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Mono Cartridge Question

You chaps have watched me struggle with the issue of my London Decca Reference being irreplaceable, and then joyfully learning that John Wright has a successor after all. You have seen me buy and test three other MI designs (Nagaoka MP-500, Grado Statement3, Soundsmith Sussurro MkII) along with my older MC cartridges (Ortofon Kontrapunkt C and Benz Micro Ruby 3). Since those struggles have led me to owning two SME turntables and four tonearms, I am now torturing myself with the question of whether one of those four should be home to a dedicated mono cartridge. Remember, I only have one ear and cannot hear stereo at the best of times. A mono cartridge for my few dozen mono recordings would be a matter of reduced surface noise and possibly some improvement in dynamics.

I can get hold of an Ortofon Cadenza Mono (two voice coils so not true mono) for about 1600CDN, and a Miyajima Zero for 3450CDN. So the question is this: am I mad to even think about it? Money is not what it once was before I retired. There is no opportunity to go and hear these before purchase, without spending much more than purchase price on travel.

Shall I "make do" with my rather good stereo carts for my mono LPs or is there something better waiting for me when I get out those Parlophone Beatles LPs?

 

dogberry
billstevenson
373 posts
 

Lewm,

 

I have owned many preamps with mono switches and of course many cartridges, both mono and stereo over the years.  In my experience a mono cartridge always sounds better.  With that said, a mono switch used with a high grade stereo cartridge should beat a cheap mono cartridge.  But it doesn't.  I first discovered this years ago comparing Shure M44 mono vs. Shure V15 Type II (McIntosh C28 at that time). I have a not overly expensive AT33 Mono today that outperforms all of my best stereo cartridges including a favorite Experion on mono records.  This still astounds me.  But invariably mono cartridges are quieter and have greater presence.  And higher end mono cartridges are just flat awesome. 

lewm
13,171 posts
 

I respect your opinion, because you’ve tried it both ways.

dogberry OP
687 posts
 

This is good information. It's beginning to look like the question is whether a single coil (assuming that is how the Miyajima Zero works) is so much better than the 'neutered' stereo type like an AT33-Mono. The former is about six times more expensive.

mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 

for the straight skinny on mono pressings and cartridges; scroll down to the bottom on this website; it’s the best explanation of the benefits of mono i have seen. based on the facts. and why i have two 'true' mono cartridges; one with a 1.0mil stylus, and one with a 0.7mil stylus.

https://www.ortofon.com/hifi/cartridges-ranges/true-mono/

dogberry OP
687 posts
 

Yes, I read the Ortofon page before. I was confused by this remark on the Cadenza MC Mono (one of the "True Mono" cartridges):

The coils are made from 6NX (99.9999 %) pure silver wire. An improved winding process on the armature allows a better channel balance.

"Coils"? Is it just lifted from the stereo Cadenza blurb, which has the same wording for the Red and Blue models? Or do they put two coils on the cantilever as usual but only have fixed magnets arranged to pick up lateral movement only? This isn't, or shouldn't, be complicated, but it is hard to find proper information.

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