The joy in collecting Diamond Discs isn't just having them, it's listening to them. However, that could be a bit challenging to a new collector. This page will guide you throught the steps of getting the appropriate equipment and setting it up, and how to get good sound quality.
There are two groups of equipment you can buy. The first type is known as "original equipment". These are the original wind-up phonograph record players manufactured by Edison's company. Here are some pros of buying Original equipment;
There are also many cons that may negate these pros, these are shown below.
An original Edison phonograph
The other option for buying equipment is to get modern equipment. The pros of using modern turtables are as follows;
The only con I can think of is that the modern equipment isn't as good looking as an original Edison phonograph. Overall, I would recommend modern equipment to beginner and intermediate collectors, while reserving the old machines for advanced collectors
When buying original equipment, only buy machines made by Edison. If it is a victor, Columbia etc, than that will destroy your diamond discs. Only use Edison machines to play diamond discs!!! When buying a modern turntable, I would recommend the Audio Technica LP-120 turntable. This is because it can play records at 80 RPM because of its pitch control slider, you can easily change the cartridge to one that is meant to play diamond discs, and despite being very affordable, the machine is based off of the tried and true Technics 1200 design.
My Audio Technica LP-120 about to play a diamond disc
The record player should come with instructions telling you how to set it up. After that, you need to set it up so that you can play diamond discs. First, you need to buy a new stylus and headshell. You can use a standard stereo LP cartridge. I use the Ortofon OM OMEGA, which can cost anywhere from 20-30 US dollars if you are buying from a reputable dealer. Next, you need to set up the cartridge so it can play diamond discs. Usually what you would do is attach each wire on the headshell to the corresponding color on the cartridge. However, in this case, you will need to switch the red and green wires around. Then, screw the cartridge securely onto the headshell, and then attach that to the records tonearm. Then, set the record player to 78 rpm, and pull the slider forward about 2 positions, like in the picture. Then, you can raise the tonearm quite a bit if you have a record player that can do that. Now, you can listen to your diamond discs through modern stereo equipment! Congratulations!!! Below is an example of one of my records being played this way.