Why mono?

Agree with Mikelavigne. The Miyajima Mono BE-low plays wonderful in a heavy arm like the FR-66s - The Beatles Monos, never heard them like this before.

I've done some research through the mono vs. stereo threads and I'm still confused on one issue: If you play a mono record through a stereo cartridge, what is the effect of using/not using the mono switch on the preamp? What happens in either scenario in terms of signal processing? Thanks.

Acsusreus,

In my system I really didn't notice much (any) difference using the mono switch on my BAT line stage or a K&K phono stage.

I just installed a Lyra Helikon mono on a spare armwand for a Graham 2.2 The sound is really present compared to mono recordings on my stereo cart (Benz LP) with the preamp switched to mono.
I have been thinking about why. The best I can come up with is that there are phase errors in the mechanical process of pick-up from the groove, and that these are eliminated - or greatly reduced - by the geometry of the mono coil vs. the stereo coil(s) in the cart. Less degrees of freedom, less error.

Hello everybody! I'm curious as to your speaker systems? Are you using a single speaker for true mono playback? Or are you listening to your stereo system as two channel mono? I have been listening to two channel mono and have found it to be questionable. When I sit in the stereo sweet spot I hear a bump in the lower mids. And when I sit elsewhere I hear odd phase issues that I attribute to timing errors. And the low freq is cancelled. Thoughts?