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Mono Cartridge Recommendations

I am looking for a true mono cartridge, as I am adding a second tonearm (Musical Life Conductor SE 10") to my Technics SP10ii table. My phono preamp is an Einstein Turntables Choice - so I am looking for a MC cartridge.  Considerations include:

  • whether the cartridge was truly designed for mono (cantilever only moves laterally, typically uses just a single coil) 
  • compliance (many mono cartridges have low compliance, which can chew up grooves of modern mono records (although I'll mostly be listening to older records)
  • stylus shape/size - I could use some guidance here....
My price range is $1-2k.  Currently under consideration is the VAS Nova Mono (has two coils in balanced configuration, output ~ 0.8 mv), and the Miyajima Labs series (all have compliance around 8, which is kind of low).  Can people who have experience in this area provide some recommendations with supporting information (why).  Thanks very much, Peter
peter_s
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,816 posts
 
The original Decca cartridge was mono (L + R), and when stereo came in the cartridge was modified to create the "difference" (L - R) stereo signal. The cartridge (now marketed as London) used the same cantilever-less design in both stereo and mono cartridges, the armature holding the stylus having very different lateral and vertical compliances. London offers a true mono cartridge, producing only the L + R signal, but it is a high-output (5mV!) moving iron design, not an mc. Extremely dynamic, immediate, and visceral sound!
solypsa's avatar
solypsa
462 posts
 
Vertical compliance is not a problem. It is, generally, an advantage with certain conditions withstanding.

The stereo signal is an x-y delta created from vertical and horizontal velocity.
A mono recording is only a horizontal velocity. So ignoring vertical 'imperfections' is a good idea.

However in the end it is how well the cart transduces this information that is important.

True mono carts are merely more simple devices. There is a place for simplicity.
terry9
2,341 posts
 
I have played the Zero on a stereo record for a few bars. No effect - not that I'm likely to repeat that error.
lewm
13,099 posts
 
bdp, Back in the 70s, my close audiophile friend and I both purchased Decca London cartridges, which we liked very much.  But somewhere or other we read that the performance could be enhanced by fiddling with an adjustable platform that was accessible by removing the top of the cartridge, which simply slides off to the rear.  Being tinkerers, we each separately "adjusted" our cartridges for best sound, and we were very pleased with the results,.... until we figured out that we had converted the stereo signal into mono.  In an attempt to reverse the damage, I tried to re-adjust mine but I don't think it ever sounded as good thereafter.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,816 posts
 

@lewm, Yeah, those 1970’s Deccas were so shoddily constructed that people did all kinds of things to optimize their sound, including the risky internal adjustments you made. The current Londons are much better built.

The Decca/London cartridge design is unlike any other, even the few that share with it having no cantilever. It has a single lateral sensing coil, and two vertical ones (out-of-phase with each other). The electrical relationship between the lateral and vertical coils is what produces the cartridges’ stereo signal. In the mono version of the Decca/London, there is but a single lateral coil, so the cartridge is incapable of producing a stereo signal; it is a true monaural design. I’m gettin’ me one!

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