How are you playing your precious MONO Vinyl?

@lewm Yes, I’ve read it a few times. I wish Miyajima and EMT would offer more of a selection when it comes to styli because I have a fairly sizable collection of mono from all decades with exception to shellac. And shellac is another topic altogether.

“I am still perplexed why these two mono groove sizes are not mentioned more often whenever the topic comes up.”

@goofyfoot 

You may have missed my earlier post where I mentioned that my mono collection is after 1960’s era. Mono records pressed after the early 1960’s especially from around 1967 onward typically came with stereo-compatible microgrooves, the same groove dimensions as stereo LP’s. 

For our information purposes, let me lay it out for you and others.

Post-1960s Mono Groove Size:

• Groove width: ~0.7 mil (microns radius of curvature at the groove bottom)
• Intended stylus size: 0.7 mil conical (standard for stereo styli)

Pre-1960s Mono Groove Size (True Mono Era):

• Groove width: ~1.0 mil
• Intended stylus size: 1.0 mil conical or larger
• These wider grooves were cut for mono cartridges and not meant for stereo styli.

Now let’s look at Implications for Mono playback, 

• Post-1960s mono LPs can safely be played with a stereo stylus (0.7 mil), and many were cut with stereo cutters, just in mono.
• Pre-1960s mono LPs benefit from a 1.0 mil stylus, which fits the groove more accurately and avoids:
  • Mistracking
  • Groove damage
  • Excessive noise from riding the groove bottom

Buying OEM, I would pick the Ortofon 2M Mono SE (special edition Shibata).

Price; MM Technology (no SUT or MC Phono Stage needed); User Replaceable Stylus; Advanced narrow profile long contact stylus shape.

The only consideration is a stiffer/lighter cantilever material than the Tapered Aluminum, i.e. Ruby or Sapphire (colorless ruby); Boron ; Beryllium; Diamond (stiffer/reduced mass; lighter/stiffer tubes preferred over solid rods).

this is the text and 6 minute video about the Ortofon 2M MONO SE

https://ortofon.com/pages/2m-mono-se

"Leif Johannsen, Ortofon’s Chief Officer of Acoustics and Research, reveals the story behind the MONO cartridges and features the 2M MONO SE, the one MONO cartridge to play all the old and new mono records in existence, including the latest “The Beatles: The 22 Singles Collection”, released November 22, 2019."

this states ALL, which includes early/any width groove.

In the video, he mentions

1948 beginning of mono microgroove

1958 beginning of stereo microgroove

1968 stereo adopted as preferred to mono

So I conclude, prior to 1948 is not considered

he calls the SE version a "Line Contact Shibata"

So, I can conclude I could play any LP from 1948 to today with any variation of Shibata, without concern for groove damage (because they are all Line Contacts, all with minor ’patentable’ differences). (I have read that the S.A.S. claims the largest amount of contact surface).

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       ??????????    anyone disagree___________  ??????

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this person clearly disagrees, in which case it seems Ortofon is WRONG

"As long as you don't use a Shibata stylus on vintage mono recordings and old 45's that were designed to be played with a conical stylus.

In that event, you will likely damage your vintage records with the Shibata stylus."

this is about 45 rpm Mono

https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?t=126179#p1147684

@lalitk It says online that the first Microgroove pressing was made by Columbia in 1948. I'm certain that Blue Note released many Microgroove pressings in the 1950's. I have mono records from that era that do not say Microgroove on them and just by comparing them visually, I can see that the grooves are different between the two. The early mono pressings that aren't Microgroove, look like the grooves on the shellac 33&1/3. That period between shellac 78's and vinyl. So again, are Microgroove records the same as stereo, are they the same as early mono that aren't Microgroove (they don't look like it) or do they have a groove all of its own? I realize that Miyajima and other cartridge makers aren't recognizing a difference between original mono and Microgroove mono but they do exist.