How are you playing your precious MONO Vinyl?


I am about to invest in MONO Vinyl playback setup.

The goal -  pure, undiluted music straight down the center. 

The plan - dedicated 2nd tonearm + mono cartridge + phono

After 6 long months of waiting, my Woodsong plinth with dual arm boards schedule to arrive next month. 

I came across a product that peaked my interest. The Monaural Phono Amplifier - Aurorasound EQ-100. No reviews, so I am wondering if anyone tried it yet? 

⬆️ Is EQ-100 or something similar, absolute necessary from a purist perspective or should I take the pragmatic path and use the ‘Mono’ switch on my Integrated with a built in phono?

There are ofcourse pros and cons to both approaches so I am seeking advice from folks who have  compared  both options or adopted another alternative in their vinyl setup. 

Thank you for your time! 

lalitk

I use an AT33MONO cartridge that I had retipped with a boron cantilever and a micro ridge stylus by Joseph Long. This cost more than the cartridge, but it was well worth the investment - this cartridge is a giant killer. I only connect the right channel cartridge leads and I use only the right channel of my amplifier (Decware Torii.) I also use only the right speaker, placed in the middle of my system. This replicates the mono experience of the pre-1960 era. 

“Microgroove” was likely a patented trade name, which is probably why you don’t see that exact word on all mono LPs dating from 1948 or later. Perhaps not all labels were licensed to use that term. 

@lewm You’re correct but the statement behind the trade name is that it fits more music per side than the ordinary record.

@mambacfa Interesting, do you have Joseph Long’s contact? 

My point is that the absence of a Microgroove label on a post-1948 LP does not necessarily mean the LP doesn’t use the 0.7mil groove width.