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Mono Cartridge Stylus

So a while back there was a thread about mono cartridges like the Miyajima. There was some confusion about stylus size and what should be used for mono re-pressings versus the original mono pressings.

So Miyajima claims that their 0.7 stylus is optimal for modern mono re-pressings and that their 1.0 stylus is for those earlier mono pressings that began in 1950. Columbia introduced the Microgroove pressing in 1948. The Microgroove pressing offers 300-400 grooves per inch and AI claims that the correct stylus for these pressings is 0.7. I will say that I don't believe Miyajima to be entirely wrong, as there were labels that still used wider grooves however, I believe nearly all of the major labels eventually adopted the Microgroove band width thus making it the norm by the early to mid 1950's.

goofyfoot

Showing 3 responses by lewm

lewm
13,773 posts
 

I have all 3 of those “Play Bach” LPs. They were great fun but I haven’t had a listen in decades. I should pull one out for a spin.

lewm
13,773 posts
 

Shoulda mentioned Chick Corea re Bach.  I would love to hear those two playing together or to have Bach hear Chick. Anyway, we were blessed to have Chick in our audiophile lifetimes. As to the plethora of mono cartridges available these days, I don't know whether that is due to any resurgence in the popularity of mono recordings or to successful marketing of the idea that one must have a mono cartridge in order to enjoy those mono recordings. The Lyra Helikon Mono was once highly touted, but I notice no one here has mentioned it.

lewm
13,773 posts
 

Bach's work is in my mind the forerunner of modern jazz piano music (Brubeck, Peterson, Powell, Monk, Walton, Evans, etc).  Which is to say that any cartridge that does well with Bach ought also to sound good with piano jazz LPs. Don'tcha think?

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