78 RPM 
If you or a relative have a collection of 78s then you really should go out and rescue them.  Then play them as they have never been played before.  You can simply buy a SL-1200 turntable and the Stanton 78c Cartridge. 

Audio Technica AT-MONO 3/SP Moving Coil 78rpm cartridge
Who would have thought it!  A moving Coil cartridge design specifically for 78's.  Although the stylus looks a little small, in really this cartridge really performs in a way like no other.  It can be used straight into a moving magnet preamplifier or for the ultimate, with a MC preamplifier.  This is what Audio Technica say:

The Audio Technica AT-MONO 3/SP cartridge is special – redesigning not just the needle, but the whole cartridge specially for “shellac” or phonograph records. A high output moving coil cartridge of excellent production quality and wound with PCOCC coil for signal purity, it is designed to deliver excellent fidelity and superb clarity when playing 78 RPM mono records. With its high output of 1.2 mV, it can be used without additional pre-amplification or a MC transformer.  Proven in use for many years in Japan, the Audio-Technica AT-MONO 3/SP cartridge in now available in Europe and helps to bring back the pure joy of discovery and listening pleasure for 78rpm record playing.

We have now had some time using this unique 78rpm moving coil cartridge.  On good quality 78's from the post war ear, the quality is simply stunning.  Even on old records the ability to track a 7gm is so very useful.  Being a true mono design it nulls any vertical noise/modulation and correctly sums both sides of the grove reducing the uncorrelated noise by 3dB.  If you are into 78's you must add this cartridge to your collection!

Type: Moving Coil, Mono 78 RPM Mono cartridge
Frequency response: 45 -7,000 Hz
Output voltage: 1.2 mV (1kHz and 5 cm/sec)
Tracking force: 3.0 - 7.0 g (5.0 g standard)
Recommended load: 40 ohms - 47K ohms (determine best value by listening)
Channel separation: Not applicable
Channel balance: Not applicable
Cantilever: Aluminium alloy
Stylus: Highly polished special conical 2.5 mil diamond
Dynamic compliance: 7.0 x 10-6 cm/dyne
Static compliance: 20.0 x 10-6 cm/dyne
External size: H16.0 x W16.6 x L26.5 mm
Weight: 6.8 g
Accessories included: Screwdriver, 4 screws, 2 washers and 2 nuts, spacer/weight, stylus brush
  £195.00 in stock now  Fitted to a headshell £230.00

Stanton 78rpm Stylus & Cartridge
The Stanton Cartridge  is designed for excellent stability even under  heavy tracking. Each cartridge can be used for either archival or casual play without concern for undue wear on the record.  This is the latest Stanton, not the older version.
  On demonstration in Dartmouth Devon now
  Stanton 500/505.V3 cartridge   £34.95 (select a stylus from below)
  Stanton 500/505.V3 cartridge & fitted to a headshell £69.95 (select a stylus from below)
  D5127C 2.7mil conical diamond stylus £55.95
  D5130EJ - 3.0 X 0.5 mil elliptical diamond stylus  - most 1905 to 1940's, slightly worn 78s & transcriptions, & some Edison discs £145.00
  D5140EJ - 4.0 X 1.0 mil elliptical diamond - Edison Diamond & very old/worn discs, raw aluminium, RCA home recordings, also Pathé vertical discs £185.00

SL-1200 Turntable 
The SL-1200 series of turntables modified by us (click here to see them) are used by audiophiles all over the world.  With its high torque direct drive motor it is ideally suited for 78rpm reproduction.  We modify it to operate at 71 to 91rpm with a quartz locked 78.26rpm fixed setting.  You still get fixed 33 1/3 and 45 for your more modern records!. You can upgrade the arm and have an extraordinarily good system.  Supplied with a strobe disc for 71.29/76.59/78.26/80/81.82/85/90 rpm. 
The modification includes a new external 100/117/220/230/240 volt power supple, not our expensive one of course!

On demonstration in Dartmouth Devon now
Send your deck to us for modification £299.00
 

Archival Elliptical Stylus Kit
Older records require larger tips for normal playback. Using styli of various sizes to overcome noise in records caused by wear and abuse is a common technique. There is no optimum size stylus. The one that produces the best sound is the correct stylus to use. The kit consists of five Stanton 500/505 compatible, elliptical diamond styli and one conical sapphire stylus. They require 2 - 5 Gram tracking.

Most vintage recordings do not have to be played with any particular stylus, but they were made to be played with certain standard styli. 78s and radio transcriptions require a coarse groove stylus of approximately 3 mil. You should choose the stylus that provides the best overall sound regardless of size. Here are some recommendations to start with:

D5120EJ - 2.0 X 0.4 mil elliptical diamond - worn LPs, some transcriptions.
D5125EJ - 2.5 X 0.5 mil elliptical diamond - late unworn 78s
D5130EJ - 3.0 X 0.5 mil elliptical diamond - most 1905 to 1940's, slightly worn 78s & transcriptions, & some Edison discs.
D5135EJ - 3.5 X 0.8 mil elliptical diamond - old or worn 78s, transcriptions.
D5140EJ - 4.0 X 1.0 mil elliptical diamond - Edison Diamond & very old/worn discs, raw aluminium, RCA home recordings., also Pathé vertical discs
D5180J - 8.0 mil conical sapphire - RCA home recordings, and worn Pathé vertical discs.

The ultimate is to have six Stanton cartridges on six quick interchangeable headshells, one with each of our six Archival stylus!!  Ah, the joy of six!

Archival Elliptical 6 Stylus Kit £600.00
Stanton 500/505.V3 cartridge   £34.95
Spare headshell   £14.95
Headshell ready fitted with a Stanton 500/505 cartridge £69.95 each
Archival Elliptical 6 Stylus Kit, headshells, cartridges, all ready mounted ready to go!  £1,019.70   £999.00

The truly ultimate is above, with a standard Stanton on the left to play your friends ex disco/club records, next a AT440MLa audiophile for your new vinyl, and then all 6 78rpm cartridges, heaven?

Cartridge Stabiliser & De-resonator A soft copper Cartridge Stabiliser that adds mass to your arm allowing the better use of the 78 rpm cartridges when using  normal headshells.  7.8g (3mm thick) and 3.1g (1.2mm thick) available, so you can have  3.1, 6.2, 7.8, 10.9, 14.0 and 15.6g.  We use the 7.8g on all our systems. 1 off £24.95,  2 off £34.95, 3 off £44.95  free UK postage. A Carbon Fibre cartridge de-resonator that actually works. Unlike the boy racer carbon effect, this is the real McCoy!  This beautifully formed device tightly couples your cartridge to your headshell dissipating and thereby suppressing any nano resonances.  £14.95

Stylus Force Gauge 78rpm
Most stylus gauges only go up to 3gm and the digital ones are affected by the magnets in your cartridge as they aren't made from really pure anti magnetic stainless steel.  So how about this, a simply balance! Stylus force gauges have all but disappeared along with turntables. The few that remain are designed solely for use with audiophile records and turntables and cannot measure the higher requirements of DJs and vintage record collectors. This of course, also applies to professional sound restorers and those involved with record reissues. The 78rpm Stylus Force Gauge is simple to use and relies on the principle of a basic laboratory balance.

Art Dudly of Stereophile wrote "  It's a simple balance beam, such as the one that comes free with most Ortofon cartridges. But whereas the Ortofon scale is too tiny and ambiguous to be consistently useful and it tops out at 3gm this is big and easy, and it comes with a total of 5.75gm in plastic weights, for use in various combinations. Where that isn't enough, the manufacturer recommends using various coins, the weights of which are listed on their website. "

Personally we prefer to use a 20 pence piece!  £24.95 and in stock right now

Archival 78rpm Preamplifier
Got an old turntable in the attic or even just bought a cheap turntable off eBay?  This unit will allow you to accurately replay both modern LP's and using special equalisation old 78's.  You can add one or two turntables to an amplifier that has no phono input or a second turntable to an amplifier with only one phono input. The Archival Preamp can be used to convert any AUX input to phono use. A Rear panel switch sets up for one turntable for LP and one for 78s, or one turntable for both types of record. Plug it straight into your amplifier, or connect the output of the preamp directly to a computer sound card with the supplied cable. It is designed for both home as well as broadcast/studio applications. The preamp applies accurate “record equalisation” in the form of the RIAA curves. These equalization curves are adjustable with the front panel switch to match that of modern records or of vintage 78s and early radio broadcast transcriptions.
Archival Preamplifier and UK supplied 230V PSU £89.95

Re-Equaliser II

Pre-1955 records were recorded to different standards than now employed in RIAA equalized phono amplifiers. The Re-Equalizer compensates for this. Easily installed through the external tape monitor circuit or your preamplifier/receiver or between your phono stage and amplifier.  Accurate reproduction from any source is accomplished by producing an accurate equalization difference curve to compensate the output of your RIAA phono preamp. We recommend that you use this in conjunction with the low cost NAD phonostage and plug the combination into a spare or Aux input on your amplifier.  We can advise on any configuration for you. But for the ultimate where the cracks and pops are going to be processed without slew rate limiting then use the A.N.T. Kora SE MM.

• In "BYPASS" mode the signal is hard-wired input to output - introduces absolutely no noise or distortion
• In “IN” mode, left and right are combined to mono, and the correct  equalisation applied
• Supplied with six pages of recommended compensation settings to accommodate any vintage record - including acoustics. this remarkable document is considered by some to be the most highly researched chart ever produced.
• Passive equalization design & film capacitors assure low TIM and transparent sound.
• High input impedance for use with either valve or solid-state amplifier.
• Works with phono, tape recorder outputs - any source.
• Sixty-Four different record compensations
• Easy to understand switches!

Read the review by clicking here
Read the manual  by clicking here

Re-Equaliser II and 120/230V PSU £349.95
Re-Equaliser II EU, upgraded PSU and walnut case (we recommend this option) £489.95

Vadlyd MD12 MK3 Preamplifier

VADLYD MD12 MK3 includes as standard vertical/lateral switch, and switchable inputs for MM/MC cartridges. MC inputs are with 3 switchable load impedances: 50, 100, and 200 ohms.  There are two separate cartridge inputs, both switchabe MM/MC.

Recording engineers and serious record collectors know the problem when playing early phonograph records: ordinary RIAA phono equalization does not always match the original recording equalization that was used to make the record. 78rpm records in particular have many different eq settings depending on period, placement, and recording company. Even within the same company, there may be differences depending on which engineer was on job that day. The VADLYD MD12 MK3 is a product with professional specifications, but it is also useful for record collectors who want the proper playback equalization of early phonograph recordings, particularly 78rpm records.

• 12 presets enable adjustment to nearly all eq curves: 8 presets for 78s, and 4 presets for 33/45s
•  Excellent sound quality
• Switches for Stereo, Mono L + R, Mono L or Mono R
• Switch for Vertical Cut records (Pathé/Edison)
• Volume and balance controls, suitable to drive a power amplifier directly
• Multiple LEDs for easy operation
• One set of outputs is balanced with XLR connectors, with a second set providing unbalanced output on RCA phono jacks. This allows for both professional and consumer use
• The third set of outputs is also balanced with XLR connectors, but it contains a flat output signal. This signal is not affected by the eq settings and is useful for making simultaneous, archival transfers per Paragraph 5.2.6.7 of IASA-TC04, “Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects”
• All inputs and outputs are gold plated Neutrik
• 19” wide suitable for mounting in one rack (1.75” high) space, or it may be placed on a flat surface close to your turntable
• Two identical inputs, making it possible to have two turntables connected at the same time
• Each input is switchable for moving magnet (MM) or moving coil (MC) phono cartridges. Input impedance for MM cartridge is standard 47 kOhm. MC inputs have 3 switchable load impedances: 50, 100, or 200 Ohm
• Front panel headphone jack with dedicated volume control

Click here to download the comprehensive user manual.

On demo right now  £1.995.00  (including 20% EU VAT)

Esoteric Sound
We are the UK agents for Esoteric Sound which was founded because of the decreasing number of manufacturers providing speciality products in audio processing, and especially the waning number of quality turntables oriented towards vintage records. Such products are still required for archiving purposes and to enjoy the vast number of little played 78's now appearing on eBay. If you want any of their products delivered to your door, without any of the hassle of a personal import, dealing with the import duty, attempting to pay the VAT, then simply ask us by clicking here.  You can visit their site here http://www.esotericsound.com/   We will debit your credit card in pounds and despatch your order from here in Devon.

Last updated  Tuesday December 27, 2011
 

Sound Hi Fi

PO Box 2001  Dartmouth Devon  TQ6 9QN  Great Britain

Telephone 01803 833366  Fax 01803 839498  e-mail sales@SoundHiFi.com