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78 Phonographs

Westy56

Westy56

A symphony of paradox
Califone Promenade II 42 VA
I have done an exhaustive search on this particular model with no luck.

The majority of opinions on Califone are pretty negative.
I like the fact that it is tube.

I don't want to chisel my 78's on some substandard phonograph though.

Is their a preferred model by califone?
Steve
 
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1st off, that's a cool looking unit. What are the controls? Does it do turnover and rolloff for the different EQ curves? How does it sound?

Second, 78s were designed to be "chiseled." They mixed abrasives in with the shellac. Really. I play some of my shellac 78s (the less valuable ones anyhow) on a Victor Credenza with steel needles tracking at several ounces! And it sounds great -- so long as you change the needle every time, there's minimal wear.

Caveat -- you do NOT want to do this with vinylite 78s from the '50s!!! You will chew them to shreds.

But bottom line, as long as your playing point (disposable needle or diamond/sapphire stylus) is not worn, you should be fine playing them on whatever. A good bit of surface noise comes with the territory. If you played them enough to add more, then you'd be playing them a lot!
 
bangsezmax said:
1st off, that's a cool looking unit. !
Click to expand...


I thought it looked pretty advanced for something this old.
It looks like it is a professional setup.

I have not committed to the purchase.

I like that its speed is variable with a strobe.
It has suspension also.
The speakers plug in via jacks.


I just wanted to justify to myself that a 1 hour round trip to pick it up is worthwhile.

Steve
 
It's got inputs for two microphones, and a set of tone controls.

They're decent units and they'll last forever. Schools bought them by the pallet years ago. Even when I was in grade school in the late 80's, plenty of tube ones were circulating my district.

Hi-Fi they're not, but they don't sound horrid. You'll need a speaker, the Rheem ones were pretty decent and can belt out sound. IIRC, these are mono, too. It was one of the better Rheems.
 
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