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Can you give me mono?


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Not mononucleosis, urrghhhh, but mono cartridge advice.

 

What's a good mono cart recommendation?

 

BACKGROUND:

I have never ever bought a mono cart

I have never ever heard a mono cart

Not even exactly sure why a stereo cart isn't good enough for mono...!

I don't have that many mono records

I do have a spare arm (SME 3012R)

I like the Denon103R stereo sound

Budget must be sub NZ$500, which is probably about 2 Australian dollars... :)

Edited by Citroen
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Not mononucleosis, urrghhhh, but mono cartridge advice.

What's a good mono cart recommendation?

BACKGROUND:

I have never ever bought a mono cart

I have never ever heard a mono cart

Not even exactly sure why a stereo cart isn't good enough for mono...!

I don't have that many mono records

I do have a spare arm (SME 3012R)

I like the Denon103R stereo sound

Budget must be sub NZ$500, which is probably about 2 Australian dollars... :)

I can't help you with the cart but have you looked at the audnzd exchange rate recently? NZD 500 is pretty darn close to AUD 500 !

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Guest Misterioso

If you can slightly stretch your price range, you could try to listen to the new Ortofon Quintet mono cartridge (RRP $625). I am also curious how much I am missing (if anything) by using a stereo cartridge for my mono records (which are all modern reissues). 

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You could try the Denon DL-102 since you like the Denon sound.  

You will have to piggy back the cartridge leads since it has only 2 pins.

Your SME should handle it fine.

Plenty of later mono recordings sound quite good with a stereo cartridge.

I first bought a mono cartridge after acquiring some desirable older recordings in mono that sounded rather ordinary (to put it mildly) when played with a stereo cartridge.

There are a number of different approaches to mono cartridges, some use trick wiring of a stereo generator and some have a "true mono" generator.

Of those having a "true mono" generator, some have vertical compliance and some do not.

Those having no vertical compliance will damage a stereo recording played with them.

Another affordable option is the AT-Mono3/LP, this does have vertical compliance and was the first mono cartridge I tried, it turned the unlistenable records into rather nice music and even improved those that sounded quite good with a stereo cartridge.

It also has a "true mono" generator (as does the Denon).

A larger stylus tip radius is offered on some cartridges to cater for 78s, this is not what you want for normal "microgroove" mono LP records.

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You could try the Denon DL-102 since you like the Denon sound.  

You will have to piggy back the cartridge leads since it has only 2 pins.

Your SME should handle it fine.

Plenty of later mono recordings sound quite good with a stereo cartridge.

I first bought a mono cartridge after acquiring some desirable older recordings in mono that sounded rather ordinary (to put it mildly) when played with a stereo cartridge.

There are a number of different approaches to mono cartridges, some use trick wiring of a stereo generator and some have a "true mono" generator.

Of those having a "true mono" generator, some have vertical compliance and some do not.

Those having no vertical compliance will damage a stereo recording played with them.

Another affordable option is the AT-Mono3/LP, this does have vertical compliance and was the first mono cartridge I tried, it turned the unlistenable records into rather nice music and even improved those that sounded quite good with a stereo cartridge.

It also has a "true mono" generator (as does the Denon).

A larger stylus tip radius is offered on some cartridges to cater for 78s, this is not what you want for normal "microgroove" mono LP record

 

a stereo cart will pick up damage/dirt on the floor of a mono groove as noise, because of the vertical compliance and coils to read it. If a cart moves/reads lateral only it will ignore the crud in the bottom of the groove and just read the music which is only encoded laterally. So in a lot of cases a true mono cart will play a mono record with less noise than a stereo cart

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Thanks for the pointers, and explanations.

 

I now know roughly what I need and the Denon 102 looks to be the front runner.

 

Any ideas on the best place to buy one?

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Thanks Ophool.

 

Just spotted this

http://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/home-audio/turntables/auction-733363963.htm

 

I know, its above my budget but anyone have any opinions on this?

 

So a different stylus profile is needed for my mono 78's it seems. No wonder they sound like sh!te with the stereo cart on the 401! :)

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That is a great mono cartridge and a very good price for it.

Be aware though that it has NO vertical compliance and cannot be used for stereo records without causing damage.

The grooves in 78s are wider, your stereo cartridge will be hitting the bottom of the grooves and trying to play all the rubbish accumulated there.

Edited by ophool
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Ophool, O(GodOfWisdom),

 

I definitely DO NOT want one of those then, as I know that I will one day accidently play a stereo record with it!!!!!

 

SO, to confirm, if I am dumb, the Denon 102 will not damage my stereo Lps if I play them by accident?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Now spinning Beatles A Hard Day's Night, which followed Elgar Cello Concerto (Du Pre, Barbirolli, LSO) in glorious mono!

 

Surprisingly took a couple of extremely frustrating hours trying to setup the Demon mono cart.

Broke a couple of headshell leads, swore quite a bit.

 

Original SME headshell wasn't quite large enough to fit the cart, which I only realised after breaking the leads. So tried a DV headshell, but that one put the cart too high, so that the cartridge (which has a lowish profile) wouldn't clear the record surface without the tonearm scraping the record. Headshell number three (an AT) only just fits the cart.

 

Next the dreaded hum problem resulted. Several lead changes and earth rewiring/adding moves later and FINALLY all OK. Well, more than OK in fact :)

 

Thanks for all your help.

 

post-138459-0-04195700-1402361881_thumb.

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