mono cartridge vs stereo

Oh, and two other things. I'm assuming that with the Y adaptor approach, you're not just taking one channel and splitting it into two. That you are in fact blending the two channels and then distributing the blended signal to two RCA's.

I should also add that I have an outboard phono preamp. I assume that I should place the double Y adaptor device between my phono preamp and my linestage preamp?

There is no VS if you have many mono records you get a mono cartridge as well.

EBM - what you are saying is absolutist and contrary to what others have written. It seems you can use the Y adaptor approach, but you lose some fidelity. How much, I don't know. But most people don't have the capacity for two tonearms or the ability to quickly swap cartridges.

Do what you like i don't really care!!!

Peter, The way I see it, you would have to use two Y-adapters back to back, as you suggest, to use a stereo preamp to play a mono LP in mono with a stereo cartridge. Such a set-up would put you in about the same place as a "mono" switch on your preamplifier, except you would have the signal-robbing effects of all those connectors in the unamplified phono signal path. That set-up is akin to using a mono cartridge that in reality is a stereo cartridge with the two channels combined to give mono output. This option was discussed at the top of this thread, but I have never encountered any one who tried it. As for me, I learned a lot from Syntax's two long posts. It is his opinion that a true mono cartridge is superior to either of the options I mention here. I cannot argue that, because I have no mono cartridge, but I intend to buy one. I may even buy a Lyra Delos Mono, since Syntax praised it highly. For me, I can only say that flipping the mono switch on my preamp, when playing a mono LP with a stereo cartridge is a very big improvement over listening in stereo to the same LP.