[Blackmore]

Here it is on the Michell. 



Decided I was getting too old to wait much longer on trying out a real mono cart for my mono recordings.  Osage Audio had an Ortofon sale so....this is a SPU Mono CG 25 mk II that was recommended by Jerome in our vinyl circle.  I went with Jim Pendleton and his buddy, Jeff, to Record Exchange and Euclid today to find some more mono records.  Damn, I do believe that Record Exchange is even more over stocked than ever.  Most of the classical is impossible to browse due to the records stacked on top of the bins and the jazz section is rapidly becoming overcrowded.  To be honest, I don't remember much about Euclid because we ate lunch at Sweetie Pies and I was in a "calorie coma".  Think I bought some records there too??? 

Mono selections were:
Paul Paray conducts Debussy with Detroit on Mercury
Vladimir Golschmann conducting our own SLSO Debussy and Ravel  Columbia Masterworks
Pergolesi "La Serva Padrona" on RCA Victor
Reiner and Chicago playing "Lieutenant Kije" on Rca Victor
The Ventures "a go-go"
Ella Fitzgerald singe the Gershwin song book

Finished up the afternoon at Kent's house listening to the Maggies and the Sonys.  Very nice sound but the "coma" came back during the Gary Karr Albinoni cd.  Nice sounds Kent, wish we would have been better company. 

Anyhoo, I'll be spinning mono only for a few days to see how it sounds and I'll report back. 

[Bob in St. Louis]

The easiest way to listen to mono would be to turn the balance knob all the way to one side. No special equipment required.... Duh. 

Anyway....since you're bent on doing things the hard way, congrats on the new cart Mark.   

So, how's that Osage guy doing now-a-days, anyway? 

[Blackmore]

Osage guy is doing great and has been busy selling old fashioned cartridges to guys like me.  His new dog is keeping him on his toes and he still insists that you're a great guy?   

He does mention that you need to send some smoked meats his way the next time you post pictures of a backyard BBQ. 

Balance control?  What kind of audiophile do you take me for?  My hillbilly method would be to accidentally kick out the speaker wires for one side and wonder why the tubes are glowing so bright on that side.

[Scott F.]

WooHoo! Mono! 


We don't need two stinking channels!

[Blackmore]

Another benefit is a bigger sweet spot with my Innersounds.    My Ortofon arm has a heavyweight ring to add to the regular weight and it made balancing the SPU really easy.   Maybe I'll stack all my Advents (quad stack) and give up on stereo completely.   

[jsaliga]

The easiest way to listen to mono would be to turn the balance knob all the way to one side. No special equipment required.... Duh. 

While I took your post as tongue-in-cheek...that might be the easy way but I wouldn't recommend it if you have a large collection of mono records and want the best possible sound from them. 

A stereo cartridge has horizontal and vertical compliance.  A true mono cartridge like the SPU CG25 MKII only has horizontal compliance.  It also uses a spherical stylus with a 25µm radius, which is designed for mono records cut from a mono U groove cutting lathe.  I find that it tracks better, and for the most part the lack of vertical compliance helps to minimize pops from less than perfect LPs.

I have more than 1,000 mono records pressed between 1948 and 1960, so investing in a mono cartridge was a no brainer.  For someone with a just a few mono albums, it probably isn't worth it.

--Jerome

[Scott F.]

Maybe I'll stack all my Advents (quad stack) and give up on stereo completely.   

Want to borrow an HH Scott? It has a mono switch and goes great with stacked Advents 

[Blackmore]

Yes, yes I do!

[Bob in St. Louis]

While I took your post as tongue-in-cheek...

You took it correctly. 
Plus, Mark and these fellas know that 99% of what I say is in the name of humor and is a total waste of bandwidth.
Seldom am I knowledgeable enough to teach anybody around here anything. 

Bob

[Blackmore]

Never a waste of bandwidth but you sure got the humor part of it down.    One of these days fill up the tank twice and head northwest to hear some mono and stereo vinyl.  I just got a re-tipped Sumiko Blackbird back from the shop and it's sounding pretty good too. It's been an embarrassment of vinyl riches in B-more household.  And besides, it's too hot to do anything outside.