Going Mono....

[spinlps]

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Thank you.  I have read about various mono cartridges, but none of the descriptions that I've encountered have articulated precisely how their stylus handles the two very different types of grooves.  If there is more going on than summing the left and right, I would love to read a clear explanation.  

I am an engineer by schooling but some of the white papers seem more like marketing depending on the manufacturer. And I turned my back on engineering immediately after university so it would all go over my head anyway.

Fortunately, I have friends in the HiFi industry that help me with stuff like this. They reached out to their industry contacts when I suggested I might add a dedicated arm & mono cart. The Ortofon feedback was the most helpful. Rather than simply recommend their most expensive cart or even just a rote list of their offerings by price tier, they asked "what type of music do you listen to and how old / new are your records?" They explained that they had dedicated carts for pre-58 LPs, introductory mono carts for newer vinyl collections, and suggested the Cadenza mono might be the best choice for me given the mix of my LP collection --  vintage and modern Jazz, Rock and a bit of Classical. All with the caveat to only use the Cadenza with mono records regardless of vintage.

 

[Stonewall15]

What is impact of playing a stereo CD with amp mono button pushed? 

[hopkins]

44 minutes ago, Stonewall15 said:

What is impact of playing a stereo CD with amp mono button pushed? 

This results in a stereo "downmix", where the two channels are added together (and then divided by two). As a result, you can get cancellations between sound in the left and right channel. 

Nowadays, digital "players" also offer this option. My digital streamer - WiiM Pro - has that option and the results are not always very pleasing. Some software also have the option (I use Foobar2000, which has this option). Your phone may have the option (Android does).

Sometimes listening to a single channel is preferable to listening to a stereo downmix to mono. It all depends on the recording.

Here's an explanation of cancellation:

 

Edited July 3 by hopkins

[romualdo]

21 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Both speakers will function, but you will be sending an identical signal to both speakers.  I have used the Y cable between the turntable cables and phono input on the amp.

I would suggest using this just with LPs and not with CDs, as some mono CDs were mastered with stereo tape heads, and as a result, there can be azimuth issues when these are played back in mono.

cheers

Edited July 4 by romualdo

[Teasing the Korean]

On 7/3/2024 at 10:19 AM, spinlps said:

I am an engineer by schooling but some of the white papers seem more like marketing depending on the manufacturer. And I turned my back on engineering immediately after university so it would all go over my head anyway.

Fortunately, I have friends in the HiFi industry that help me with stuff like this. They reached out to their industry contacts when I suggested I might add a dedicated arm & mono cart. The Ortofon feedback was the most helpful. Rather than simply recommend their most expensive cart or even just a rote list of their offerings by price tier, they asked "what type of music do you listen to and how old / new are your records?" They explained that they had dedicated carts for pre-58 LPs, introductory mono carts for newer vinyl collections, and suggested the Cadenza mono might be the best choice for me given the mix of my LP collection --  vintage and modern Jazz, Rock and a bit of Classical. All with the caveat to only use the Cadenza with mono records regardless of vintage.

Thanks, and good to know.  My skepticism stems from the fact that I have long been intrigued by these mono cartridges, but I haven't received satisfactory explanations as to the stylus details.  Maybe I'll reach out to Ortofon and see what they say. 

6 hours ago, romualdo said:

cheers

👍

[Teasing the Korean]

So a couple of weeks ago, I spoke to a rep for a company that makes mono carts.

He indicated that they make two types:  

• One with an old-school mono stylus, designed specifically for LPs pressed in the pre-stereo era (pre-1958)
• Another with a contemporary stereo-compatible stylus wired for mono, for mono LPs dating from the mono/stereo compatible era.

He made a very good case for the first type of cartridge, the one with the stylus designed for older mono LPs, in particular the way the stylus moves relative to the way the grooves are cut.

However, when I tried to get clarity on precisely what was different with the mono/stereo-compatible cartridge, he couldn't really articulate how it differed from using a standard stereo cart with the mono button engaged.  

So, until I can hear an A/B comparison, I remain very skeptical about the latter type of cartridge.  However, for those who have older, pre-1958 mono LP pressings, the first type of cart may be worth considering.