A difficult LP reproduction question

True Elizabeth. I found an article at Mechanical Music Digest™ Archives and hope there is some truth in it.

Don't forget that for playing 78 RPM records you will need a spherical stylus, not the elliptical type normally used for 33-1/3 LP's. The old 78 RPM groove was cut wide and the modern elliptical will not make contact with both the outer groove walls. Stanton, ADC, Shure and some others still have spherical styli for use in their cartridges.

The Shure styluses for 78s are also elliptical, but bigger than the styluses for 33/45. The elliptical shape gives a better fit in the groove. If you have an equalizer in your system, you can get some pretty fair reproduction from the old 78's. The RIAA equalization curve did not come into play until the first LP's.

However, the only result of using RIAA is a bit of bass boost. Provided there is no bass feedback, I find most 78s sound fine played with the LP equalization.

I think reproduction will be adequate for the small quantity of 78's I'm likely to purchase. This entire project is intended to be an experiment to see what I can get in terms of sound.

I have heard favorable comment on a Radio Shack IC-based phono preamp kit costing about $10. It might do for your 78rpm adventure.

I actually heard that Rat Shack thing. Believe it or not, you can't go wrong trying it. It's $25, special order off the website. But remember, MM only.

Have any of you heard the Bottlehead Seduction? There are claims it is approaching state of the art and the kit is less than $300.00.

After completion you can add Stevens and Billington step ups and it will handle ultra low output moving coils cartridges such as Koetsu.

This increases my desire to experiment with rim drive turntables, moving magnet cartridges and older tonearms. I received my (NEW) factory packed Decca tonearm today from Holland and have yet to open the box.

Part of this desire is due to Jean Nantais thread here at Audiogon.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1075644493&read&h24&zzlJohnnantais&rest

That thread combined with my early days in high end audio where I sold this type of gear makes me want to revisit rim drive turntables and see how much performance is there. It's not all about 78 RPM, although these old rim drives have that ability along with variable speed adjustment.

My son begins college this year and if the commute becomes tiring he will move on campus, in which case this would become his music system. I want him to be part of this rebuild which is partially the reason for my interest in the phono stage kit.

There seems to be a number of people with this idea. Thorens rim drive table such as the TD 124 that went largely unnoticed a few years ago are fetching near $2000.00 on EBAY with twelve inch SME arms.

Lencos on EBAY have gone from about $35,00 to near $200.00 since Jean's thread began here at Audiogon.

Hi Albert, I find it interesting that you are also delving into 78rpm reproduction. A very close friend of mine (and music fanatic) initiated burning CD compilations of 78s that he has collected for 35 years. A lot of older opera recordings in particular.

He is extremely fussy about sound quality and has made quite a study of 78s. I know that this is not in your posted vein of interest, although it happens to be the piece my buddy is using for a phono pre. He chose this unit for exactly the reason that Elizabeth and yourself were discussing. I find it an unusual coincidence just having this discussion for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

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

It is my understanding that there were actually seven different equalization curves used through the course of about 60 years. He had found very wide deviations in sonic and frequency balance based on the actual record release period. He found the above unit to be a very thorough and complete solution.

I just thought you might find this interesting.

Also, I do have some experience with one phono pre on your list, the Black Cube. I used it until I began experimenting with the Monolithic pre and power supply. I found the Monolithic to be slightly more open and quiet, revealing marginally more detail than the Black Cube. I did like the adjustability of the Monolithic very much as loading and gain adjustments were quite diverse.

Regards & Happy listening, Ed.