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Mono Cartridge Question

You chaps have watched me struggle with the issue of my London Decca Reference being irreplaceable, and then joyfully learning that John Wright has a successor after all. You have seen me buy and test three other MI designs (Nagaoka MP-500, Grado Statement3, Soundsmith Sussurro MkII) along with my older MC cartridges (Ortofon Kontrapunkt C and Benz Micro Ruby 3). Since those struggles have led me to owning two SME turntables and four tonearms, I am now torturing myself with the question of whether one of those four should be home to a dedicated mono cartridge. Remember, I only have one ear and cannot hear stereo at the best of times. A mono cartridge for my few dozen mono recordings would be a matter of reduced surface noise and possibly some improvement in dynamics.

I can get hold of an Ortofon Cadenza Mono (two voice coils so not true mono) for about 1600CDN, and a Miyajima Zero for 3450CDN. So the question is this: am I mad to even think about it? Money is not what it once was before I retired. There is no opportunity to go and hear these before purchase, without spending much more than purchase price on travel.

Shall I "make do" with my rather good stereo carts for my mono LPs or is there something better waiting for me when I get out those Parlophone Beatles LPs?

 

dogberry
dogberry OP
570 posts
 

Given my love of Decca cartridges, and a little knowledge of the way their coils are arranged around the armature, it seems to me it would be relatively simple to re-wire one so that only the coil responsible for lateral movement gets fed into both channels. I may have to ask about a mono conversion of my spare Jubilee.

Later: I just sent an enquiry to the new owner of the London Decca name, and CC’d it to John Wright as he is continuing to provide technical and training support.

lewm
12,523 posts
 

I am sure one can convert a Jubilee to mono, if its internal works are like those of the London.

audiomark1234
17 posts
 

My 1 mil Zero is so much better than the mono switch with stereo cartridges costing 3-5 times the Zero. I have two arms and can switch back and forth while the same record is playing. No comparison! Granted these are with mono albums from the 50-60's where the 1 mil diamond is correct. I cannot comment on new/newer mono albums.

 

dogberry OP
570 posts
 

No reply from the new owners of the London Decca name and business. Also enquired of Steve Leung (doesn't think it can be done) and Peter Ledermann (no reply yet).

pryso
1,909 posts
 

Similar to what Mike was recommending, one issue seldom mentioned is stylus tip size.  That may come down to the mono records you intend to play.  Are they original monos from the '50s and early '60s, or reissues produced within the past 20 years?

Early monos were cut with a larger tip, 0.7 to 1.0 mil for LPs.  Nearly all mono reissues were made with stereo cutter heads with smaller size. I don't believe few if any mono cutter heads survive.  

I assume from this mono reissues may be OK with current stereo cartridges, although a mono switch (per Lew) may still help sonics.  But with original mono releases a mono cartridge with appropriate tip size should optimize the enjoyment.

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