Maybe this is the place to finally find out whether my thoughts on playing disc records on a phonograph are founded and based or just neurotic phobias.
If the man is worried enough about quality playback to worry about stylus radii, why would anybody suggest he drag a 1-pound reproducer with what amounts to a headless finishing nail in it through the grooves?! There are vinyl purists who have agreed across the board that every time you play a record with a needle, there IS degradation, even if a negligible degree. Proof is available by letting the needle stay in the locked groove at the end of the record for a while; within minutes, the amount of noise you hear will increase, and within a few more minutes, you will see a buildup of vinyl dust accumulating on the stylus, and this is with modern playback equipment and only 1.5 grams of weight!! I have a favorite Victrola that I enjoy playing records on; there's no charm quite like original equipment playback, and the fidelity always surprises me. The soundbox is an Exhibition No. 2 (I think), and needles are either brand new steel, or triangular fibre needles, and get one 3 - 4 minute use, then are tossed in the garbage, OR I'll use a "permanent" diamond tip needle sometimes. No matter what needle I use, no matter what shape the record is in, there is black shellac dust built up on the needle after every play, without fail. Without fail, playback on a wind-up phonograph irreparably damages records! There is absolutely no question about this! So I have two categories of discs -- one, those that are nifty and interesting, but not particularly valuable to anyone but me, the kind that I enjoy listening to though millions of copies were pressed and the records are virtually worthless -- and two, records that would never see a phonograph/soundbox/headless nail in a billion years, because they CANNOT be played back on that equipment without irreparable damage. I don't particularly feel this way about Diamond Disc or cylinder phonographs, however, as I've never seen an Edison needle hurt an Edison record. The diamonds are ground to exact specs and the records (wax notwithstanding) are built like Mack trucks. I'm not saying there's no damage whatsoever, obviously, but it seems negligible from my experience. I've never collected black dust from an Edison stylus. It sounds like Merle isn't interested in permanently damaging his Little Wonders, and that being the case, I don't suggest that he play them back with a wind-up phono. I think that's insane if he likes his records. That said, Merle, I think most 78 styli offered by cartridge manufacturers are 2.7mil and will work great with LW's. I've used the Grado, the Stanton you have, and the NS78 that works with the Shure V15VxMR, which is what I use now. All these styli have suggested weights of 3 to 5 grams, 2 to 10 times the amount of weight an LP stylus would need, so I think your 2.7mil Stanton will give you perfectly lovely results with a little extra tracking force. My 78rpm deck is an 80's Technics SL1200Mk2 that Kevin Barrett (www.kabusa.com) modified for me to play at 78rpm. He also installed one of his damping fluid troughs, which places a paddle that's attached to the tonearm into this curved trough of thick fluid that limits the amount of movement available to the tonearm, stopping it from bouncing on warped 78s. It also vastly improves the midrange, stereo image stability, and tautness of bass with LP playback. It's an awesome mod. Kevin's products are top-notch. I'm excited to get one of his preamps with noise reduction and correct EQ soon. Can we hear from everyone on this 'soundbox/steel needle = irreparable damage' issue? I would love to be out-voted and/or proven wrong. Best to all, Robert ----- Original Message ----- From: "bob" <[email protected]> To: "Antique Phonograph List" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 10:43 AM Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Styli assistance, please > Hi, > Unless your Little Wonder records are near mint condition I think this > is an exercise in futility. Most of these small records are not in the best > shape because they were used a lot by children and stylus used won't matter > too much. I think you Stanton cartridge may not have enough tracking force > to play these very well. I would use a Victor exhibition reproducer with > good gaskets and steel needles. Just change the needles frequently. > RMV > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Merle Sprinzen" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 10:34 AM > Subject: [Phono-L] Styli assistance, please > > > > I'm trying to sort out my system for playing 78s, and have a question > > about styli. To get good playback from Little Wonders, an article I read > > suggested a styli radii of .0028 (that's what it said worked best for > > Columbias, and so I thought that would apply to Little Wonders, too). I > > have a Stanton 500 AL II cartridge that came with both a 78 and diamond > > stylus, but I can't find the radii figures anywhere. Does anyone know > > (1) whether the .0028 recommendation is the best for LWs, and (2) what > > the radii is for my Stanton 78 stylus? Thanks so much! > > _______________________________________________ > > Phono-L mailing list > > [email protected] > > > > Phono-L Archive > > http://www.oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/ > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > [email protected] > > Phono-L Archive > http://www.oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/ >
