Impact of a Mono Cartridge

rollo · August 31, 2017, 06:23:17 AM

I guess it depends on the mono pre you buy. FM acoustics I'm dead.

charles

topround · August 31, 2017, 08:31:45 PM

Graham Slee is OK at best
get a good mono cart like miyajima zero, that will have the biggest effect

S Clark · September 06, 2017, 06:33:54 AM

Quote from: topround on August 31, 2017, 08:31:45 PM
Graham Slee is OK at best
get a good mono cart like miyajima zero, that will have the biggest effect

6
I'm sure you're right. I would certainly hope there was a big difference in the performance of a $2000 cartridge compared to a $200 one.
But it doesn't matter to since I'm not spending those kind of bucks for mono.
What options are in between?

rollo · September 09, 2017, 08:34:07 AM

Check out the Graham Slee first. Oh yes the Miyajima is a great cart however the Grado at $100 is no slouch to start with. You really can get some great advice from Rob Wyatt on mono. If you speak with him mention me.

charles

S Clark · September 09, 2017, 08:49:41 PM

I'll contact Mr. Wyatt and pick his brain. Thanks for the tip. I emailed Boris at Vista to see if he had any interest in designing a mono pre. He has done such good work with the his stereo phono pre's at an intro level price, I thought I'd see if he might do something similar with mono. He said that the curves were so highly variable that it was hard to get good info on the early 50's to late 50's stuff. He had looked at it and decided not to pursue it. I've got the G.Slee unit coming next week and will see what it yields.

richidoo · September 10, 2017, 06:59:07 AM

Why can't you just use a single channel of a stereo preamp for mono carts?

S Clark · September 10, 2017, 07:11:06 AM

Quote from: richidoo on September 10, 2017, 06:59:07 AM
Why can't you just use a single channel of a stereo preamp for mono carts?

You can. Or in the case of the Denon 102 cartridge, the post of the cartridge are extra long to allow two leads on each post, sending the signal to both channels of your stereo phonostage. But a dedicated mono pre, or a highly adjustable stereo pre, can equalize to match older curves (in theory). My buddy's Graham Slee Revelation M phonostage has setting positions for Decca vs. Mercury vs. RCA- don't know how effective they are.

richidoo · September 10, 2017, 08:38:24 AM

I see! Thanks

rollo · October 17, 2018, 11:51:10 AM

WELL any news or changes or anything ??

charles

S Clark · October 17, 2018, 07:43:16 PM

Quote from: rollo on October 17, 2018, 11:51:10 AM
WELL any news or changes or anything ??

charles

Not directly. The Graham Slee I meant to borrow has been out of pocket. But I did read an interesting article the other night about the Denon 102. One of the reasons it rough records more cleanly has to do with the orientation of the magnets in the Denon only pick up in one plane (horizontal) and most scratches result in vertical displacement. On an older mono vinyl, there is no music information vertically. A stereo cart has magnets oriented in such a way that they do pick up a scratch vertically.

S Clark · October 18, 2018, 08:05:47 PM

"One of the reasons it rough records more cleanly "
What I meant to say was it PLAYS rough records more cleanly.

tmazz · October 20, 2018, 05:52:25 AM

Quote from: S Clark on October 17, 2018, 07:43:16 PM
Quote from: rollo on October 17, 2018, 11:51:10 AM
WELL any news or changes or anything ??

charles
Not directly. The Graham Slee I meant to borrow has been out of pocket. But I did read an interesting article the other night about the Denon 102. One of the reasons it rough records more cleanly has to do with the orientation of the magnets in the Denon only pick up in one plane (horizontal) and most scratches result in vertical displacement. On an older mono vinyl, there is no music information vertically. A stereo cart has magnets oriented in such a way that they do pick up a scratch vertically.

Exactly why one needs to be careful when buying a mono cartridge that it is a true mono design. A number of the carts sold today as Mono are simply stereo carts that are wired to sum the outputs of the left and right channel into a single mono signal. A summed mono cart will read the scratch as the stereo inards are reading in the vertical direction. Of course the advantage of a summed mono cart is that it will give you a mono signal that contains both channels if you are playing a stereop record. But if you already have a stereo cart and are buy the mono one as a second unit just for mono records, be sure that whatever you pick is a true mono design. Like everything else, you need to match the tool to the task at hand.

rollo · August 06, 2019, 05:01:04 PM

Correct Tom. Can you say Myajima ? If one owns numerous mono LPs get another TT or second arm and use a mono cart. No turning bach ! Such a staggering difference especially with respect to noise NONE ! Music is deep in groove not on sides like stereo.

charles