[quietglow]

Hi vinyl peeps, I have a quick question:

I had the fortune (made the mistake?) of listening to some old jazz recently, and it's made me consider buying some 78s. Fortunately, I have access to a sizable market of these locally. My question for you: is my cart/stylus safe playing these?

My turntable is a Rek O Kut B-12H with the 120 arm: obviously designed for 78 duty. I'm using a Denon 103 cart on that arm, however, and I'm not sure it was made with 78s in mind.

Joe

[kc8apf]

78s need a much larger stylus.  I use a 2.7 mil elliptical from Nauck's Vintage Records on a Stanton 500v3.  It was a big step up in sound from Stanton's official stylus for 78s.

[Scott F.]

You also need a phonostage that EQs 78s. If you check the Graham Sleep website and look at the web page for the Jazz Club, Graham has all the EQ settings for the different record companies through the early years. The industry standardized on the RIAA EQ around 1955 or so. Everything prior (78s), had a different EQ.