I just wanted to share my initial experience with using a mono cartridge
I have a lot of old records including original Decca DG and mercury mono records
I always found them noisy and so so
Two in particular though I was intrigued what they would sound like with a mono cartridge
Songs of the Auvergne with Davrath and La filled de Gardee which I was told the mono version blew away the stereos
I have both in both versions
By chance I got a very basic AT 3 mono off a colleague for 90 dollars
I thought this a very minimal investment to explore Mono, if I didn't like it well no harm done to the wallet
This cartridge is one of the 4 pin monos
Thus you connect to your stereo tonearm
However I soon discovered that didn't make life perfect
As I got big hum with the big bakoon phono
After hours of alternate grounding solutions i turned to the all knowing google and discovered these twin grounded mono cartridges can have an issue with grounding to the tonearm or phono stage due to differential grounds between the two pins
MY phono and pre don't have a mono sum mode which might have allowed me to just connect one channel, as with one channel playing there was no hum at all
By chance I suddenly remembered my SONY PSX9 has an inbuilt head amp as it was designed for Japanese broadcast studios with an excellent step up
I added an extra interconnect run to line out rather than phono out on the PSX9
Viola! No hum.......total silence I mean nothing nada
The sound was, astonishing
Big, bold vibrant, macro dynamics and micro dynamics
And very very quiet
I put on a modern mono Jazz with Stan Getz and was staggered at the drama and bass and macro
Timbrally it was spot on also which surprised me for such a cheap cartridge
This thing was a joy
I then tried Dvorak 8th mono
More of the same
The Song of the Auvergne
The voice so expressive staggering
Finally the La fille de Gardee
I have a wide band Decca SXL of this in stereo and this is pretty dynamic
But the mono is just several notches more
Ok so I passed for a breath....
If the PSX9 was this good, maybe another phono which didn't hum might be even better
I had pulled out my esoteric e03 to put in my second system
Why not try that
Back in it went, and I hooked up yet another set of cables
To my slight disappointment there was a small amount of hum
This might have been due to the close proximity of the phono to the PSX9
I haven't had a chance to optimise position yet
I thought this as the hum seemed to oscillate in volume
However it was nothing like as bad as the two box bakoon, and not noticeable when music was playing
What did this bring
Well greater resolution and depth of the images and space between images
A little more microdynamics and timbral rightness
But I have to admit the HA55 all FET phono in the PSX9 was damned musical, and as quiet as the grave
It was hard not to just enjoy anything that was played through it
I ended up throwing every mono I could lay my hands on at this thing
I was pulling records from everywhere in my music library which has nearly 7000 records
I know others have talked about monos
I have to say everything they ever said was correct
Even if your dubious about it
Try a cheap mono cart to begin
Just beware of grounding issues
If you have a mono switch this won't be a problem as you just connect one set of leads and short the other
If you don't there might be problems
I haven't tried on my other three turntables as I just replace the head shells with the PSX9 and the others don't have that facility other than the linear tracker which I have optimised for the Madrigal and don't won't to undo that
Interested in others suggestions on a killer mono cartridge
Please not the AT03 mono has vertical compliance which means you can use for stereo records, and useful if its pretty worn out
As the AT03 .... well I a bit surprised, my experience of cheap moving coils has not been favourable, but this thing has been a surprise packet, maybe just a happy symmetry, next I want to try the denon 102 which was the Japanese radio favourite and I think a true mono coil with only two pins,
I have been told the AT 33 stereo is a real sleeper.....hmmmm
I have a lot of old records including original Decca DG and mercury mono records
I always found them noisy and so so
Two in particular though I was intrigued what they would sound like with a mono cartridge
Songs of the Auvergne with Davrath and La filled de Gardee which I was told the mono version blew away the stereos
I have both in both versions
By chance I got a very basic AT 3 mono off a colleague for 90 dollars
I thought this a very minimal investment to explore Mono, if I didn't like it well no harm done to the wallet
This cartridge is one of the 4 pin monos
Thus you connect to your stereo tonearm
However I soon discovered that didn't make life perfect
As I got big hum with the big bakoon phono
After hours of alternate grounding solutions i turned to the all knowing google and discovered these twin grounded mono cartridges can have an issue with grounding to the tonearm or phono stage due to differential grounds between the two pins
MY phono and pre don't have a mono sum mode which might have allowed me to just connect one channel, as with one channel playing there was no hum at all
By chance I suddenly remembered my SONY PSX9 has an inbuilt head amp as it was designed for Japanese broadcast studios with an excellent step up
I added an extra interconnect run to line out rather than phono out on the PSX9
Viola! No hum.......total silence I mean nothing nada
The sound was, astonishing
Big, bold vibrant, macro dynamics and micro dynamics
And very very quiet
I put on a modern mono Jazz with Stan Getz and was staggered at the drama and bass and macro
Timbrally it was spot on also which surprised me for such a cheap cartridge
This thing was a joy
I then tried Dvorak 8th mono
More of the same
The Song of the Auvergne
The voice so expressive staggering
Finally the La fille de Gardee
I have a wide band Decca SXL of this in stereo and this is pretty dynamic
But the mono is just several notches more
Ok so I passed for a breath....
If the PSX9 was this good, maybe another phono which didn't hum might be even better
I had pulled out my esoteric e03 to put in my second system
Why not try that
Back in it went, and I hooked up yet another set of cables
To my slight disappointment there was a small amount of hum
This might have been due to the close proximity of the phono to the PSX9
I haven't had a chance to optimise position yet
I thought this as the hum seemed to oscillate in volume
However it was nothing like as bad as the two box bakoon, and not noticeable when music was playing
What did this bring
Well greater resolution and depth of the images and space between images
A little more microdynamics and timbral rightness
But I have to admit the HA55 all FET phono in the PSX9 was damned musical, and as quiet as the grave
It was hard not to just enjoy anything that was played through it
I ended up throwing every mono I could lay my hands on at this thing
I was pulling records from everywhere in my music library which has nearly 7000 records
I know others have talked about monos
I have to say everything they ever said was correct
Even if your dubious about it
Try a cheap mono cart to begin
Just beware of grounding issues
If you have a mono switch this won't be a problem as you just connect one set of leads and short the other
If you don't there might be problems
I haven't tried on my other three turntables as I just replace the head shells with the PSX9 and the others don't have that facility other than the linear tracker which I have optimised for the Madrigal and don't won't to undo that
Interested in others suggestions on a killer mono cartridge
Please not the AT03 mono has vertical compliance which means you can use for stereo records, and useful if its pretty worn out
As the AT03 .... well I a bit surprised, my experience of cheap moving coils has not been favourable, but this thing has been a surprise packet, maybe just a happy symmetry, next I want to try the denon 102 which was the Japanese radio favourite and I think a true mono coil with only two pins,
I have been told the AT 33 stereo is a real sleeper.....hmmmm