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Old 05-28-2014, 10:22 PM
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zenith2134 zenith2134 is offline
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Ready to organise a player system solely for 7" records

Hi,
Not sure where you members sit in regards to 7'' vinyl and styrene discs, but I have a considerable collection waiting in the wings for me to get serious about.

As an aside, I do have Decca flip-books of 45rpm singles from the 50s, about 7 of them full of great music. Inherited from a relative who passed on to the otherside in 1988.
I have been hesitant to use my shibata and line contact styli on these discs, although I maintain a direct drive secondary table with basic elliptical tip for these. (rest of system= Sansui 3000a receiver and bic venturi II speakers).

Rather than obtain one of those RCA Victor 7"-only tables, I wish to procure a table myself. Need to figure out which arm length and cartridge+tonearm mass would be ideal for this. Some of the old doowop stuff is slightly warped.

I will be using a restored DeWald monaural ampli with 6BQ5 push pull output, tube rect., and dual triode front end. May be purchasing a beautiful old Capehart hornloaded speaker w/ 12" woofer.

Would like to discuss monaural/7" single reproduction, since the whole of the high-end audio world seems to neglect this elemental area of the hobby.
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Old 05-28-2014, 10:52 PM
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maxhifi maxhifi is offline
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I think you have to decide if you want convenience or best sound, and how much you care about those records. A changer would probably be best if you don't want to get up every three minutes, but if you want then to last forever use a nice turntable.
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Old 05-29-2014, 07:22 AM
Olorin67 Olorin67 is offline
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For pre 1968 records, youre probably better off with a i mil conical tip. A modern elliptical will generally just retrieve more noise from the grooves. Its hard to beat the old GE VR mono cartridges for playing mono records, but they need a higher mass arm and may not work as well on modern low mass arms. A garrard type A, A70, or the earlier RC88 and similar changers wwould work well, and have interchangable headshells wwhen you wwant to play newer stereo 45s. The Garrard at6 and similar models would be good too. for changer use, the old RCA 45 changers can do a good job also, when fitted with a magnetic cartridge. The ultimate for changer use might be the old Glasser Steers changers that pause the rotation of the turntable as the refords drop, preventing scuffed labels. another nice changer for 45s are the Zenith Belt drive changers from the 60s, the ones with the built in 45 adapter that folds up out of the turntable, and rotates with it, which also prevents scuffed labels. The Zenith tracks at 2-3 grams, so it wont your records. the weak points of the Zenith are a 2 pole motor, and difficulty in fitting a magnetic cartridge. the stock ceramic on these sounds great though, and is probably the best and most compliant ceramic cartridge ever made, but it really needs to work with the zenith pre-amp for best sound.
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Old 05-30-2014, 01:12 PM
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Electronic M Electronic M is offline
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Record cleaning can also be an important consideration in 45's. I don't know how well yours have been taken care of, but if they are like many I've encountered where there is so much dirt in the groves that after a few seconds of the first play in years the dirt dug out of the grooves lifts the needle out of the groove, then I would recommend looking into the wood glue cleaning method.

Another option would be to get a linear tracking turntable that uses a P-mount cartridge such as the Technics SL-5 or SL-6. They are fairly gentle on records and you can swap cartridges really fast and easy. This would allow you to switch between a line contact(Shibata) based pickup and a conical one....From regularly using both types I can say that depending on the given record and it's playing history a record could respond better to either type. This is because the two sit at different heights in the groove. If there is a lot of dirt in the bottom the line-contact types that ride lower will make more noise, but if the record was played repeatedly with too much tracking force and an old school conical, then a linecontact may be a better choice as it will ride below the old conical groove damage and play likely pristine groove surface. Line contact pickups tend to be a better choice for minimizing record wear as a line contact stili distributes the tracking force over a larger surface area of the groove thus reducing friction and wear on the record.
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Last edited by Electronic M; 05-30-2014 at 01:27 PM.
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Old 05-30-2014, 04:17 PM
orthophonic orthophonic is offline
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I have over 30,000 45's, 99% in mint condition.


Besides the ones listed,I can also recommend the Elac/Miracords, 50H and
770H, they are superb at playing stacks of 45's. The Technics 1350 and 1650
are also good choices, but you are limited to six records and you have to dial how many you are playing, not as convenient.

I personally don't like the Garrards and the AT6 and AT 60 series would be
a terrible choice for 45's, the tonearm geometry is poor at the inner grooves,
creating more distortion.

The Zenith belt drive changers are very nice and not that hard to convert to
a magnetic cartridge, you have to use a small cartridge like an Ortofon OM
series and cut the top mount off. I have one of the Glaser Steers also,
kind of clutsy and the arm mass is very high.

For pure fun and convenience, the RCA 45 players fitted with a magnetic
strapped for mono can't be beat.

Another favorite of mine are the Seeburg home library 45 players, playing
both sides of 100 45's, I have two of those. however, the Pickering stereo
to mono retrofit conversion cartridges were discontinued years ago and they fetch
top dollar now (glad I purchased mine before the prices went sky high).
Vern Tisdale's son is making a new Pickering retrofit that is supposed to be
excellent and priced reasonable.

I have never had a label or record scuffed from regular drop changers,
I suppose it is possible if you were to play the same ones hundreds of times, or if you played them on a BSR mini changer with the little flat
adaptor.
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Old 05-30-2014, 06:32 PM
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zenith2134 zenith2134 is offline
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Lots of great info to process here. I'm leaning towards getting a nice hi-fi table and using a cartridge which will allow easy stylus swap for conical to elliptical or a more advanced stylus shape...I will likely stay manual, and not go for a changer.
Most of these 45s have been well kept, and I have already cleaned the ones which needed it by hand. The woodglue method is only something I perform as a last-case attempt when regular cleaning doesn't do the trick . I see Grado makes a mono cartridge for like 150$..I am willing to spring for that and find a nice platform and arm for it.
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Old 05-30-2014, 07:55 PM
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KentTeffeteller KentTeffeteller is offline
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Get a DD manual turntable and equip it with a broadcast cartridge. A auto-return DD model also fine. Belt drive better Japanese make a la Pioneer are nice too.
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Old 06-01-2014, 02:27 PM
Olorin67 Olorin67 is offline
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Keep in mind that most modern 'mono' cartridges are really mono strapped stereo carts, including the Grado if i recall correct. Hopefully it at least uses the correct 1 mil tip. I have the grado 78 cart, and it isnt as quiet on 78s as my GE RPX.
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Old 06-05-2014, 10:30 AM
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KentTeffeteller KentTeffeteller is offline
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And all post 1968 45 RPM discs require a Stereo cartridge as is. Due to being cut on Stereo cutting heads like the Neumann, the Haecos, and the Ortofons. Which means vertical compliance is required to not damage them as is light tracking. The RCA 45 changer restored and converted to a magnetic like a Shure M35x tracking at 3 grams would be superb.

Last edited by KentTeffeteller; 07-06-2014 at 07:47 PM.
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