Looking for a good vintage receiver or integrated amp with a mono switch and...

Vintage (perhaps new ones) McIntosh preamps have MODE switches, they are terrific, offering MONO, STEREO, and several other modes that are very helpful when balancing your system. I have owned these 2:

SS, C28, in your budget

https://www.ebay.com/itm/McIntosh-C-28-STEREO-PREAMP-Works-Great/324331791574?hash=item4b83ae64d6:g:...

TUBES: mx110z over your budget, but modes are shown bottom right

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133528823768
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Let me say this about MONO LP, which I learned here this year.

C28, I used the MONO mode for many years, playing mono lps with my stereo cartridge, thinking, how lucky I am to have this feature. I was playing ’dual mono’ into my pair of speakers, normally located for stereo. You are talking about real mono into one speaker.

Next I learned here, a real Mono cartridge is better.

mx110z: I got a mono cartridge, and compared either mono cartridge or stereo cartridge in mono mode. results vary relative to the recordings: mono cartridge better, much better, or a whole lotta better.

https://www.ortofon.com/hifi/cartridges-ranges/true-mono/

So, whatever erroneous info the stereo cartridge created/let thru was duplicated by the preamp in both channels, both speakers.

sooo, think about a mono cartridge, think about the future now.

I'll try playing a CD via Mono Mode later, see if I learn anything helpful.

elliotbnewcobjr

Thank you for your equipment suggestion...

But you have raised a question I don't know the answer to:
I'm assuming that by looking for a piece of equipment with a Mono switch, I'm thinking that I can take 2 channels (L&R) and channel them into a one channel signal, making it easier to go mono with one speaker. So I'm not sure how to do that when I'd have 2 active (yet the same) channels...

Thank you for your thought provoking input...

...just realized what I’d do: use one channel (RH) to woofer and one channel (LH) to mid and high...

? Would this then give me 2X power in watts/channel as mono (doubling the power of single channel in a weird bi-wire situation)?

You have a single speaker.

I'm thinking buy a complete budget boom box type thing.  Get a budget LP player with 16/33/45/78 with a built in Phono stage. I'd try something like that before I'd go piece mealing a system together for under a thousand, WITH vinyl..  I think I could, but that would be real tough.. and an OK Mono system, too.

Your making a simple task hard.. think about that single speaker for a while... WHY?? Because you have it...  My question is do you want good music? or do you want to use that speaker? They may not be the same thing..

Happy hunting in any case..

Regards