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A new player in the quality Mono cartridge game

For awhile there, if you wanted a mono cart to get the most out your new mono Beatles collection, other mono reissues, or vintage mono LPs, there were the budget offerings from Grado, a big price gap, and then the more expensive good stuff. The elliptical mono Grado goes for around $150.

But now the Audio Technica AT MONO3/LP, a HOMC, is available in the US. The link goes to the official importer, LpGear, who prices this $299.99 cart at $189.99. However, I also found that this cart is available from Amazon for $112.65. Worried that the unofficial import puts your purchase at risk? For a mere $12 extra you can buy a 2-year protection warranty.

I ordered mine via Amazon Prime on Sat. Oct. 24 and it arrived today.

This thing is NICE! 1.2mV output, which is plenty, conical stylus (don't know if it's nude or not, but it *sounds* nude), tracking force range 1.5-2.5g. I'm breaking mine in at around 2g.

Even fresh out of the box, this cart's a revelation. I started with "Within You Without You" from the new Beatles Mono vinyl reissue. It's really something when you play a mono record with a cartridge that produces no signal in the vertical plane. The noise floor drops down to the indiscernible. In fact, even cueing the needle makes very little sound thru the speakers.

Everything on Sgt. Pepper's sounded richer, lusher, more distinct, more dynamic, with great treble extension and no hint of sibilance. I followed it with Analogue Productions' 3-LP 45 rpm remaster of Nat King Cole's "After Midnight." Fan-TASTIC! I thought Nat was in the room before, but the dynamics, transparency, and truth-in-timbre reached a height I hadn't heard on my rig up to now.

I finished my mini-audition with a *real* mono record, an original mono Columbia Masterworks pressing of "Grand Canyon Suite" performed by Eugene Ormandy and The Phily Phil. Again, smoother, quieter, more dynamics. It showed its age a little bit, but I think I could bring this 55-yr-old record close to the reissues with a steam cleaning. Even without it it was very satisfying.

Folks, if you have nothing but the new Beatles mono reissues and have an easy way to switch cartridges or set up a mono rig, this cart is so worth it.

Right now I have around 13 Beatles mono LPs, two Beach Boys reissues, the Nat King Cole, some old Columbia Masterworks and shaded dog Orthophonics, mono reissues of Prestige and Miles Davis LPs, and some mono pressings of '60s pop.

I'm thinking of separating all my mono vinyl into its own shelf so--when I mount the AT Mono3 LP--I don't have to sort through my entire collection to play the compatible LPs.

BTW, if you decide to go after this cartridge, make sure you get the AT MONO3/LP cartridge, which is for mono LPS, and *NOT* the AT MONO3/SP cartridge, which is for 78s.
johnnyb53
johnnyb53 OP
3,510 posts
 
Hey Lewm, I found some threads that may address the mono switch feature you were talking about.

Here's something to consider, however. Some mono switches may occurr at the phono stage; others may be implemented at the line stage. They would behave differently.

Here's a thread about preamps with mono switches in general. And here's a thread about a specific circuit design at the phono stage that does the things you were talking about such as noise cancellation.

However, note that these are not features you can just go out and buy. The first thread mainly addresses vintage classic items (such as an Audio Research unit) that would cost a lot on the vintage market. The second thread addresses a design that probably has to be custom-ordered and handbuilt.

Then there's the third alternative, particularly the cartridge that started this thread. The Audio Technica unit is a high output (1.2mV) moving coil cartridge, true mono with a -30dB rejection in the vertical plane, and it's readily available for anything from $112.65 to $299.99, depending on the vendor you choose.

Furthermore, if your System profile is up-to-date, I see you have a Kenwood LM07 turntable, which has a universal headshell. You could get the Audio Technica AT33MONO/LP and a headshell, mount and align it, and just play the mono records in native mode. It's much easier than hunting down a phono head with mono switch, and the results would be at least as good.

I'm really happy with that cartridge and it has increased my enjoyment both of latter day mono reissues (Beatles, Beach Boys, Nat King Cole, Gene Krupa) and digging out 45-60-yr-old mono original pressings. Highly recommended.
fleib
1,124 posts
 
The mono switch on most preamps will function with any source, not just phono. In one of those links they were talking about some separate phono stages which include a mono switch. If you try to duplicate this with Y adaptors there are impedance/load considerations which could alter the sound, depending on where you combine/split channels.

Most of my listening is with a preamp w/o mono switch or with a passive preamp. I tried Y adaptors both on the phono signal going into the preamp, and on the preamp output. Both of these approaches were unsatisfactory. SQ was degraded to the extent that any noise reduction didn't matter. I didn't think to try it in a tape monitor loop. Also, I used solid body Y adaptors w/Teflon or nylon insulation.

I also have an old Mitsubishi tuner-preamp with a great sounding tuner which I use on a second system. It has a mono switch. This is where the mono switch did not provide adequate noise reduction with a stereo cart playing a compromised mono record. For the price of the MONO3, trying one was a no-brainer. A beat-up copy of Mozart Requiem, formerly unlistenable had noise reduced about 95%. It was astounding. SQ was still imperfect. This is an old wide groove pressing and I think the tip was bottoming out in-groove. This is where you need a 1 mil tip.

Although it seems that all microgroove mono pressings sound much better with this cart, it occurs to me that my direct comparisons to a stereo cart + mono switch, are limited.
Perhaps someone else made similar comparisons?

I went to a thrift store and bought some old mono records which looked to be in decent shape. I wouldn't have considered them with stereo pressings. Results should be interesting.
lewm
13,764 posts
 
Fleib, Your experience with the Mono switch is wildly different from mine. I hear a pronounced improvement with the mono switch engaged, using a stereo cartridge on a mono LP. It's so obvious that if I have forgotten to flip the switch, I am reminded by the inferior sound to do so immediately. Further, the improvements are just as one might expect, a reduction in noise, an enhanced clarity of the treble, and a stabilizing of the image. This is when playing jazz LPs that are no older than mid- to late 1950s and so would be true "LP"s. Many are modern re-issues of same. I don't own any 78s or late 40s records of any type. What is the vintage of the mono LPs that you own which do not respond to the mono switch cure?
lewm
13,764 posts
 
Johnny, What is a "phono head with a mono switch"? I think what you're talking about is combining channels AFTER the cartridge but before phono amplification. That can be done if all else fails, but it's not the optimal way to go, because in such a case one channel of the stereo output of the cartridge "sees" both the other channel AND the phono stage input impedance in parallel. This affects the loading of the cartridge in an unpredictable way but usually not a good way. A typical mono switch on a full-function preamplifier would be placed in the signal path between the phono stage and the linestage, just before the volume control. I own two such preamplifiers, both vintage: a Klyne 6LX and a Quicksilver. The latter can be purchased typically for around $1000.
lewm
13,764 posts
 
Fleib, I responded to your 11/07 post without having read your 11/09 post. Indeed, it may be that you have not given the "mono switch" solution a fair trial. And it may be that your experience with a Y-adapter was affected by the impedance phenomenon I described.

Fleib and Johnny, Don't worry; I am eventually going to buy a mono cartridge just out of curiosity.
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