2 tone arm turntable for Edison and standard 78s?

Hello everyone,

I have many 78s and a decent number of Diamond Discs. Some of these diamond discs are in pretty good shape, but have an issue or two which makes me not want to play them with an Edison machine (I have my reproducers in the shop waiting for decent diamonds from a new maker, they've been there for some time now). Anyhoo, I figured that the best way to play all of my records with one machine and almost zero wear would be a turntable with 2 tonearms (so I don't have to switch cartridges between record types). The question is, does such a truntable exist?

Thanks,
Imperial-Guardsman

Look for a manufacturer called Brunswick. Look for a phonograph with an "Ultona" tonearm/reproducer. These will play Edison, Pathe, and Victrola records - all in one unit.

A Brunswick Ultona would be the right candidate for playing all types of records acoustically.

For electric playback, there are some VERY high end units equipped with two tonearms, though they're not specifically intended for playing different types of records. For instance:

http://www.tonepublications.com/review/ ... turntable/

http://hifiheaven.net/store/VPI-Industr ... -Turntable

http://www.tnt-audio.com/shows/munich10a_e.html

It probably wouldn't be hard to rig up a customized unit -- basically a matter of attaching a second tonearm as shown in the first example. As you note, it would save you the time of switching cartridges.

JDS

Thanks for the replies, both of you.

I am well aware of the brunswick Ultona. I would love to have one, and they do produce sounde very well, but the main problems are still present: Diamond discs with flaws that may break a diamond if I'm having an unlucky day and all of my late 78's that shouldn't be played with a steel needle.

Dang, those turntables are expensive! Is it very dificult or expensive to attache a second tone arm to an existing turntable? I really don't want to have 2 seperate turntables.

I built such a setup.

I use a Collaro Conquest changer with Shure M-44 pickup.

A phase reverse switch is connected to the output of the phono pre-amp. I also put balance and blend controls after the phase switch. A graphic equalizer adjusts for the correct playback curve.

I use an N44-3 for the short play Diamond discs (and other vertical records), and an N44-5 for the long play ones.

I used to have a Lenco B-55, which worked well, except that the pickup ended up playing the label on Diamond discs. I traded it for an L-78, but it has been a cause of trouble. The arm has too much mass for many old records.

If you have a player with plug-in heads, just get two heads and two identical cartridges, and wire one with the left channel out of phase.

Record-changer wrote:If you have a player with plug-in heads, just get two heads and two identical cartridges, and wire one with the left channel out of phase.

Now this seems prety practical. Can you recomend a good model with plug in heads and, if the cartriges you mentioned don't work with it, what cartriges you would recomedn for it? Also, what stylus sizes would you recomend? A man on youtube posted this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARocErOLyzg

It indicates that a smaller stylus may work well for Edison diamond discs.

Thanks, I'm rather ignorant when it comes to electric turntables.

The choice of cartridge should be made according to what styli you can get for it.

I originally chose the Shure M44 cartridge for other reasons, but then I found it had one of the widest arrays of styli available to fit it (in the 1970s and 1980s):

N44-E: elliptical for stereo use. 1.75-4 gram-equivalent force (g-eq) - brown grip
N44-7: .7 mil conical for stereo use. 1.5-3 g-eq - white grip
N44-5: .5 mil conical. I use for long play Diamond Discs. .75-2 g-eq - red grip
N44-G: .7 mil conical for stereo use. 3-5 g-eq - light blue grip
N44-3: 2.7 mil conical for 78 rpm use. 3-5 g-eq - dark green grip
N55-E biradial for stereo use. .75-2 g-eq - yellow grip

In addition, a company called International Observatory Instruments (IOI) made special styli for the M44 cartridge. I never had any of these (due to the prices and my income as a college student at the time). Here were some of their products:

- A truncated 2.7 mil 78 rpm stylus (worked with most 78 rpm records)
- A truncated 3 mil 78 rpm stylus stylus
- A truncated 2 mil stylus for broadcast transcription records
- A truncated 5 mil stylus for Pathe Sapphire Ball records.

Another interesting case I came across was where the ball tip from a BIC ballpoint pen was epoxied to the cantilever of a Shure N44-E. This was used with a Rabco SL-8 tangent tracking arm to play cylinders.

Here are the stylus sizes I typically use:

Elliptical .7x.4 for normal stereo play.
Conical 2.7 mil for 78 use and standard-play Edison diamond disc.
Conical .5 mil for Long Play Diamond Discs.
Since I have no vertical Pathe discs, I don't need any larger stylus.

Note that I also have to set the antiskating to match the material the record is made of:

- Shellac needs about half to two-thirds the antiskating that vinyl needs.
- Worn shellac played with steel needles needs somewhat more antiskate than unworn shellac records need, nut not as much as vinyl needs.
- The Diamond Disc needs somewhat more antiskate than vinyl.
- Styrene needs more antiskate than vinyl.

Thank you very much for the information!