Best set up for 78's ?

A pretty inexpensive, but s/b very good platform to start with would be the Audio Technica PL-120. It's a 24-lb. direct drive turntable. Not only does it have 78rpm built-in, it has the Technics-inspired dual-range pitch adjuster, giving you +/- 16% speed variation. That translates to a range of 65.5 to 90.5 rpm. You can get the PL-120 for around $200, give or take $20 and market conditions.

The next step up would be to get a KAB-modified SL1210 M5G with 78rpm speed control and fluid damper.

Both of these machines have removable headshells, so it should be very easy to install a good 78 rpm cartridge/stylus, a Grado perhaps? Then there's the Gram Slee Jazz phono pre that has addresses the non-uniformity in equalization.

Being able to dial in both the precise speed and the proper EQ curve on a mechanically accurate and solid platform should go a long way toward extracting the best sound from each 78.

Instead of the PL120, for around $200 you can get the Stanton T.90. The Stanton comes with a stanton 500 cart so it's a better deal. And the Stanton 500 also happens to be the best affordable cart for 78 playback. You will have to get a 3 mil stylii, but those are easy to find and also very affordable. It also offers digital output, which may or may not be of interest. This should be the top choice for entry level 78 without going used.

For the next step up I would suggest a Lenco.

For the eq curves, on a budget set up you can get by with a plain old multi-band equalizer.

I will say that Lostchord's memories are deceiving him. Some 78's can be enjoyable for sure (while others sound like garbage), have a different flavor sound, and also have non-musical value as artifacts but, no, they're not rivaling modern lps. Or CDs. Some did sound better than their lp equivalents during the very first year or so that lps were first on the market, but that's a very limited exception to my statement. Also, the last generation of 78s often were not direct-to-disc.

Mapman: DiamondCut is superior software for transfering 78s to digital. If one is mainly concerned with transfering to digital, then DiamondCut will handle all the eq curves, speed adjustment etc. and you don't have to worry about the extra gear and money to do that in the analogue domain.

Sometimes with a rough record you get a better transfer by playing it at a slower speed and correcting the speed later. Warps that can launch the stylus at 78 rpm may be trackable at lower speed.

I agree with everything that Pryso said. All of theose things need to be taken into consideration besides the TT. But some of the following coments are, I believe, a bit misleading.

You can certainly play 78s on almost any turntable capable of 78 RPM. But unless you are using the right combination of deck, arm, cartridge and Phono Stage w/ EQ adjustment, you will not be hearing the 78s the way that they were meant to be heard.

Cleaning the records is ultra-important. Shellac 78s are much more delicate than vinyl LPs, so you are going to spend some (OK, a lot) of time cleaning them up. Don't even try to clean bakelite 78s which were promotional items mainly meant for a single play.

I have not tried to record 78s at 45 RPM. In my experience warping is not a big issue w/ 78s - they are either pretty even or they are cracked or broken. Yes, they are delicate. Remember all those old movies where one guy breaks a record over another guys head? They didn't need special prop records for that.

Have fun

"But unless you are using the right combination of deck, arm, cartridge and Phono Stage w/ EQ adjustment, you will not be hearing the 78s the way that they were meant to be heard."

I wonder what the "state of the art" in playback that defined how these might have been meant to be heard was back in the age of 78's?

Surely, technology today should lend itself better to playback if one is so motivated to invest, but I wonder how good the old 78s might really sound given a modern SOTA treatment?

I suppose I'll find out eventually when I carve out the time to tackle playing and preserving the handful of 78s that I currently have.