jim: while there are some on this board with very high incomes, i think there are also many without children at home, make an average living, but who choose to spend their disposible income on this hobby instead. some of those people drive old cars instead of new cars because that is their priority. also, many people have been collecting gear for years so that the costs are spread out. i think it is more important to do what you can, when you can and realize that as your circumstances change, you may be able to do more as well.

best regards.

The system AD sports in his column also plays 33's and I suppose the occasional 45 though the little buggers have never been mentioned. It would be interesting to know what AD thinks of a 45 of "The Jolly Green Giant" through his system. There must be someone selling a high end 45 R.P.M. center hole adapter for the Thorens. Possibly there is much improved inner detail to be found on the "HoHoHo's"!

I play my 78's mostly through a vintage Dual 1209 with a mono cartridge, whichever spare vintage amplifier I have at hand and whichever speaker fits where I have the rest of the gear set up. At the moment I have no permanent 78 system so I set up when I feel the urge to hear the music on those discs. My 78 system including the cost of the new mono cartridge runs about $150 with a good pecentage of that being the cost of the new cartridge. Most of the system cost has been amortized out over the last twenty five years to come to less than a dollar per year.

I have a 1940's table top system that I use occasionally, which cost me nothing as it once belonged to my aunt but you could pick up a working system like that from the resellers/refurbishers who tinker with 78's, wind up Victrolas and wax cylinders for under $200.

A friend came in from Canada the other day and brought me a stack of 78's his mother had. They include a couple of Hank Williams Sr's recordings. So the 78 system will get set up - along with the record cleaner (no alchohol in the mix) - this weekend.

A niche too many people ignore since there are some important lessons to be learned from 78's not to mention some great music as it was originally performed without any engineer, producer or record company exec getting too involved in the process. If you get a chance, listen to some of the Smithsonian recordings or the original Lomax transcriptions of Texas and Delta blues artists or the early New Orleans jazz masters.

Quote:
... I play my 78's mostly through a vintage Dual 1209 with a mono cartridge, whichever spare vintage amplifier I have at hand and whichever speaker fits where I have the rest of the gear set up. At the moment I have no permanent 78 system so I set up when I feel the urge to hear the music on those discs. My 78 system including the cost of the new mono cartridge runs about $150 with a good pecentage of that being the cost of the new cartridge. Most of the system cost has been amortized out over the last twenty five years to come to less than a dollar per year. ...

Jan,

I still have my Dual 1218, and want to use it as the 78 player. Haven't got around to cleaning it up, but I have the service manual. It's also got interchangable headshells, which I think the 1209 also has. Do you know of good source(s) you can suggest for the appropriate cleaners, greases, lubricants, etc., needed for the restore I plan to do? So far the motor, and electrical all seem to work, including the arm gimbal and the bi-diretional damped cuing.

I used to use the "south street service" on-line, but I think they have few Dual parts left.

As for 78s, my folks have some from the 1930s through the 1960s, including the usual Bing Crosby's White Christmas, Viennese Strauss Waltzes, Nutcracker Suite, and more, and even some interesting songs (of Americana) that I don't think will ever be put on CD. I have a few in my house, but they have the rest of the 78s. So I'm interested in the next issue of Stereophile on this subject.

If this doesn't get you where you need to go, let me know. I have a friend who still does Dual repairs.

http://www.dual-reference.com/index.html

Jan,
Thanks for the reference. I'll look into it.