I think just about everything you need to know is in this thread, except which carts are true mono. That, and tip size are what make a hugh difference with vintage mono recordings. If you have such records in your collection and play them with a real mono cart, you'll hear the difference immediately. The entire presentation changes for the better.
Strapping the channels on a stereo cart is slightly different than using a mono switch. It might not matter, but you're cutting the cart impedance and inductance in half on most carts. That might depend on the physical orientation of the inductors (coils). A mono switch in a preamp usually comes after the phono EQ circuit.
Maybe having the phono stage channels hooked together halves the input impedance as well?
I checked out the specs of the Ortofon 2M Mono carts. They seem to be strapped 2M stereo carts just like it says in the mono overview. They're designed to play modern reissues methinks, and the SE model's shibata stylus would seem to confirm that.
2M Mono - 350mH, 700 ohm
2M Blue - 700mH, 1.3K ohm
2M Mono SE - 300mH, 600 ohm
2M Black - 630mH, 1.2K ohm
I think the hard part might be figuring out if your reissues are cut with a stereo or mono cutter.
Strapping the channels on a stereo cart is slightly different than using a mono switch. It might not matter, but you're cutting the cart impedance and inductance in half on most carts. That might depend on the physical orientation of the inductors (coils). A mono switch in a preamp usually comes after the phono EQ circuit.
Maybe having the phono stage channels hooked together halves the input impedance as well?
I checked out the specs of the Ortofon 2M Mono carts. They seem to be strapped 2M stereo carts just like it says in the mono overview. They're designed to play modern reissues methinks, and the SE model's shibata stylus would seem to confirm that.
2M Mono - 350mH, 700 ohm
2M Blue - 700mH, 1.3K ohm
2M Mono SE - 300mH, 600 ohm
2M Black - 630mH, 1.2K ohm
I think the hard part might be figuring out if your reissues are cut with a stereo or mono cutter.