Re: [ARSCLIST] Acoustic playback, 78 cartridge and stylus question

[Steven Smolian <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>]

If you are playing records back for pleasure, a Shure M44 is fine.  The 78 
needle (or needles) should be mounted on their stiffer cantalever(s).  If 
either of us had thought about it then, we could have discussed this last 
Saturday at the Baltimore club in between the band noises.

For professional dubbing, I use M-44s with about 30 styli of various shapes 
and sizes, though maybe a dozen work for most of what passes through.   I do 
a lot of transcriptions and lacquer cut discs.  If you don't need perfect 
sound from them, a 2.5 mil conical and/or 2.75 eliptical works for that 
application as well as post-WWII records.  If you deal with many lacquers, a 
whole panoply of sizes and shapes are required to get quietest possible 
results.  Much is due to ageing and wear rather than  initial groove size. 
Some problems arise from badly cut discs.

There should be plenty on the web about groove sizes of commercial records. 
Still, it can get pretty tricky when doing commercial copies.

Steve Smolian


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dr. Cheryl Thurber" <cthurb@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 9:37 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Acoustic playback, 78 cartridge and stylus question


>  I have been following this discussion. Someone else asked about more 
> modern electric playback.
>  Using a new cartridge and 78 stylus, which ones work best for various 
> types? I also ask this for the purely selfish reason that I need new ones 
> myself. I am asking about the midprice range, not the cheapest, nor 
> expensive. What do people use on a daily basis? The other side of the 
> question is are there combinations that work best for acoustic, for 
> electric, and then for the more modern post WWII 78s.  I would prefer to 
> only buy one cartridge (but only used for 78s) and then get the separate 
> styli. I  use a standard mount head shell.
>
>  I  used to have various ones for different purposes, but most are now 
> lost or damaged. I have tended to use Shure, and I remember the early 78 
> one of the late 70s when they had to be carefully cut with a razor or 
> knife in order to fit into a cartridge. I still have a V15III cartridge 
> but I never found it satisfactory, it played too light.
>
>  Cheryl Thurber
>
> Mike Richter <mrichter@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> There were two pages - each about six years old and substantially in
> need of modernizing. I've made some slight modifications, but otherwise
> they are as I posted them in the last millennium.
>
> http://www.operas-are.us/
>
> Mike
> --
> mrichter@xxxxxxx
> http://www.mrichter.com/
>
>
>
>
> Dr. Cheryl Thurber email: cthurb@xxxxxxxxx
>
>
> 410-747-5557
>
>
> --
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