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advice for mono cartridge

Hi,

I have a Garrard 401 with a Magnepan Unitrac and an SME 3009 Mk II Improved.

I’m thinking about turning one of the tonearms into a dedicated mono setup, probably on the SME 3009 Mk II Improved, as the Magnepan is my main arm and I really like the sound of it for stereo. The SME has a detachable headshell, making it easy to switch back and forth if necessary and I’m used to the sound of the Magnepan, so I don’t really want to change anything there.

I run MM only right now (although I guess I could pick up a step up transformer) and the SME has an effective mass of 9.5g. It also tracks only to 1.5g (although I bought the additional counterweight, which might help with that). It seems like my choice of mono cartridges is thus pretty limited. It seems the Ortofon 2M Mono Special Edition could be a good choice.

At the same time, I’m reading all sorts of contradictory info about whether vertical compliance, which the Ortofon seems to have (as opposed to Miyajima), is a good thing or not and whether a 1 mil or 0.7 mil stylus is best. Some also say a more modern line contact profile (the Ortofon has that) is actually preferable, even for older records, etc. Ortofon seems to say just that in their literature and Michael Fremer seems to agree. Also the Ortofon seems to have internally strapped output, which is somewhat controversial.

I actually heard recently a couple of very high end systems that used Miyajima mono cartridges and they sounded fantastic, huge soundstage, very realistic … but they were also clearly out of my price range, and only fit much heavier tone arms.

I have a mix of older mono pressings and reissues, presumably cut with a stereo cutter head.

I'm looking for advice from people with direct experience.

Considering the above,would the Ortofon 2M mono SE be a good choice? Does anyone see anything else more or less in that price range that might better it? Or should perhaps just wait and switch to a tone arm that would give me better options for mono down the line, perhaps a Fidelity Research FR-24, FR-54 or FR-14, which contrary to the FR-64 and FR-66, can be had for cheap. Budget is a concern overall.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Jerome Sabbagh
128x128saxman73
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
I will add some spices:

1) New mono cartridges from respected manufacturers have vertical compliance, they do not act like oldschool mono with latheral compliance only.  Why ?

2) New mono cartridges have the best styli with most complicated profiles just like the most expensive stereo, not like oldchool mono with conical. Why ? 

3) What makes a cartridge "true mono": A mono motor with two pins input or a mono Stylus without vertical compliance ?

 
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flatblackround's avatar
flatblackround
279 posts
 
Miyajima  uses conical stylus either .1 or .07 nude conical
lewm
13,049 posts
 
Chakster, To answer your questions:(1)  I am not really sure your assumption about compliance applies to ALL true mono cartridges.  The fact is that vertical compliance in a mono cartridge is irrelevant, since the motor does not respond to vertical motion at the stylus by producing an audio signal.  Ideally, the cartridge is totally inert to vertical movement of the stylus. I don't know whether that is always true in practice. "Modern" mono cartridges are nearly always stereo cartridges that have been internally bridged to produce a mono signal; therefore those typically do have vertical compliance.  (Bridging ideally cancels signal voltage due to vertical motion of the stylus tip.)
(2) I have read that fancy stylus tip shapes are irrelevant for mono.  JCarr has argued otherwise, I think.  Miyajima seem to think conical is fine for mono in their true mono cartridges.
(3) In my opinion, the definition of a "true mono" cartridge is that it has one set of sensors that work only to respond to lateral motion of the stylus tip, and often they have only one pair of output pins.  Compliance or no compliance.  There is no bible for this.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@lewm  Yes, the Miyajima MC is a true mono in total oldschool way (japanese style), but this is not the only cartridge on the mono market, especially if we will add some nice vintage true mono MM.  

I've been reading so much about serious advantages of the LineContact styli over the Conical/Elliptical to play vintage vinyl, so i believe same principle applied for mono records played for decaded with conical needles only. Quality must be better with LineContact type simply because this part of the groove wall is untachable by Conical tip. If the mono record is from the 50's and in used condition then it must be played with LineContact (or MicroRidge) for better sound quality. I thinks it's obvious for old records. No?   
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