Playing back 78s? Where do I start?

Sugarbrie has pretty much said it all. I can only add that 78's SHOULD be played with a special, conical stylus, not a stereo stylus. There is also a special stylus that has a "V" cut in the end, so the stylus rides the ridge of the grooves, not the valley. This kind of stylus has been used to transfer 78-rpm recordings onto tape for re-issues. The other point, which you may know, is that many 78's were not cut at exactly 78-rpm -- they can vary anywhere from 76-80 rpm, so it's nice to have a turntable that allows you to slightly decrease or increase the rotation rate.

It's been a long time since I listened to any of the 78's that were in my mother's collection, but I used to use a Shure cartridge (M97?) that had a conical stylus that Shure made specifically for 78's. This cartridge/stylus combo wasn't very expensive, and may still be available. Check with Jerry Raskin's NeedleDoctor, or Garage-a-Records.

Since making my last post, I noticed on Grado's Web site that they have a new cartridge for use with 78-rpm records, and it has 4 different size styli for use with records in varying conditions of wear. No price posted on the site, but maybe worth looking into.