Need a good 78 spinner

I just came into about 250 78 RPM discs that appear to be in really good shape. Some good music, too... Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with Oscar Levant and Eugene Ormandy with the Philadelphia Orchestra stands out. I do have an old GE (tubed!) record player inherited from my grandmother along with all her old Doris Day and Frank Sinatra records but it's pretty clunky and I'm sure it won't do the records any good.

Anyone aware of a reasonably priced 78 turntable. Ok, let's be honest - I'm looking for the cheapest I can get away with that will do reasonable justice to these records. Thanks for any help.

78s can be alot of fun, but there are some rulles. Remember you have to use a special stylus. Also 78 rpm is an approximation and depending on the record it may be plus or minus 10% to get the true correct speed. All those 78s that sound high pitched and sped up when you hear them in movies, ect. sound that way because they are being played too fast. Also, alot of people are surprised at the fidelity offered by well cared for 78s.

Look here for loads of info and tables: www.esotericsound.com The Rondine Jr. table is widely regarding as being a good intro table for 78s. Plus it will handle your other records too. It has a quick change head shell that allows you to swap cartrides quickly by changing the whole headshell. Similar to Technics 1200s.

If you want to go even cheaper, like $99 cheap. I see alot of collectors at record shows with these: http://www.needledoctor.com/s.nl/it....=2&category=43 Keep in mind it still needs a stylus.

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Originally Posted by SlumpBuster

78s can be alot of fun, but there are some rulles. Remember you have to use a special stylus. Also 78 rpm is an approximation and depending on the record it may be plus or minus 10% to get the true correct speed. All those 78s that sound high pitched and sped up when you hear them in movies, ect. sound that way because they are being played too fast. Also, alot of people are surprised at the fidelity offered by well cared for 78s.

Look here for loads of info and tables: www.esotericsound.com The Rondine Jr. table is widely regarding as being a good intro table for 78s. Plus it will handle your other records too. It has a quick change head shell that allows you to swap cartrides quickly by changing the whole headshell. Similar to Technics 1200s.

If you want to go even cheaper, like $99 cheap. I see alot of collectors at record shows with these: http://www.needledoctor.com/s.nl/it....=2&category=43 Keep in mind it still needs a stylus.

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The Rondine Jr looks like just the ticket! I'm only using it for 78's but I want something I can hook up to my main rig.

I'm not sure about the "fidelity" of 78's (I find that word difficult to use with anything, really) but the presence of some of them is outstanding. Small group jazz and string quartets are amazingly lifelike. They can pack a bit of a sonic wallop.

Thanks again for your help!

The Duals have always had the 78 rpm option. It's come in handy a couple of times on my CS5000. Ortofon's OM series cartridges also have a 78 stylus available that can be swapped out very easily.

Remember that many 78s were recorded "direct to disc" so you're getting a fairly short pathway between the performance and the cutting needle.

This will be sacrilege, but personally, I listened to my 78s more when I had a changer. They are just so short; you really end up flipping the thing over as much as playin' 'em otherwise. I had fun with an old Garrard Changer, Lab 70 or something like that I believe, one of the ones that held the records at an angle so as to drop them a bit more gently.

If you’ve got valuable 78s you want to preserve, maybe not the answer, but if you just wanna enjoy listening to some that aren't collectors’ items or anything, a changer is really a fun way to go.

This table (IMO) is much higher quality than the The Rondine Jr.. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...882418?ie=UTF8

Has a switchable built-in phono preamp that might come in handy (hooking up to the computer without taking stereo apart for click and pop removal, transfer to CD etc...) With the + - 20% pitch control, you can get all of the less common speeds the Rondine Jr. is capable of.

Problem is... There is no 78 stylus available for the included cartridge. Would have to purchase a 78 cartridge and extra headshell (to allow a "quick change" between your regular and 78 cartridges) for about $50.00 total extra. http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/index.htm Still cheaper than the Rondine Jr., and I believe a more solid table. Included LP cartridge is also a little nicer sounding than the Sanyo with the conical stylus on the Rondine Jr.. More advice here... http://forums.audioreview.com/analog-room/identify-these-me-56k-warning-18362.html

if you live in the LA area and want a bunch of 12" classical 78s, come and get 'em! some great performances and orch/cond combinations. they were given to me, i didnt realize they were 78s because they were 12".

i would rather not throw them away.

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Originally Posted by hifitommy

if you live in the LA area and want a bunch of 12" classical 78s, come and get 'em! some great performances and orch/cond combinations. they were given to me, i didnt realize they were 78s because they were 12".

i would rather not throw them away.

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There's about 6600 ads for 78's for sale at the moment. Some of them are rare, true, but a lot of ads are from people who have no idea of the condition of them - they just sell them in a lot "as is". You might try that and make a few bucks off them.

Note: This advice has NOTHING AT ALL to do with the fact that I won't be in L.A anytime soon to pick them up! :D