Lack of vinyl bass and midrange

I also wonder about the suspension of the Monster cartridge after all these years. That would probably be my first guess at what your problem is.

Oz

I second Ozzy62. Cartridges will dry out. I'll bet that even a $40 ortofon will sound amazingly better. Your table should be able to "sing" compared to most cd's.

Ditto the suspension. You could try dribbling a drop of Stylast in the inner workings of the cartridge to loosen the suspension, it's worked for me before with no problems. Or try a drop of other rubber revitalizer which others have used successfully. This is if the cartridge is toast and destined for the rubbish heap anyway, if you want to keep it in the long haul then safest would be to send the cartridge somewhere for rebuilding.

Thanks for the responses. I'll try the Stylast. Where would I get it rebuilt?

I think the Stylast will work, dribble only a very small drop into the inner workings, let it sit for a few minutes, then re-mount it and let it play a few records. Both Van den hul and Benz offer rebuilding services, as does Len the Cartridge Man (of Music Maker fame), I believe Benz is the most reasonably priced of these. Lowest price of all with good reports is Expert Stylus Co. in England, but apparently hard to reach, check out Vinyl Engine for info on all of the above.