Best $175.00 I ever spent for a turntable upgrade, 78 RPM speed from KABUSA...

Interesting. Seems like a easy way to play 78s!

Yeah, you don't need everything reproduced. I think I've resigned to the fact that I should just use an old Scott mono preamp for it's rumble filter and "Dynaural Noise Suppressor".

 

Very cool mod.

Kinda sad that 78 RPM has not been considered a worthy addition to the vast majority of tables for going on 4 decades now,
and some of the new ones involve removing the platter to even select 45 RPM.

Then many companies started building amps from the ground up without a phono output, go figure ...

 

Glad you are digging it. I will be sure to get that option when I get my deck from KAB. Kevin has some cool preamps that are great for 78 playback...multiple EQ's, etc.

 

With the modded Technics you also get variable speed adjustment around a static 78 which I consider essential, as there even 78's from 1940's that play at off speeds.

If I ever decide to buy a 1200-1210 or whatever, it's coming already installed with the KAB 78 mod.

 

Wouldn't you be better off tracking down a Japanese-market SL-1200mk4?

Buck

 

Maybe I will do this. I have a MK2 and want to get into 78s without spending crazy money. And I'm unsure about buying an old player off ebay or something.

 

It's a nice idea to get a turntable to play 78s. I think my old Dual turntable used to play 78s. These days I wind up my Victrola and listen to them. However there is no way to adjust volume except to close the door over the horn. Speed adjustment is a manual brake which back-pressures the spring drive. It's a whole different experience listening to music without any electricity. It makes me wonder who sat around this thing 50 years ago. I wonder if they would have played anything like "Struttin' with some Barbeque". Song titles like that are what keep me excited about 78s.

 

Great mod at a great price from KAB.

 

Steve,

We couldn't agree more. My wife's SL-1200 is KAB modded. Hers has the KAB tweaks including 78 RPM added. Mine will be in the near future. We enjoy occasional 78 RPM goodies when found. Been listening to some Merle Travis Capitol Americana Series 78 discs and some MGM Hank Williams 78 issues.

 

This is the one mod I didn't ask for when I recently sent my table to Kevin. Hmmm - maybe I'll pick it up after all.

 

AMEN to that!!

I've been meaning to get my SL-1200 modded for 78 for a while. At present I'm relying on a Garrard SL95B to spin my big ten inch rekkids.

 

It's great to listen to 78's in high fidelity. I listen to them on a Thorens 124 with an SME arm attached. It's no accident that I have a fairly fancy record player spinning these. They really do contain lots of musical information.

I've been listening to a bunch of early 50's Blue Note 78's I picked up a few weeks ago.

I was just thinking about mastering 78's to 45 rpm LP's. If the sources are good enough, and the playback equipment is good enough, could you get something close to the sound of those great old records?

 

My 1200 mk II is coming back from Kevin with this mod - but I have a question:

Is the RIAA eq introduced by the cartridge or the phono stage?

If the cartridge does it, why don't they make cartridges intended for 78 playback (with wider, truncated elliptical styli) that send the signal flat?

 

i bought a modded 1210 from them a year or 2 ago.
some of the best money i've ever spent.

 

I'm pretty sure it's the/your phono stage. Perhaps some turntables with built-in phono preamps have RIAA built-in, but I don't think cartridges do (or ever have?).

 

RIAA is introduced by the phono stage. The voltage signal generated in the cart is 'flat' hence the need for phono pre-amps that pre-correct for RIAA before going into amp/reciever, when playing 78's. Though it's not an absolute necessity, IMO.

Old style ceramic carts can deliver enough output on their own to make them able to bypass the phono stage altogether, and plug directly into a line input, and there are still some 78 collectors nowadys that claim to prefer them.

Haven't tried one myself, don't know if I'd bother.

 

So do these pre-amps still get plugged into the phono stage line-in?

have they eq'd the signal so that when the phono stage applies RIAA to it that it sums to an eq more appropriate to 78s?

Couldn't one use a phono pre-amp and simply add gain to the signal, feed it as-is (flat) to an aux line-in, then add eq as needed then?

 

Then the company that released them did not do their job correctly. I was told in a conversation recently about a CD release that could have been much better, that "it was just the style of the engineer" to do it that way. When it comes to shellacs, there is no "style". There is only right or wrong. And there's so much wrong out there that it's little wonder people think 78's sound like crap.

 

I have a couple of hundred 78s from my mothers collection, mostly big band: dorsey, miller, goodman, sinatra, NKCole, but no way to play them since my old ceramic cart changer went ka-phutttt! Wonder if anyone makes an outboard power supply that will do 78?

 

I have a copy of Steve's Jazzy Jugs and Washboards, and the first track is from 1929, IIRC, and it is stunning.

 

People don't realize how good 78's can sound! Around the late 20's/early 30's they really started getting their act together for recording electrically. Shellacs have a lively presence that really jumps out at you. Hey, there's an audiophile term for you. Forget about air and detail and smoothness and all the things you say about vinyl, shellacs JUMP. They did a fantastic job on the Cab Calloway releases!