Turntable choice for mono records

Turntable per se would make no difference, mono vs stereo. You want the best you can afford. Same goes for tonearm. Generally , if you’re buying a TT-TA ensemble, better TTs come with commensurately better TAs. As to the particular cartridge comparisons you ask for, I leave that to someone else.

Personally, I just use the mono switch on my linestage when playing mono LPs.

I took advice here, got a basic Grado Mono Cartridge, elliptical stylus on aluminum cantilever. Definitely better than playing mono lp with stereo cart, even if preamp has mono mode.

Next, I searched for an at33 mono body with broken cantilever. $38. yahoo/aledo. shipping was more, total just under $100.

Gave it to Steve at VAS, had him put boron cantilever with advanced stylus. Terrific, and less wear to your lp grooves.

I wanted to go stereo/mono instantly in a listening session, i.e. Jazz greats, late and early lps.

Decided two tonearms ready to go. One of them with removable headshell to switch my mono and stereo and friend's cartridges.

A related issue is how you select/send either arm's signal to your phono stage, and if PASS to use MM cartridge or MC

I went for JVC Plinth PL-2 for two arms, and ended up adding a 3rd compact arm.

Best stereo on the right long arm, best mono on the left; removable headshell rear arm: height/vta super easy for any cartridge.

Luckily, I went SUT (step up transformer) to MM Phono Stage. SUT has  3 front selectable inputs, 4 various loads for MC. rear out to phono stage so you never change cables. fidelity research frt-4

entre-100 similar features

I suggest one great TT, two arms, two great cartridges, option to change cartridges on one arm

I started this discussion about TT with 2 arms

I have two turntables, both the same, SME model 10. One has my best stereo cartridge, and one my best mono cartridge. Currently, that mean a Benz Micro LP-S on the first (via SME Series V) and an Ortofon Cadenza Mono on the other (via SME Series IV). In a few days a modified Benz Micro Ruby 3 will come back, having been converted to mono. I think, and hope, it will wipe out the Cadenza Mono. We'll see.

I don't think there is any reason to pick a different kind of turntable for the best mono reproduction. The best you can afford will be the best in either case. I appreciate that if you buy a basic mono cartridge to try out you might mount it on a cheaper arm and table, and one day you will ask yourself if you are hearing what it is capable of, given the cheaper table/arm. So, unless you want to buy a second table just as good—the same—as your stereo table, interchangeable headshells are probably the way to go.

Whether a mono cartridge is “better” than a stereo cartridge used in mono mode will depend as much upon the differences between the selected stereo and mono cartridges, on the two different tonearms, and on the accuracy of alignment, as it does upon the choice of which way to produce a mono signal. Thus I think it’s very difficult to say that a mono cartridge is the best way to go. This also assumes cost is no object.