Why mono?

Zaikesman,

Sorry I missed your earlier question.

I have played mono albums as follows:

a. Stereo cartridges with stereo setting on phono & line preamp

b. Stereo cartridges through summed mono setting on phono & line preamp

c. Mono cartridge

I strongly prefer the sound of (c) with the vast majority of mono recordings.

OK, now we're getting somewhere guys: Mike and Jazdoc both categorically stated (paraphrasing here) that to their ears in their systems, a mono cart really does play a mono record better than a stereo cart with the channels summed. I'd still like to know the mechanism behind this finding (and of course it's always possible that they just prefer the sound of those carts, irrespective of the fact that they happen to be mono carts), but at least now I know there's some subjective basis for looking into the subject more, rather than wondering if all the hype could merely be the result of audiophiles whose preamps simply lack mono buttons. (And yes, I find, like Mike does, that engaging the Mono button with a stereo cart playing a mono record usually doesn't change the sound all that much, save for a slight reduction in noise and a slight tightening of the central image -- not surprising. But if a mono cart somehow proves to be much better than this, I certainly will be surprised, pleasantly so.)

Hi Pryso: Actually my own linestage (a Levinson 380S) and my current phonostage (a PSA GCPH) both feature remote-controllable mono and polarity functions, which I think is wonderful. More should.

But what I was referring to above was the Left or Right Channel to Left + Right Channels switch that Jrtrent mentions, which you only find on some older (usually full-function) preamps or receivers. That's a feature we probably won't be seeing again, but I'd still like to see some audiophile phonostages incorporate it. (Also I can't understand why more don't offer a defeatable rumble filter. Other than the polarity switch, which many DACs have, these functions are exclusively for vinyl replay and should be located in phonostages since most linestages omit them.)

Hey Jazzdoc,

Have you tried putting the coils of a stereo cartridge in series to sum for mono?

dave

Much of the benefit form a true mono cartridge or a mono wired stereo cartridge comes from the idea that only lateral movement of the stylus generates sound. A true stereo cartridge generates information in both the lateral and vertical direction and since mono recordings have no musical information in the vertical plane any vertical movement shows up as noise.

In theory the various ways of summing the signal outside the cartridge should also cancel any information in the vertical plane but in reality these all come with their own sets of compromises and never seem to sound as good (quiet?) as a cartridge set up for mono.

The easiest experiment to do to see if a dedicated mono cartridge is for you is to wire a stereo cartridge in series and use a single channel of your phono to see how things sound.

dave

Hi Dave: Are you talking about something that can be accomplished in between the cartridge pins and the headshell pins using headshell wires? (No way would I attempt to rewire anything inside a cartridge itself.) Please elaborate, and maybe comment on why this would be any different than using a preamp mono switch?