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Vinyl lovers--in case you haven't tried this yet

One advantage to being home sick with the flu, is that I get to spend time with recent purchases. This week I have finally installed my Lyra Helikon Mono cartridge, cleaned a bunch of old mono recordings and WOW, I am shocked at the warmth, clarity, natural, intimate sound. Perhaps many of you know this already (I bought the cartridge slightly used from a friend, after reading a glowing review by Fremer), but folks this is shockingly good sound. I put on some old Shaded Dogs, mono Archiv recordings of Bach, and frankly, I don't understand this: how can there be a wide, deep soundstage with mono recordings? I'm not missing whatever Stereo does (don't get me wrong, I'm not dumping that side of things), but would someone explain to me how a good mono recording, played with a good mono cartridge, can sound so alive, natural, and present. (As I write this I'm listening to a wonderful Alicia de la Laroccha which I picked up for a buck at Amoeba. ) If you haven't tried this yet, it's worth a listen.
Joe
jsaah
jsaah's avatar
jsaah OP
0 posts
 
Thanks for get well wishes Robm321: my doctor has ordered me to take it easy, drink tea, and listen to beautiful music. I may take my time recovering. And BTW: the mono cartridge makes these mono records sound quite different from the stereo cartridge rendition: more clarity and presence. I'm not an engineering type, but I have read some of the commentary by the Lyra engineer who designed the Helikon Mono and it reads the groove in a different way. Can someone enlighten me in laymen's terms?
Joe
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
Gee, suddenly I don't feel so good...
musicdoc
320 posts
 
stevecham, sounds like you're also coming down with a case of "mono"

there was an edition of the old "listener" magazine devoted to mono in which the helikon mono was reviewed and the design explained. if you'd like a copy and don't mind the wait, contact me.
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,831 posts
 
Read an article about mono in the last six months (either Stereophile or TAS). If remembered correctly, mono is recorded on the bottom of the groove and sort of looks like stairs (going up and down).
Stereo, on the other hand, is recorded on the groove walls (one wall for left, one for right channels).
This is why a stereo stylus doesn't track true mono as it should.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
.
1. I presume you are still listening through two speakers, even though the program is mono. Before stereo came along the very best systems were using two speakers for mono. This avoids the effect of listening through a "hole in the wall" and provides the wide soundstage you mention.

2. The Mono LP signal consists purely of horizontal groove modulation, whereas stereo involves both horizontal and vertical. The horizontal signal quality is greatly superior to the vertical signal quality. (This is why Edison's original vertical modulation scheme was replaced by horizontal). So, when you listen to a mono recording the signal is not corrupted by mixing with the inferior vertical signal.

The aweful quality of the vertical signal (L-R) was very evident when we were developing matrix multichannel systems. In such a system, Center Rear is the L-R (vertical) signal, and you really don't want to listen to it in raw form.
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