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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
 
I've been looking through my original and subsequent posts, and realize I have conflated two different Audio Technica moving coil mono cartridges: The ATMONO3/LP, which has 1.2mV output and is the one that I have, and the AT33MONO, which is 0.3mV output. The ATMONO3/LP has an official US distributor, LpGear.com, who prices it at $189. You can also get it for as low as $112.65 on Amazon (which is what I did). The AT33MONO is not officially imported, so you can get it from eBay or Amazon. It's usually in the $270-340 range.

Both have the same weight and both feature an aluminum cantilever and spherical (conical?) stylus. 

My stereo cartridge is an AT150MLX, which is quite an overachiever for an MM cartridge. As good as the AT150MLX is, the ATMONO3/LP holds up well when I switch to it, and it really brings the advantages of a mono cartridge--a great sense of immediacy, much lower noise floor (esp. on old mono) and a really coherent sound that smacks you in the middle of the head. It sounded so good on the new Beatles Mono LP releases that it sent me searching for other mono albums I have, some 50 and more years old. It turns out I have 57 and counting. 

lewm
13,176 posts
 
Lordie, I'm sure I have a couple of hundred mono LPs.  It seems like about half or surely 40%-ish of my favorite LPs are in mono. Which is why I am fascinated right now with the subject of mono cartridges.  Once I finally buy one, I will probably forgeddaboudit.  Does anyone own one of the "high end" mono cartridges, like the Helikon Mono or the Miyajima Zero?  The latter is calling out to me right now; it's saying "buy me".  But I'd rather spend $500-ish than the $2000 cost of the Zero.

dgarretson
2,599 posts
 
Lewm, FWIW the AT33MONO has turned my world upside down-- or at least tilted it 45 degrees-- w/r to mono records.  By comparison a fine stereo cartridge playing a mono record sounds disorganized, desiccated, and noisy in the grooves.  Well worth a $330 experiment, even if that subsequently leads to a grail quest for a Zero.  
johnnyb53 OP
3,510 posts
 
... or even a $112.65-189 experiment for the ATMONO3/LP.

That’s a small price for proof of concept. You could always take your time to research and pick the ultimate mono cart. In the meantime, that ATMONO3/LP takes care of all the stereo vs. mono cartridge issues and then some for a pittance. It sounds really good and brings out the advantages of mono.

fleib
1,124 posts
 

The Miyajima Zero is a scary cart. My mono reissues (many Japanese) are irreplaceable.  That cart tracks at 3.5g (4g max) with a spherical tip and will tear up a stereo groove.  Seems like a bad idea.  Wonder how many hours till the tip wears out.

I'd be more inclined to check out a Lyra or a Cadenza Mono w/fine line.

Switch from accurate to romantic just for mono?

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