Which stylus is which?

[ben]

Neither of those tips pictured in close up looks like a 78 one to me, but I could well be wrong. When it comes to replacement, you really want an ST16 which had one of each type of tip.

Moving on to the TC8 comments. I have fitted the Vaco luxor (with blue rubber block) into these carts and had reasonable results. Admittedly I only use old charity shop type discs on a TC8 due to the tracking weight.

['LIVEWIRE?']

After over 50 years, I don't remember the condition of the stylus, or even what make of Crystal Cartridge was fitted to the E.A.R. Battery operated single Record Player I had at the time. What i do remember is that the pick-up arm fitted (one of two different ones used in that particular deck) wasn't the better of the two, and the tracking weight was probably 7 or 8g.

[Panrock]

Originally Posted by Techman

Of course, the question I need to ask is what modification has been done to the Dynatron to be able to take a ceramic cartridge? The original magnetic 78 head that took steel gramophone needles ran into an impedance of 50K, whereas the ceramic BSR cartridge will need around 2M. I certainly had to modify mine at the time.

This is an interesting question. I'll next have to get the main chassis out to take a look. Although the sound is perfectly acceptable, neither the bass or the treble on gram is currently very impressive - as I would have expected from Dynatron. I've seen similar comments about ceramic cartridges elsewhere.

Any tonal correction network I should look out for - or install?

Steve

[Techman]

I've seen different methods used by others when these grams have shown up on the internet. Probably the best I've seen is a little additional matching amplifier using another HL41 triode on a separate chassis. From what I remember on mine (it was a very long time ago), all I did was to replace the volume control pot with a 2M one, the radio tuner output copes with this no problem and the gram sounds a lot better. From what you say, your's sounds to be unmodified. I remember that mine sounded dreadful when I first tried another deck in it as a teenager. You might improve things by just adding some series resistance in the shape of a meg or so, but you may find there's just not enough gain available to cope with this. A while back I identified the original volume pot that I'd slung in a box of spare pots at the time, it now resides in the bottom of the cabinet as an original part - there's plenty of room in there to store various spares including valves etc. Unfortunately, the only part of the original 78 record deck that survives is the platter, which has been in use for many years with another similar one with a nut and bolt through the centre as a record press for straightening warped records. I wouldn't put an original deck back in now anyway, as they're not even kind to 78s with that heavy magnetic head with steel needles. I have a strong suspicion that these do more harm to old records than even acoustic gramophone sound boxes do, due to the weight and short armature compared with the long swing of the stylus arm of a sound box - my theory, anyway.

I think your twin stylus shown in your picture is a double LP type from the look of it, although it's not that easy to tell just from the picture. I think it's definitely down to the tracking weight as to how much damage may be caused when using a 78 stylus tip on an LP record. When I were a lad, I once played an LP with a gramophone needle, it was a fresh one out of the packet and it ruined the record - I still have the record as proof. I only played half of one side, but you can see as well as hear the difference to the point where I stopped on the record. The record is still listenable, but the part played with the 78 tipped needle with heavy tracking weight is damaged.

[Panrock]

I've put in a little transistor amp now, powered from a tiny dedicated transformer, and mounted discreetly inside the cabinet. It can easily be unplugged if desired.

I cobbled together this amp a long time ago using Veroboard and BC109s. It provides a little gain and some bass and treble lift. The sound is now great.

Steve

[Panrock]

Originally Posted by ben

Neither of those tips pictured in close up looks like a 78 one to me, but I could well be wrong. When it comes to replacement, you really want an ST16 which had one of each type of tip.

Seeking absolute perfection now, would an ST16 clip straight in?
If so, where would I be able to order one?

Many thanks.

[Panrock]

Apologies for the above. An online supplier was easy to find, and I've now ordered one.

Steve

[Panrock]

The ST16 has arrived. However the LP and 78 styli are mounted at right angles to the required position. In other words they are pointing in the same plane as the flag/turnover lever. Could this be correct for some heads?

Anyway, it looks like I shall have to modify this unit.

Steve

[Edward Huggins]

The stylus tips should be at 90 degrees to the flip-under lever. That's the only way they can work.
All the current photos I can see from the various online suppliers show it just as it should be.
Have you somehow twisted the metal shank around where it inserts into the sleeve?

[ben]

That's a defective stylus. Send it back.

[Panrock]

No Edward, that's definitely how it came out of the box.

Thanks for the confirmation Ben. Rather than the hassle and delay in sending it back, I've spent ten minutes modifying it. Under a magnifier, I removed the rubber at its rear where it joined the lever, rotated it carefully to perpendicular and pushed it back on, anchoring it with the tiniest spot of superglue (as before).

The results are excellent. The Dynatron sounds even better than with the last stylus. I think there's now greater tonal range on LP and also there's absolutely no background noise on my 'test' '50s 78.

At least the supplier seems to have got the stylus profiles right. I'm now a vinyl convert!

Steve