a one cart/one arm/one table man. The show is utterly amazing, when he starts to man the helm. Below, is a view of his 'audio launchpad', the 'nerve center', if you will; in full battle formation, looking like a 'flotilla of audio gears' ready to charge.
My wife, upon seeing the above pic, asked me what are those pair of round things floating above the racks. I said those are 'lights from the future', in aid of manipulation of the analog rigs.
Deep inside I was saying: "*%$%^&*$(!#x!)!@)!!! Ang ganda!!!!".