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MONOmaniacal advice requested vinyl question

as my collection of mono LPs increases, i wonder what would best assist in my enjoyment of them. should i aspire to a true mono cartridge, or will a high-end stereo cartridge really suffice provided there is a mono switch in the system (allaerts mc1b)? not a whole lot of funds available at present. can't find my old copy of "listener" that reviewed the helikon mono and explained things in greater detail. does a mono switch just sum the channels or does it remove the portion of the electrical signal that does not contain music? what other mono cartridges aside from the helikon do you all out there use? as you can see, i'm not very technically knowledgable, so all input is welcome. all i know is, i love these mono LPs! thanks, -john
musicdoc
plato
1,543 posts
 
John, I know that Grado makes some nice mono cartridges too. You might want to check into that. I just bought their 78C mono cartridge exclusively for playing 78 rpm records, and I'm very pleased with its performance and low cost. I believe they have models for playing micro-groove mono LPs, as well.

If you want to track the groove as intended, you need a true mono cartridge and probably a separate turntable system dedicated to that purpose. If you're just going to sum the stereo channels electronically, then you only need one tt setup and a preamp with a mono switch; but that's not quite the same thing, is it?

Best regards,
Frank :)
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,949 posts
 
John, Musical Surroundings can order many of the Benz line of cartridges in true mono configuration.

They are built to order and are true mono. A friend of mine had a H2 built and it was spectacular, even on old 45 RPM rock records from the 1950’s.
ballywho
134 posts
 
Here you go - now that's MONOlithic!

http://shopping.netledger.com/s.nl/c.ACCT106601/sc.2/category.377/it.A/id.355/.f

Have a good one,
Mark
aceto
273 posts
 
With not a lot of funds, the Helikon is probably out of reach. If you could do it Plato's way it would be nice. But I could afford another setup for only for my 78s, where the cartrige is critical. So I am happy just buying more mono LPs until my ship comes in with a new table set up and I retro my current to a Helikon.
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