For those of you with mono cartridges and/or tonearms, when did you decide to go down that road? Was it after acquiring a certain number of mono LPs? 200? 300? More? Or was it some other precipitating event?
And once you got the mono setup installed, was it noticeably better than playing those LPs through your stereo setup?
I'm wondering whether my limited collection of mono LPs, almost all originals, would justify such an investment.
I have all the classic records jazz standard reissues and many Columbia Masterworks Classical mono originals...they all sound better with a mono cart...especially the columbia's which are still readily available on eBay...even still sealed for $20.00 or so. I probably have over 150 titles in mono so it was easy for me to justify the mono dedicated arm/cart. The recent Beatles mono reissue still sounds very good with a stereo cart...even better with a mono. Bass generally sounds more extended via a mono cart vs a stereo cart, especially for mono originals. Mono records play quieter on a mono cart vs a stero cart. YMMV.
For those of you with mono cartridges and/or tonearms, when did you decide to go down that road? Was it after acquiring a certain number of mono LPs? 200? 300? More? Or was it some other precipitating event?
And once you got the mono setup installed, was it noticeably better than playing those LPs through your stereo setup?
I'm wondering whether my limited collection of mono LPs, almost all originals, would justify such an investment.
My mono recordings exponentially increased after getting mono cartridge. The images are bolder, stronger, the dynamic range is better compared to playing a mono recording with my stereo cartridges. You can feel the difference easily when playing a mono recording by a dedicated mono cartridge. I have two tonearms and prefer my mono cartridge on Ikeda tonearm as it is easier to swap cartridges via different headshells.
I have a few hundred mono records, mostly from the 1950's. Definitely sound better (richer, more palpable) with the Zero. Having a VPI with two arm wands means switching catridges is no big deal. Takes around a minute. If you only have one arm, then switching is definitely an issue.
If you have a local record store (like the one in High Fidelity where John Cusack's character worked) then there should be a large number of old mono's in the dollar bin.
Two things about the mono sound. First, the records are quieter than stereos of the same vintage, because the stylus only moves vertically (IIRC). Second, old Decca (London) classical recordings from the mid 50's were engineered by two different teams, one for mono and the other for stereo. Usually the top team (Kenneth Wilkinson for example) got to do the mono version, while the second team did the stereo. That was because stereo wasn'g began until 1958, and the mono version was the one that sold more and right away.
Some people suggest using the mono button on the main pre. I do not. Like the sound better playing mono records in stereo if that makes sense. I find summing the channels via the mono button hurts the sound.
