Goofyfoot: Before you pay big bucks for any mono cartridge, you may want to try a real mono cartridge for low(er) cost, such as Audio-Technica's AT33MONO. IOW, dip your toes in the water for a nominal fee.
http://eu.audio-technica.com/en/products/product.asp?catID=6&subID=42&prodID=4072
You can see that it has a horizontal coil, which means no sensitivity to vertical modulations ("real mono"). The connection diagram in the data sheet suggests that there are two identical coils, which IMO is the best choice for a mono cartridge that will be used in the context of a stereo audio system. Part of the data sheet mentions an "elliptical stylus tip), while the specifications section mentions that the stylus is round. Hmmm. The Japanese data sheet specifies a nude spherical stylus, so that is probably what it has. Vertical tracking force is a bit on the high side (2.3~2.7g), but at least it isn't obscene. The datasheet mentions static compliance, which to me suggests that there is vertical compliance.
The 0.35mV output of the AT33Mono may be a challenge if you don't have a phono stage that is comfortable with low-output cartridges, and the price may still be higher than what you would prefer, in which case you could look at the AT-MONO3/LP (not the SP version, which is designed for 78rpm shellac discs).
http://www.lpgear.com/product/ATMONO3LP.html
I haven't been able to find the data sheet, but according to LP Gear, the stylus is conical, output voltage is an easy-to-use 1.2mV (@5cm/sec.). Again there is mention of static compliance, which implies that there is vertical compliance, and the vertical tracking force range is 1.25g~2.5g, which should be no problem to accommodate.
For a decidedly more vintage approach, you could consider Denon's DL-102.
http://www.lpgear.com/product/DENONDL102.html
This clearly has only a single mono coil, and you may run into hum issues if you connect this to a stereo phono stage in the same way that you could do for a stereo cartridge. I suggest connecting this to only one channel of the phono stage.
OTOH, the output is a generous 3mV (@5cm/sec.), which should be enough for nearly any phono stage.
The vertical tracking force range is 2-4g, so it is getting a mite heavy, and AFAIK the DL-102 has no vertical compliance, so you should not play stereo LPs with it. Actually I wouldn't play any of my mono LPs with it either, but I wouldn't mind listening to someone else's irreplaceable mono LPs with it - grin.
hth, jonathan
http://eu.audio-technica.com/en/products/product.asp?catID=6&subID=42&prodID=4072
You can see that it has a horizontal coil, which means no sensitivity to vertical modulations ("real mono"). The connection diagram in the data sheet suggests that there are two identical coils, which IMO is the best choice for a mono cartridge that will be used in the context of a stereo audio system. Part of the data sheet mentions an "elliptical stylus tip), while the specifications section mentions that the stylus is round. Hmmm. The Japanese data sheet specifies a nude spherical stylus, so that is probably what it has. Vertical tracking force is a bit on the high side (2.3~2.7g), but at least it isn't obscene. The datasheet mentions static compliance, which to me suggests that there is vertical compliance.
The 0.35mV output of the AT33Mono may be a challenge if you don't have a phono stage that is comfortable with low-output cartridges, and the price may still be higher than what you would prefer, in which case you could look at the AT-MONO3/LP (not the SP version, which is designed for 78rpm shellac discs).
http://www.lpgear.com/product/ATMONO3LP.html
I haven't been able to find the data sheet, but according to LP Gear, the stylus is conical, output voltage is an easy-to-use 1.2mV (@5cm/sec.). Again there is mention of static compliance, which implies that there is vertical compliance, and the vertical tracking force range is 1.25g~2.5g, which should be no problem to accommodate.
For a decidedly more vintage approach, you could consider Denon's DL-102.
http://www.lpgear.com/product/DENONDL102.html
This clearly has only a single mono coil, and you may run into hum issues if you connect this to a stereo phono stage in the same way that you could do for a stereo cartridge. I suggest connecting this to only one channel of the phono stage.
OTOH, the output is a generous 3mV (@5cm/sec.), which should be enough for nearly any phono stage.
The vertical tracking force range is 2-4g, so it is getting a mite heavy, and AFAIK the DL-102 has no vertical compliance, so you should not play stereo LPs with it. Actually I wouldn't play any of my mono LPs with it either, but I wouldn't mind listening to someone else's irreplaceable mono LPs with it - grin.
hth, jonathan