How are you playing your precious MONO Vinyl?

There are some mono cartridges that will destroy a stereo record. Which ones I don’t know. Which mono cartridges are not strapped but true mono cartridges; the mono cartridges that house two separate mono coils or a single mono coil cartridge. The stylus is a factor where it pertains to the groove width. Those new remastered mono repressings are cut with the same groove as stereo records. But what I find perplexing about the original post is the idea of using a mono cartridge and a mono phono stage. So would you use two different mono phono stages ( left & right) with a stereo cartridge? That could possibly prove advantages, just like using two separate mono blocks as your power amps. But as was mentioned previously, with a mono cartridge, the signal is equally mono in both channels before it reaches the phono amp. So I would just focus on getting the best phono amp possible. The ASR Basis is my recommendation. 

”what I find perplexing about the original post is the idea of using a mono cartridge and a mono phono stage. So would you use two different mono phono stages ( left & right) with a stereo cartridge? ”

@goofyfoot 

My original post is about a true mono playback. Two arms in the works, one for true mono cart and 2nd one for a stereo cart with dedicated phono’s. 

A true Mono cartridge has only one coil (or two coils wired in parallel) and outputs the same signal from both channels. You can use any normal stereo phono stage and you’ll just get identical signals in both left and right channels.

As far as ‘mono switch” on a preamp or phono stage, I don’t have any direct experience. Can it be further use to collapse any remaining noise artifacts, or completely redundant with a truly mono cartridge, we will see! 

The EQ-100 is designed with a monaural configuration with a L/R output for easier connection to a stereo system. The output signal from EQ-100 remains true mono or monaural. I am hoping to compare EQ100 in my system to see if mono vinyl sounds better with a purpose built phono, 

➡️ True mono cart + EQ 100 

➡️ True mono cart + AD60 (phono board in my Integrated).  

"Some believe that the presence of vertical content that is then summed introduces distortion and phase anomalies that are audible."

Whether or not such distortions are "audible" is a matter for belief or individual acuity, but whether there is distortion and phase anomalies introduced by bridging a stereo cartridge to produce a mono signal or by using the mono switch on a linestage ought to be measurable, in other words a matter of fact, not belief.  Does anyone know of any published science on this subject? Preferably, the results would be compared to those obtained using a "true mono" cartridge on the same program material or a test LP.

@lalitk So then the question is whether or not you gain anything by using this two channel mono phono preamp. I’d say that in this case, everything hinges on the design and sound quality. But from what I’ve read here, more than likely no, there’s no difference between using a mono or stereo phono stage if the cartridge is a mono cartridge. So you have three tonearms but do you have three inputs on your phono amp? The ASR Basis I mentioned has two inputs. If you’re having to switch out your phono cable and you don’t care about the inconvenience, then one phono amp is likely all you’ll need. But as I mentioned before, I’d focus more on getting a great sounding phono preamp and not at all about whether the phono stage is mono or stereo. Unless this EQ 100 just flat out sounds amazing.

I really don’t know why I would ever need a separate mono phono-stage when I already have a great stereo phono-stage. Even if I really want to run a one channel system I can just connect one channel of my phono-stage (which happens to be a dual mono layout internally, at least in part, AFAIK). I guess if one wants to have a separate complete mono system for mono records then a mono one-channel phono-stage makes sense. Even then my phono-stage has two sets of outputs so I could even send a stereo output to a stereo system and a mono output to a mono system.