What's a good cartridge for playing 78s on stereo?

[gramophone-georg]

I saw on the KAB website that they sell the Shure M78S for $65. The stylus is 2.5 mil. Would that be a good cart. for electric 78s?

http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/

Marc- 2.5 is good for records with lots of surface wear but for my money 3.0 is better. Some advocate a 4.0 for Victor Orthophonics. Haven't tried it yet.

I am a huge fan of vintage GE VR cartridges.

[bigshot]

I don't care for the Shure M78S. It doesn't track heavy enough. I like the Grado DJ cartridge. Much more rugged. I use 3.0 conical usually.

[Wolfe]

Supposedly shure has a back stock of styli (js that a word) another nice cart is the Denon DL 102 mono .It is a high output moving coil and very rugged it can track at a logical weight for both clean and average records but it is a few hundred dollars
The GE VR with 3 mil is a good option too

Denon 102 is for microgroove records.

[marcapra]

What is a good tracking force for a 78 rpm cart.? This Ortophon 78 cart. tracks at just 2 grams and I think the stylus is only 2 mil. if I'm reading it correctly.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ortofon-2M-78- ... SwWWJauvC7

[Wolfe]

^ Specs are here : 2.5 mil and 1.8 grams tracking force, which seems light for 78 duty.

https://www.lpgear.com/product/OR2M78.html

[Damfino59]

There are still many Stanton 500 series and Shure M44 cartridges out there NOS. Or you can still find used. Expert still supplies new or you can have whatever stylus shank re-tipped.

The low end Grado 78c works well for someone who just wants to start out dabbling in the playback of vintage 78s. I have one in rotation on my Technics 1200.

And don’t forget the Audio-Technica At3400 tracks at 4 grams. A 78 stylus is available.

[Wolfe]

^ Grado carts are unsheilded and prone to hum with certain turntables. Probably would be fine for the Music Hall 1.5 as it's a belt drive. Grado hum tends to be more of a problem with direct drive TT's. The SL 1200 is a direct drive but hum apparently doesn't intrude in your case.

[Damfino59]

Yes I never did have the Grado hum issue with the 1200. Somewhere on the AudioKarma site is a list of turntables/Grado issues by brand and model number.

The Grado also worked on my Dual 1214.

[Vinrage_mania]

The DL 102 retipped by Expert in England

[Wolfe]

^ Oh.

I recently placed an order for an Audio-Technica AT-MONO3/SP 78 RPM cart. It's a moving coil, too. Got a 2.5. mil tip. I didn't really need it but I've had an unending curiosity about how a moving coil does with 78's. I'm a big fan of MC when it comes to LP playback. Waiting impatiently for the AT's arrival from Japan...