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Mono Cartridge Recommendations

I am looking for a true mono cartridge, as I am adding a second tonearm (Musical Life Conductor SE 10") to my Technics SP10ii table. My phono preamp is an Einstein Turntables Choice - so I am looking for a MC cartridge.  Considerations include:

  • whether the cartridge was truly designed for mono (cantilever only moves laterally, typically uses just a single coil) 
  • compliance (many mono cartridges have low compliance, which can chew up grooves of modern mono records (although I'll mostly be listening to older records)
  • stylus shape/size - I could use some guidance here....
My price range is $1-2k.  Currently under consideration is the VAS Nova Mono (has two coils in balanced configuration, output ~ 0.8 mv), and the Miyajima Labs series (all have compliance around 8, which is kind of low).  Can people who have experience in this area provide some recommendations with supporting information (why).  Thanks very much, Peter
peter_s

Showing 3 responses by bdp24

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,408 posts
 

@lewm, Yeah, those 1970’s Deccas were so shoddily constructed that people did all kinds of things to optimize their sound, including the risky internal adjustments you made. The current Londons are much better built.

The Decca/London cartridge design is unlike any other, even the few that share with it having no cantilever. It has a single lateral sensing coil, and two vertical ones (out-of-phase with each other). The electrical relationship between the lateral and vertical coils is what produces the cartridges’ stereo signal. In the mono version of the Decca/London, there is but a single lateral coil, so the cartridge is incapable of producing a stereo signal; it is a true monaural design. I’m gettin’ me one!

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,408 posts
 
The original Decca cartridge was mono (L + R), and when stereo came in the cartridge was modified to create the "difference" (L - R) stereo signal. The cartridge (now marketed as London) used the same cantilever-less design in both stereo and mono cartridges, the armature holding the stylus having very different lateral and vertical compliances. London offers a true mono cartridge, producing only the L + R signal, but it is a high-output (5mV!) moving iron design, not an mc. Extremely dynamic, immediate, and visceral sound!
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,408 posts
 
"cantilever moves only laterally". The cantilever in a mono cartridge is just as free to move vertically as is one in a stereo cartridge (how could it not be?), it's just that that movement produces no electrical signal. At least, that is my understanding.
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