Dedicated Mono Vinyl Replay : What Would Be Your Particular Weapons Of Choice ?

Argonaut · Jul 26, 2024

As per the OP Title , should one be fortunate enough , Room , Funds , Time , Inclination etc , to indulge oneself so , which items of equipment would make up your *Ideal* Dedicated Mono Vinyl Rig , From Pickup to Transducer ?
Some members have already done so and It would be great to hear from them .

Mike Lavigne · Jul 26, 2024

the ideal mono rig, or course starts with just how serious do you want to get? and how much mono listening will you actually do? have you already done enough to know you like it? i'm an on again<->off again mono listener. i'll go months not paying attention, then for a few weeks i'll dive deep into it. sometimes triggered by acquisitions of mono pressings. i can lose myself into the ultra musical flow connection that mono can pull off. it's special. FYI; i have about 250-300 jazz monos, 200-250 classical monos, and 100 pop/rock/vocal monos + 40-50 45rpm monos. so a reasonable, but not huge part of my 12,000 pressing total collection.

for me the ideal is a dedicated arm and cartridge for mono. and i like my Glanz MH-1200s arm and Sumile mono cartridge. it's a good match and the Sumile mono is a nice step up over the Miyajima Labs Infinity mono cartridges i had. this is mounted on the Esoteric T1 turntable, so a pretty capable rig. right now it's feeding into my darTZeel 18NS preamp phono which is very fine. my plan is to also use it into my silver wound EMIA SUT and phono pre.

i use the mono switch on my dart preamp. there is also a mono switch on my EMIA MC Trio SUT but i've not used that.

this mono rig does surpass my quite formidable stereo cartridges playing mono pressings. and that is the issue. if you have high level stereo cartridges, then that requires your mono cartridge and arm to be good enough to justify it's place in your system. otherwise, just use your stereo rig for mono pressings. the better stereo cartridges bring refinement and dynamics to many mono pressings that overcome the technical advantage of a lesser (but still very nice) mono cartridge. this happened with my Miyajima Infinity, at a particular point i had improved my stereo arms and cartridges to the point where i was not playing my Infinity any more (to be fair, the Infinity was $3200 retail, my stereo cartridges over $20k). so why have it? i upgraded to the Sumile (more refined, more mid range clarity and sparkle, sexier bass @3x $$$) which made my mono pressings better.

for awhile i did have a dedicated mono turntable, the EMT 948. it was very nice, but not in the realm of my other turntables, so i rarely listened to it. i find that the mono pressings do sound best on the best turntable. to some degree i sold my much loved Saskia idler, to have a turntable that could accommodate 3 arms instead of just one, to have a top spot for mono playing. no value in having a mono rig that is not the best performer with those pressings.

as far as ".......to transducer" you can read my system link. i don't have an interest in a separate single speaker + separate signal path set-up for mono (just for sake of doing it). the quality of my signal path and room is not a trivial thing to repeat. analogous to my separate turntable comments. it's not just the $$$'s, it's really the mental focus and effort involved in a second serious system. doing one all the way over the top is hard enough.

and mono deserves the best you can provide. YMMV........if i had multiple lesser systems maybe it would be a consideration.

Vinylfan · Aug 3, 2024

Argonaut said:
As per the OP Title , should one be fortunate enough , Room , Funds , Time , Inclination etc , to indulge oneself so , which items of equipment would make up your *Ideal* Dedicated Mono Vinyl Rig , From Pickup to Transducer ?
Some members have already done so and It would be great to hear from them .

Although not a dedicated setup, I have added a second arm, the Kuzma 9” with a Miyajima Infinity mono cartridge. I also included the Miyajima ETR SUT. This is my ultimate mono configuration.

LuisMontreal · Apr 27, 2025

I replaced my Audio Technica Art-1000 with a Miyajima Infinity mono to test, before investing in second arm on my Brinkmann. It feeds a Luna Rouge SUT with mono switch into Shindo. The mono records sounded absolutely great on the stereo Art-1000, but I had to to test a mono cartridge. Wow, Miyajima mono is something else. Also detailed but more musical, and lot less noise. With 1960s pressing as with quality represses. I guess I have "no choice" now to buy a second arm/shut/cables/etc...

For the record, I hate Mike Lavigne that says that the Sumile is even better than the Infinity... And the purple SUT from the company looks gorgeous...

hopkins · Apr 27, 2025

The beauty of mono is that you can listen to it on a single speaker. Give it a try! I really enjoy it. I find it more relaxing (and "natural sounding") than two speakers (with a same mono track).. YMMV.

LuisMontreal · Apr 27, 2025

hopkins said:
The beauty of mono is that you can listen to it on a single speaker. Give it a try! I really enjoy it. I find it more relaxing (and "natural sounding") than two speakers (with a same mono track).. YMMVbt

LuisMontreal · Apr 27, 2025

You mean disconnect one speaker and move the other to the center of the room? It would be complicated in my setup, but that makes a lot of sense

DasguteOhr · Apr 27, 2025

A monk mono pre with grado plantium It will delight you, playing very harmoniously and with a slightly warmer sound. It takes you back to the 1950s, the heyday of mono LPs. It handles all common cutting characteristics.

Grado Timbre Platinum Mono

Ausgezeichnetes Moving-Iron-System mit geringer Ausgangsspannung Spezial-Diamant für Mono-Schallplatten Mono-Innenaufbau!

www.phonophono.de

It's an affordable entry into the mono world. If you want to listen through just one speaker, check out used center speakers. It works very well.

P.S the grado runs really good at 15kilo ohm under 100pf capacity

hopkins · Apr 27, 2025

LuisMontreal said:
You mean disconnect one speaker and move the other to the center of the room? It would be complicated in my setup, but that makes a lot of sense

With a single speaker, placement can be less of an issue. I usualiy leave the speaker in its spot.

iaxel · Apr 29, 2025

LuisMontreal said:
For the record, I hate Mike Lavigne that says that the Sumile is even better than the Infinity... And the purple SUT from the company looks gorgeous...

I can also recommend AnalogTechnik DMT25 (Neuman-like) mono cartridge. Built by Daniel Kim in Germany.

Audiohertz2 · Apr 29, 2025

When mono was king , best speaker placement was from one corner of the room, the room gain and expansion helped fill the room for max realism ….

hopkins · Apr 29, 2025

Audiohertz2 said:
When mono was king , best speaker placement was from one corner of the room, the room gain and expansion helped fill the room for max realism ….

Agreed, but I would add that nearfield listening in front of a single speaker can give exceptional results as well. A single source point with good resolution can provide a very realistic sound.

Mike Lavigne · Apr 29, 2025

LuisMontreal said:
For the record, I hate Mike Lavigne that says that the Sumile is even better than the Infinity... And the purple SUT from the company looks gorgeous...

the issue is just how super-dupper??? is your stereo cartridge and arm. if it's really amazing then bar is raised for the mono cartridge to hit to make the case for it. presentation advantages of the mono cartridge only go so far. and i had added the Primary Control FCL arm and upgraded my Tosca to the Limited Edition for my stereo carts. so two over $25k arms + the DaVa Ref and Etsuro Gold (special model).

lots of fire power going on.

just found i was not listening to much mono after i raised the level of my stereo cartridges the last time so that pushed me to the Sumile to get that last level of refinement. not that the Infinity mono's were not still wonderful in their own right. they properly defended the 'mono' keep for a long time. the Infinity has outstanding dynamics and a big sound that i loved.

PeterA · Apr 29, 2025

Audiohertz2 said:
When mono was king , best speaker placement was from one corner of the room, the room gain and expansion helped fill the room for max realism ….

My vintage corner horns were built and sold as mono speakers in the late 1950s. My dealer searched for years to find a matching second one. He then sold them to me as a pair. I do not have a mono cartridge and not a lot of mono records, but my second preamp can be run as mono and I do have mono amps. If I get around to trying it, I will use a single corner horn left in place for a mono presentation and perhaps just move the listening seat.

hopkins · Apr 29, 2025

PeterA said:
My vintage corner horns were built and sold as mono speakers in the late 1950s. My dealer searched for years to find a matching second one. He then sold them to me as a pair. I do not have a mono cartridge and not a lot of mono records, but my second preamp can be run as mono and I do have mono amps. If I get around to trying it, I will use a single corner horn left in place for a mono presentation and perhaps just move the listening seat.

Matching vintage speaker is indeed an issue for that reason.

Let us know what you think. It seems that some speakers work better than others in this scenario. It may also take time to get used to.

FWIW here's an example of a well known audiophile using a vintage (pre-stereo) single speaker - also designed for corner placement:

Glow in the Dark Audio - ElectroVoice Georgian

Glow in the Dark Audio showcases Kevin Davis’ personal collection of small-scale, DIY and one of a kind hifi audio gear, with a focus on single ended and push pull tube amplifiers and full range open baffle speakers.

www.glowinthedarkaudio.com

Another:

New speaker (1955 ElectroVoice Georgian) *

I got a new speaker a little over a week ago and thought I would show a pic. This old gal from 1955 sounds absolutely beautiful hooked up to one of my...

forums.stevehoffman.tv

hopkins · May 5, 2025

Here's another good example of mono playback from forum member JELabs:

JE Labs Monaural Playback

jelabsarch.blogspot.com

His conclusions:

"The use of a single speaker was a revelation! Monaural playback is not as simple as flicking the mode switch to mono and hoping for a precise phantom center image. Listening through a pair of stereo spaced speakers introduces phase incoherence that leads to loss of detail and compression of dynamics. There is a wealth of musical information imbedded in the microgrooves of a mono LP. Even the limited bandwidth electrically recorded 78 coarse groove format has information that we have not heard for several years due to improper playback. Pure unadulterated sound - the aural equivalent of B&W images captured by Henri Cartier-Bresson and other fine photographers of that era - with detail, warmth and dynamics to satisfy modern day audiophile requirements. No need to psyche oneself to the illusion of being transported to Carnegie Hall because there is no soundstage to worry about. I now understand why some die-hard mono enthusiasts from the 50s initially claimed stereo was a conspiracy to sell more amps and speakers. The standard achieved at the height of monaural high-fidelity era was great!"

Lynnot · May 23, 2025

Good evening,

I own about 190 mono records. For me, most interesting mono records are from between the late 40s and the early 60s of the past century. Mostly 33 rpm "mircogrove" mono EPs and LPs. Cartridges of choice are an Ortofon SPU Mono with 25µ diamond or an Audio Technica AT-33Mono with 17µ tip (both will not damage stereo records if used by accident). Essential however is a variable phono equaliser, to be able to get linear playback from various vintage labels. For the time being I use a pimped Luxman LXV-OT10.

Currently the mono set-up is connected to my regular stereo system. But I would realy like to use a contemporary late 50s - early 60s mono valve amp and speaker instead. Using something like this: Philips Bombardon AD5201S plus Philips 9710M, for single speaker playback.

Best regards, Tony

Audiohertz2 · May 24, 2025

PeterA said:
My vintage corner horns were built and sold as mono speakers in the late 1950s. My dealer searched for years to find a matching second one. He then sold them to me as a pair. I do not have a mono cartridge and not a lot of mono records, but my second preamp can be run as mono and I do have mono amps. If I get around to trying it, I will use a single corner horn left in place for a mono presentation and perhaps just move the listening seat.

Quad 57’s were specifically for Mono operation too , later on philes bought a second one to hear the new Stereo format ..!

Audiohertz2 · May 24, 2025

hopkins said:
Here's another good example of mono playback from forum member JELabs:

JE Labs Monaural Playback

jelabsarch.blogspot.com

His conclusions:

"The use of a single speaker was a revelation! Monaural playback is not as simple as flicking the mode switch to mono and hoping for a precise phantom center image. Listening through a pair of stereo spaced speakers introduces phase incoherence that leads to loss of detail and compression of dynamics. There is a wealth of musical information imbedded in the microgrooves of a mono LP. Even the limited bandwidth electrically recorded 78 coarse groove format has information that we have not heard for several years due to improper playback. Pure unadulterated sound - the aural equivalent of B&W images captured by Henri Cartier-Bresson and other fine photographers of that era - with detail, warmth and dynamics to satisfy modern day audiophile requirements. No need to psyche oneself to the illusion of being transported to Carnegie Hall because there is no soundstage to worry about. I now understand why some die-hard mono enthusiasts from the 50s initially claimed stereo was a conspiracy to sell more amps and speakers. The standard achieved at the height of monaural high-fidelity era was great!"

Have to disagree , proper stereo is vastly superior , not gimmicky stereo but a properly done stereo recording captures it all over mono.

Stereo reproduction has less distortion more dynamics (2 speakers deliver 50% less thd at same spl) Double the power no mono is gonna get as close to realism.

Like many things in Audio there are gonna be situations where a mono setup could better a stereo deal but not often ..!

BTW using 2 channels to reproduce a mono signal is not true mono , well not historically accurate and in such a situation mono could run a closer game …

hopkins · May 24, 2025

Audiohertz2 said:
Have to disagree , proper stereo is vastly superior , not gimmicky stereo but a properly done stereo recording captures it all over mono.

I was not commenting on the quality of stereo recordings, but just suggesting listening to mono recordings on a single speaker....

Audiohertz2 said:
Stereo reproduction has less distortion more dynamics (2 speakers deliver 50% less thd at same spl) Double the power no mono is gonna get as close to realism.

Maybe, but playing loud is not everyone's objective.

Audiohertz2 said:
Like many things in Audio there are gonna be situations where a mono setup could better a stereo deal but not often ..!

If you say so.

Audiohertz2 said:
BTW using 2 channels to reproduce a mono signal is not true mono , well not historically accurate and in such a situation mono could run a closer game …

See above.

Dedicated Mono Vinyl Replay : What Would Be Your Particular Weapons Of Choice ?

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