Grado ME+ Mono cart.

[rollo]

   For $150 worth a try. Thinking about setting up the  LP12 again for mono only. Any other low cost suggestions ???


charles

[jsaliga]

Charles,

If your plan is to have a mono set up to play vintage mono LPs that were pressed between 1948 and ~ 1960 then you need a real mono cartridge with a spherical stylus.  There are a lot of "mono" cartridges out there that are nothing more than a stereo cartridge that is wired for mono, and that simply will not do.  They will work, but you will be no better off than you are with playing a mono LP with a stereo cartridge.

On vintage mono records the grooves are wider than they are on stereo LPs.  They are also U shaped rather than V shaped.  A geniune mono cart has no vertical compliance.  The stylus only moves in the horizontal plane.  Thus, using a mono cartridge on these LPs will yield better sound and less noise.  The Grado you referenced is a stereo cartridge using a modern elliptical stylus with the generator wired for mono.  This would not be an ideal cartridge to use for playing back vintage mono LPs.

If your goal is really to play mono audiophile reissues pressed on 180g or 200g vinyl then do not waste your time and money on a mono cartridge.  To my knowledge all LPs pressed today are cut on modern stereo cutting heads.  No one is making mono LPs with U shaped grooves.  Using a spherical stylus on these records will wear them out prematurely and they will not sound as good on a mono cart as they would with a modern stereo cartridge.  

The only genuine mono cartridges that I know of besides the classic Ortofons is the Shelter 501 mono and the Miyajima Labs Premium Ebony mono.  There may be others, but these were the carts that I found while I was doing research for the Garrard 401 project that I just completed.

--Jerome

[rollo]

Jerome thanks a bunch for the info. Yes I do own quite a few mono records pressed during that time period.
   I'll look at Ortofon and Shelter.


charles

[jsaliga]

Here's a budget moving magnet cartridge that would work...

http://www.needledoctor.com/Ortofon-D-25-M-Phono-Cartridge?sc=2&category=269

It has a spherical stylus with the correct tip radius of 25µm.

--Jerome

[rollo]

   Cool, I will make the plunge. Mono here I come, all over again. 



charles

[tmazz]

Jerome, once again you are a fountain of extremely useful trivia. I would have just thought that all mono carts were the same. Thanks for the heads up.

You and Charles now have me thinking......

Once we get the VPI Jr. set up and running for Bobby in the mini-mancave that will free up the Thorens 147 that he is using now. And since I already have a significant number of mono RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence LPs already..........   

Hmmmm, this could be a nice low cost experiment at my house as well. 


Thanks a lot guys. 

Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water..........   

You're never really finished, are you   

[jsaliga]

I think you would find it very worthwhile Tom.  I am extremely sensitive to pops and clicks (especially recurring pops caused by a scratch).  A mono cartridge won't make them magically disappear...but it does tend to push them into the background so they are not the enjoyment killers that they are with stereo recordings. 

What are loud pops on a stereo cartridge are much lighter ticks on a mono cartridge.  Of course, a deep scratch will sound bad no matter what cartridge you use.  That said, the mono cart has made a lot of records in my library much more enjoyable.

--Jerome