A new player in the quality Mono cartridge game


For awhile there, if you wanted a mono cart to get the most out your new mono Beatles collection, other mono reissues, or vintage mono LPs, there were the budget offerings from Grado, a big price gap, and then the more expensive good stuff. The elliptical mono Grado goes for around $150.

But now the Audio Technica AT MONO3/LP, a HOMC, is available in the US. The link goes to the official importer, LpGear, who prices this $299.99 cart at $189.99. However, I also found that this cart is available from Amazon for $112.65. Worried that the unofficial import puts your purchase at risk? For a mere $12 extra you can buy a 2-year protection warranty.

I ordered mine via Amazon Prime on Sat. Oct. 24 and it arrived today.

This thing is NICE! 1.2mV output, which is plenty, conical stylus (don't know if it's nude or not, but it *sounds* nude), tracking force range 1.5-2.5g. I'm breaking mine in at around 2g.

Even fresh out of the box, this cart's a revelation. I started with "Within You Without You" from the new Beatles Mono vinyl reissue. It's really something when you play a mono record with a cartridge that produces no signal in the vertical plane. The noise floor drops down to the indiscernible. In fact, even cueing the needle makes very little sound thru the speakers.

Everything on Sgt. Pepper's sounded richer, lusher, more distinct, more dynamic, with great treble extension and no hint of sibilance. I followed it with Analogue Productions' 3-LP 45 rpm remaster of Nat King Cole's "After Midnight." Fan-TASTIC! I thought Nat was in the room before, but the dynamics, transparency, and truth-in-timbre reached a height I hadn't heard on my rig up to now.

I finished my mini-audition with a *real* mono record, an original mono Columbia Masterworks pressing of "Grand Canyon Suite" performed by Eugene Ormandy and The Phily Phil. Again, smoother, quieter, more dynamics. It showed its age a little bit, but I think I could bring this 55-yr-old record close to the reissues with a steam cleaning. Even without it it was very satisfying.

Folks, if you have nothing but the new Beatles mono reissues and have an easy way to switch cartridges or set up a mono rig, this cart is so worth it.

Right now I have around 13 Beatles mono LPs, two Beach Boys reissues, the Nat King Cole, some old Columbia Masterworks and shaded dog Orthophonics, mono reissues of Prestige and Miles Davis LPs, and some mono pressings of '60s pop.

I'm thinking of separating all my mono vinyl into its own shelf so--when I mount the AT Mono3 LP--I don't have to sort through my entire collection to play the compatible LPs.

BTW, if you decide to go after this cartridge, make sure you get the AT MONO3/LP cartridge, which is for mono LPS, and *NOT* the AT MONO3/SP cartridge, which is for 78s.
johnnyb53
Yes Sir...I totally agree...I've had mine for a while now and keeps getting better, it has to be one of best hi end values out there!!! You'll be surprised how well it sounds on stereo recordings as well. This cart has had me on a mono treasure hunt for months...a true diamond in my opinion.
Enjoy the MUSIC my friend...:-)!
I wish I had the ability to have two tonearms on the table. With all of the mono jazz recordings I have, I'd love to have that new AT mono cartridge. Having had a few years of experience with playing mono records on the AT-OC9 MKIII and now the ART-9, both of which are great sounding on mono recordings, I can only imagine what AT can do with a mono only cartridge. I'm really beginning to like that company.
10-29-15: Oregonpapa
I wish I had the ability to have two tonearms on the table. With all of the
mono jazz recordings I have, I'd love to have that new AT mono cartridge.
Do you have room for a second turntable? For the
price of a tonearm, you could get a Pioneer PLX-1000, which is like a
Technics SL1200 with the improvements it always needed--better feet,
internally damped tonearm, more torque, and constrained layer damping
where the plinth meets the base. They go for $697 and have a removeable
headshell.

I totally agree with you about Audio Technica cartridges. My stereo cart is
the AT150MLX. It's a fantastic value with excellent resolution, tonal balance,
detail, and dynamics, especially considering you can get it for $325 and the
MicroLine stylus is replaceable. This AT MONO3/LP HOMC is also schweet,
lowering the noise floor and brnging a nice musicality to all my mono records
I like it much better than the Denon DL-160 HOMC I still have. I wish Audio
Technica made a stereo version (i.e., high output) of this cartridge as well. At
$112.65 it's ridiculously good.