How are we wiring our Mono systems?

You know a lot more than I do about this stuff; I just sat there and listened while someone flipped the switch on the comparator box.  There were two transformers that were very good and quite close in sound--one was the somewhat expensive Western Electric transformer, the other a much cheaper modern transformer--which made the cheaper transformer a "bargain."  I am not a mono system person myself, but I do see how it is more practical in certain situations where someone cannot sit in the ideal spot for stereo listening but wants good sound.  One of the buyers of the conversion box has a crazy nice mono setup built into his kitchen where a lot of time is spent.  He has a three way system with a field coil woofer, a Western Electric 713b midrange compression driver (my personal favorite compression midrange driver), Western Electric 32a horn, and an RP302 tweeter.  

I’m a "one ear" since the age of eight. I don’t hear stereo and have no directional hearing except by trying to discern the direction of the loudest sound. I do, however strive to make my hi-fi sound the way music does in the concert hall or opera house. A forlorn struggle, but there’s no reason not to try. So I’m good at analysing the quality of sound, if not the solidity of the stereo image.

Having some mono LPs, not so much deliberately collected as just acquired along the way. They go from 1951 Furtwangler up to mono releases of the Beatles and Moody Blues in the late 60’s. Having discovered for myself that proper record cleaning is the biggest upgrade of all, I was intrigued to learn that a mono cartridge sensitive to lateral movement only could reduce surface noise dramatically, and be more dynamic. I had to find out, and I believe it is true. True enough that having bought one decent mono cartridge I’m now getting an old favourite stereo cartridge rebuilt as a true mono pickup just to see if it will be better still.

All this is entertaining and fun, but if I weren’t mostly an analog guy I don’t think I’d bother. I have some mono CDs, but when I had a mono switch (I don’t now) I couldn’t tell the difference when playing them. I do use Y-connectors rather imaginatively to make my headphone amp feed both signals into both ears, otherwise I’d hear only one channel and that’s no good.

Mastering for mono is not the same as just summing a stereo mix, so mono versions of albums can sound dramatically different from the stereo version.  In the early days of stereo, it was often the case that the mono version sounded much better--it took some time before engineers mastered the art of stereo mastering.  For example, in some respects the Beatles mono versions sound better than the stereo versions and that is even more decisively the case with some Cream albums.  I have some Cream CDs that have both stereo and mono versions, so one can make an instantaneous comparison, and the mono sounds better.  

Turning a stereo mix into a composite mono version is truly a crapshoot, particularly with more recent recordings.  No one masters recordings these days with any consideration of how it will sound when played on a mono set up.  Still, the sound can be surprisingly decent.   

Some of my best jazz LPs are in mono, because the greatest jazz artists were at their peak performing years during the 50s, prior to the big change over to stereo. When I play a really clean mono LP of high recording and pressing quality (using only the mono switch on my preamplifier), I can often becoming completely oblivious to the mono v stereo conundrum.  I agree with Mike Lavigne about the issue with comparing mono to stereo using two different cartridges, one for each mode. So even though I do own a decent mono cartridge, I have never used it.

Larry, I own both the mono and stereo LPs of June Christy, "Something Cool", on Capitol.  Like you say, it is quite evident that these were two entirely different studio sessions.  In some cases she even sings the same song differently.

I am using a mono cartridge (Lyra Atlas Lambda) in my stereo system. My mono albums sound fantastic that way, and I really don’t understand the point to building a dedicated mono system. What does that accomplish that I can’t get with what I have?

I lot of times the mono versions of early stereo recordings are desirable because some of those early stereo mixes are just really strange (like Dylan’s early solo albums with guitar, harmonica, voice mixed L/C/R as if there are three performers).