Listening in mono

mrearl ...

• "Today I spun a couple of clean 1950’s 45s, and Jesus Take Me Now."

Amen, Brother!

My friend Robert came over tonight with an old mono blues recording of Big Bill Broonzy. Talk about soulful music and a soulful man in the listening room ... and I’m not talking about Robert. *lol*

The last audio show we attended, there was an exhibitor, who is also a true music lover. He had a turntable set up with two tonearms, one with a high-end stereo cartridge, and the other with a high-end mono cartridge.

There was one gentleman in the crowd who produced a bag of UK pressed 45s of the Beatles that he picks up on his business trips to the UK. This room always attracts folks who bring their own vinyl to play ... true music lovers, not just audiophiles. Those Beatle 45s had everyone enthralled. They were simply amazing. Wish you could have heard it. Mono at its very best.

Also, I have a friend who posts here that owns over 40,000 78s. Maybe he'll chime in here with some information. 

Frank

I just deployed an old, old cheap belt-drive turntable with a new old stock Audio Technica cartridge that would have been lunch money for some of the guys here.  Just yesterday.

Today I spun a couple of clean 1950's 45s, and Jesus Take Me Now.

And oh by the way, have you ever heard an original 78 of Heartbreak Hotel on a nice tube system?  It'll be the best audio experience you ever had.

So many of the stereo mixes don't really present a accurate sound stage .My favorites music is most often live venue recording with clear delineation of placement.  I think a mono recording might sound similar.  Anyway thanks for the  help. 

On a highly resolving system, mono recordings can be outstanding. I love mono records and have a lot of them, mostly jazz recorded prior to 1957.  

There are a couple of things that improve the mono sound. 1. A mono switch on either your line stage or your phono stage. 2. A cartridge that is "mono friendly." The Audio-Technica OC-9 MK-III is a stereo cartridge that plays mono recordings exceptionally well. 

My friend Robert made an observation during one recent listening session. He said that with stereo recordings, "you are there," and with mono recordings ... "they are here." I concur. 

If done right, excellent mono recordings will have you saying ... "who needs stereo?"

Frank

No need for a dedicated mono cartridge! However, a stereo cartridge can in theory still react to any vertical modulation in the mono grooves and add some noise to the playback. I myself have not experienced this, so it may be a moot point!

Setup exactly the same as for stereo good mono will float an image in between the speakers that is surprisingly captivating. Not a point, more of a sphere.

As far as preference goes, I think it has more to do with the music than the fact its mono. Some records were originally done mono. So there's a "getting it right" historical aspect to it. There's also mono cartridges, which if you get into it enough to be willing to buy a cartridge just to hear mono better, more power to you.

The cartridge though, that's about it as far as setup goes.