The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Some years ago, I bought a Technics turntable from the KAB website with the 78 speed added via a toggle switch. It came with two cartridges, one for 78s. The 78 cartridge had a nut glued to the top to add weight. But, unless you were playing a near mint vinyl 78 from the late 40s or 50s, the sound was almost pure scratch. Some have told me you have to use an equalizer to get decent sound, so I bought one and it didn't help. Maybe I bought the wrong kind of equalizer. I just looked at some of the new turntables on the market and am amazed at how the turntable market has come back with a vengeance! New brands like Pro-Ject, Music Hall, and Rega have three speeds and interchangeable cartridges on the mid range tables. So if I buy say a Music Hall MMF 1.5 turntable, what would be a good cartridge for playing records from the 1928 - 1950s era. And would I need an equalizer to get good sound on the records in the 28-40 era?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74RYOUjH2w

Marc, I just sent you a PM.

I do know about pre-amps and own one. I don't really need a pre-amp as my receiver has phono jacks. That was not the problem. I also own a 1950 Garrard record changer that I bought a new flip cartridge for. I think they may have sold me a bad cartridge as there doesn't seem to be a difference between the 78 and the LP stylus. I think they may be the same LP stylus on both sides.

marcapra wrote:I do know about pre-amps and own one. I don't really need a pre-amp as my receiver has phono jacks. That was not the problem. I also own a 1950 Garrard record changer that I bought a new flip cartridge for. I think they may have sold me a bad cartridge as there doesn't seem to be a difference between the 78 and the LP stylus. I think they may be the same LP stylus on both sides.

I'll bet you're right! I have seen them made that way. Stupid, if you ask me.

Does it play LPs OK?

Gotta jump in here besides the proper stylus EQ is very important to eliminate ( the RIAA curve ) because there were no standards in the early thirties I like the KAB one It does vert and lateral records and the curve presets are very good too
Expert stylus in England does amazing work but the cost is high

Vinrage_mania wrote:Gotta jump in here besides the proper stylus EQ is very important to eliminate ( the RIAA curve ) because there were no standards in the early thirties I like the KAB one It does vert and lateral records and the curve presets are very good too
Expert stylus in England does amazing work but the cost is high

If the funds are available, I agree an outboard phono preamp with a selection of curves built in is the preferable option. I have a Graham Slee Jazz Club, and while ideally it might benefit from another option or two, in practice I've found very few records that couldn't be made to sound "right" with it.

Cartridges: with Shure now out of the picture, I guess the main options are Grado and Ortofon. I like the sound of Grado but have found them intolerant of warped records. Never have owned an Ortofon. If you are playing your records with a cartridge equipped with flip-over stylus, it's almost certainly ceramic/crystal, meaning it should not be piped through a built-in phono preamp in a modern amp, which is designed for magnetic cartridges. Put it to an auxiliary input instead. You might have a look at Esoteric Sound, which offers a couple of packages of multiply-sized stylus sets; one of them actually mounts each in its own Grado cartridge. The downside of that series is that the styli are conical, and usually, I find, elliptical styli perform better. Esoteric does have elliptical styli in multi-sized sets, but those are for Pickering/Stanton, and with Stanton parent Gibson Guitar now in bankruptcy, I don't know how readily available those are, either, although as with Shure you'll find an abundance of used ones out there.

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

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?/

They are fine too...I have 2

marcapra wrote: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.