Turntables

a gallery of record decks and players suitable for 78rpm records

this page first published by John Wright, 16 March 2002
last updated 7 Nov 2009vintage@r2ok.co.uk

How can I play 78's?

faq9

It's now the 21st century. Gramophones are collectors items and can rarely be bought for under £50, and anyway repeated playing with steel needles is probably not in the best interests of disc preservation. Thankfully electric turntables can still be found, indeed some are still being made to satisfy the record collector, the LP audiophile as well as the 78 hoarders. Some of the new turntables being made today are expensive but bargains can be found on Ebay e.g. Stanton STR8-80 and Numark TT-2 models which have 78 speed.

There is a very inexpensive way to play 78's - second-hand turntables that were made during the 1960's - 1970's. Models made 1965-1975 usually featured 3 or 4 speed turntables including 78rpm, some were variable so you could adjust the speed down to say 72rpm which corrected some 1920's discs that were obviously recorded at the wrong speed - to make the dancers charleston faster!

So, what turntables should we be looking for? Quality varies. For UK collectors I classify these as follows:

• LEVEL 0 There were very cheap 'record players' made 1950-1970, with their own built-in amp and speaker, and some of them are now in a sorry state when you find them in charity shops, but good quality items can be found on Ebay. Some models of Dansette have survived well, have a good sound, and look very 60's, quite attractive usually, but connection to PC may be risky.
• LEVEL 1 Then there are the early hi-fi units, record players with their own amp and speakers, with audio out connections too, and headphone sockets; names like Fidelity, Philips, Bush, HMV, Decca with their rather wobbly BSR turntables and flipover stylus (78 one side, LP other side). These can be a good inexpensive option, and you can usually wire these up to a PC.
• LEVEL 2 good quality turntables. Made by names like Numark, Stanton, Garrard, Goldring, Lenco, Fons, Hacker. These are heavy, accurate, robust, attractive, great sound if they have a suitable cartridge and stylus. They are just a turntable - you will also need an amp and speakers. Some are 'transcription' speed can be adjusted +/- a few % for speed correction.
• LEVEL 3 the very fine quality turntables, that fetch a lot of money. They were also made by the likes of Garrard, Goldring, Lenco, Thorens, in fact Thorens still make 78rpm players. Again Ebay is a good source.

  So if you need an good electric player for your 78's, how much do you want to spend? Make your choice:

  LEVEL 0 = £10-£20
  LEVEL 1 = £20-£30
  LEVEL 2 = £30-£80
  LEVEL 3 = £80-£600

  Now you've decided what you can afford, where can you get the turntable or record player? Well you could walk from all your local second-hand shops up to the professional hi-fi specialists and maybe find what you want, but this is the internet and you are likely to find a better choice today on E-bay.co.uk or E-bay.com. Before I take you to ebay UK take a look at this gallery of turntables and record players. Machines like these are being auctioned every week! I bought my Stanton STR8-80 and Numark TT each for £50, and my Goldring Lenco GL75 and my Garrard SP25 Mk III for under £50 each.

  Maybe you might see on this page the turntable that suits your pocket and your record room.

  Lets start at the top level and work our way down:

  LEVEL 3	top of the range decks, generally well looked after and usually equipped with good cartridge, for which the 78 stylus can still be bought or made
  this Garrard 401 in a wooden plinth, can cost £500
  this is an older Garrard 301, fully working and in a plinth can cost £300
  this is a Thorens 124, may be bought for just £100
  here is an EMT model, can cost £400 maybe more
  EMT 930
  LEVEL 2	these are very good decks, the Stanton and Numark are both just 3 years old, the others may be 30 years old but they usually have been well looked after and have a decent cartridge. A 78 stylus can be bought or made (Musonic, Garage-A-records, Expert Stylus, Shure etc and again these styli, cartridges, headshells etc can be got via Ebay).
  this is a Numark TT-2 deck, variable speed
  this is a Stanton STR8-80 deck, variable speed
  this is a Goldring Lenco GL75 deck, variable speed
  this is a Dual
  this is a Phillips 202
  these are FONS decks
  LEVEL 1	'hi-fi' models
  a Ferguson hi-fi
  a Dynatron hi-fi
  a Bush hi-fi, complete with cassette recorder and radio
  a portable Fidelity model
  a Pye record player
  LEVEL 0
  these are Dansette models, may be difficult to connect to a PC. I'd say these were more suited to rock'n'roll 78 collectors!
  an old HMV player
  an old Philips
  an old Bush
  and an old BSR
  this is a fine looking Pye model, connectability to PC unknown

  At ebay UKgo to the audio turntable and vintage audio auctions

  also see the phonographs/gramophones auctions

  

  Go to 78rpm Equipment source page, including stylus and cartridge

  Go to FAQ10 How can I record 78's on to my PC?

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