So.. My dad wants to play his old 78's

FONSguy

Super Member
he has no turntable. I was thinking of a lovingly rebuilt Garrard SL95, and a stereo cart (MM) with 78 stylus.

Any suggestions on either turntable or cart? It will be plugged into a Crown IC150a so he can 'mono' the output with the pan control. maybe use loudness and high filters. This would be for his 93rd birthday!!!
 
Depends on the price range, there are a bunch of threads on here. The Dual 1019 is popular and is what I use. I'm not sure how available it is anymore, but I'd avoid the Shure M78, I have one and it is not very good.
 
Others will suggest turntables. May I suggest the Pickering V-15 cartridge? You will have to use an aftermarket stylus, most likely, but that is OK in this application and they can bear a lot of weight. I've found 78 playback to work best a higher forces, like 5 or 7 grams. Keep that in mind, whatever you buy.
 
I use to use an AT120 non USB with an OM78 stylus on a super om cartridge. Played 78s nicely and reliably for not a huge investment. Can easily switch OM78 with one of the OM10,20,30 40 line for non 78s.
 
I use a Dual 1215 with the Ortofoan OM78. I do like that cartridge because like Mark says above, you can get the stereo stylus (the 10, 20, 30, or 40) and swat that out easily enough. There is also a D25M stylus for that cartridge which is for older, non-78 mono albums. The OM series is pretty inexpensive, though it can get pricier as you go from the 10 to the 20 to the 30 to the 40.
 
Sorry to crap on the OM78, but 2g VTF is never going to cut it for quality 78RPM playback. Do they not study physics in Denmark?:eek:

The keys to *listenable* 78 RPM playback are:

4 grams minimum VTF. This is critical as the stylus is going to be moving at a high rate of speed and is susceptible to any horizontal (warp) or lateral (off-center) variations. Personally, I track at 5g.

Viable options are:

- Stanton/Pickering (the industry standard for 78 playback since forever) with either OEM or aftermarket styli. The 500/V15s are great. The 68x/XV-15s are even better.
- Grado 78C or 78E
- Audio-Technica AT-MONO3/SP
- The aftermarket styli from Esoteric -- they have options for Shure, Grado, Nagaoka, and Audio Technica.

Mono playback. If you play 78s back in stereo, you get all sorts of phasing artifacts. These disappear in mono. Options for this are:

- Preamp/receiver/integrated amp with a mono switch (ability to choose with L or R only gives even more options for worn discs)
- Mono cartridge (the Grados or AT above, or you can strap a stereo cartridge at the pins)
- dual Y-cables to sum the signal in the chain

A "nice to have" option is EQ curves for the specific manufacturers. These can be found on some vintage tube preamps (Fisher made a few) or you can buy a modern one from KAB ($$$). If you're needle dropping, the ClickRepair guy has free software for automatically adjusting this for you from RIAA. I've found that tweaking the tone controls on more modern gear works just fine. But 78s do sound lovely through tubes if you have the option.
 
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I bought a used Audio Technica AT LP120 USB for a few specific reasons. One was that it will play 78's.

It cost $150 and came with an AT 95e cartridge. I bought a 78 rpm stylus for a whopping $14 off amazon and I'm golden.
 
Ok,
I suggest to first pick the turntable, then the matching MM cart. I think the AT-120 is a good modern option. There are tons of turntables that you can buy that will play them. Then, once you have the table picked out, you can look for a cart that will work with the table. (I use a Shure M95 with the 78 stylus. 3g tracking force with the AT-120) Anything lower than 3g won't work too well. I see bangsezmax suggests 4g as the lowest point...eh..yes...I agree. I would say 3g-5g vtf for the cart. Most if not all of the carts mentioned so far have stylus that track at that weight and will play 78's well. And most tables can have these mounted to the tonearm without any modifications. You want to pick the table first so you know what the tonearm is like and what limitations it might have as far as picking a MM cart.
 
Wow, 93!!!!!!!
If you can afford the moon. make that his present.

Back to earth. The very old 78s have carborundum powder in the recipe. Not good for a diamond stylus. How about a refurbished Victrola [with auto-shutoff] and a big box of needles? These things play very loud.
 
A Victrola might be a lot of fun, and as NoTransistors (and apparently no Tubes, either) says, they can play loud, and sound good, as well as amazing all guests.
 
I use to use an AT120 non USB with an OM78 stylus on a super om cartridge. Played 78s nicely and reliably for not a huge investment. Can easily switch OM78 with one of the OM10,20,30 40 line for non 78s.

Shure M 44-whatever or Stanton 500/Pickering V 15 (use what the archivists use for this job, ideal for 78 RPM work)
 
We set up a Dual 1219 with a Shure M91ED and a needle for 78s.it worked fine. Have fun!
Also, a working Garrard 95 with this cart would make a good combination. Mentioned above a Shure M44/M55 on a 95 would work well too.
 
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As far as tables, for 78's I guess the only thing that matters is make sure it will spin that speed, I personally use a Rec-O-Kut because they are built like a tank, are easy to work on, and you can find them pretty reasonable.
As far as the cart, I went with a AT-Mono3/SP mc, which really cuts down on the surface noise because it only picks up lateral movement, not the horizonal movement. I highly recommend this cart for 78's.
 
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