Home Vinyl Asylum

Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

Mono is what you want it to be -

there are a lot of opinions and a fair amount of snake oil.

Look at your mono records and existing system and consider these questions. You may find that you have everything needed to play your mono records already.

1. Are any of the records cut before the mid-fifties? If yes, then a lot of them will not sound right played with RIAA EQ - you need to get a variable or multi-curve phono amp. Pre 1955 UK EMI, Decca, US Columbia and many more need the proper EQ. This is significant as no amount of adjusting or cartridge swapping will help if the EQ is wrong. If no, then most of your records should be OK with the RIAA in your existing system. I've used graphic equalisers in the past, but the best way to do it is with a proper multi-curve phono amp which really opens up older recordings. There are charts telling you what EQ to use for what record. Many of them do not agree. Some vintage preamps, including the Quad 22, used compromise EQs. Use the charts as a guide only, better still throw them away and use your ears.

2. Are any of the records worn? If no, then you can play them with your current (I assume) 0.7mil stylus. If yes, then I would advise you to get a second cartridge with a conical 0.7mil stylus, as your Koetsu won't like worn mono records any more than worn stereo ones. A 1.0mil stylus may help, if the wear was not caused by a 1.0mil stylus. In that case throw the record out and get a better copy.

3. Does your amp have a mono switch to sum the channels after gain and RIAA? If yes, then you will find any vertical noise, which is usually from the cutting lathe or record wear, is cancelled out. If no, you need a mono cartridge or change your phono amp.

4. If the answer to 3 is no, then you will need an arm with detachable headshells or arm wands, fit a second arm to your TT or get a second TT. Then the choice of cartridge to use is a matter of taste and system matching. I like to use the same cartridges for mono and stereo records, depending on wear and the mood I'm in at the time. I can play the first 10" classical LP Columbia issued in 1948 and a record cut last week with the same stylus.

I keep reading that early mono grooves are larger than stereo ones - does anyone have evidence of this? In the fifties there were advocates for using 0.5 and 0.7mil styli on existing mono records to retrieve more detail and reduce dynamic damage as the 1.0 was thought too large for heavily modulated grooves at the high VTFs then used. The 0.5mil stereo stylus and 0.7mil compromise we use today are needed to trace the 45 degree modulations of the stereo cut, and to prevent ejection when the cut is upwards making the groove shallower at points. There are also advantages in reducing tip mass as well.

If you have worn, irreplaceable (read expensive) mono LPs, then get a phono amp that allows you to select the groove wall with the least wear, obviously with a stereo cartridge. A mono one will play both walls and add unwanted noise.

I also have a single channel mono system, and I only use stereo cartridges as I play stereo records (and CDs and cassettes come to that) on it. Very successfully.

If you have good, clean and correctly EQ'd mono LPs and a mono switch in your amp, your Koetsu will bring them to life.

All this is from 30+ years of playing stereo and mono LPs, I may be wrong.

Good mono is as good as good stereo. Bad mono is as bad as bad stereo. If it sounds right to you - it is right and that is all that matters.

(Edited for syntax only)


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Analog Engineering Associates  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
  • Mono is what you want it to be - - richardz 12/15/0809:58:20 12/15/08 (0)

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.