Vinyl lovers--in case you haven't tried this yet

I still haven't seen an explanation for why a "mono cartridge" would be better than simply mono-ing the signal from a stereo cartridge when playing mono disks. Electrically there would seem to be a difference only if a stereo cartridge were enough out of alignment coil-wise to result in incorrect cancellations. The only other parameter I can think of is that possibly the suspension could be tuned a little differently assuming there's no need to track a vertical modulation component, but I'm not sure what such a difference might really be, or if any such differences actually exist in these carts.

I read that Stereophile article, by Art Dudley if I'm remembering right, and I couldn't see where this supposed preference for a mono cart was technically addressed at all, much less explained -- it was just assumed. Is it merely as simple as a case of audiophiles owning modern preamps that lack mono switches? And would rather spend for another cart than insert a pair of Y-cables to mono the stereo signal?

My preamp has a mono switch (I wouldn't own one that didn't) and my carts are stereo, and I own plenty of old mono vinyl and usually choose whether to listen with the mono switch engaged based on whether there's a bothersome degree of surface noise that can reduced in mono. Otherwise, with clean mono disks, there's usually little to choose from between listening in "stereo" or switching to mono, and sometimes what difference does exist is in favor of leaving it set to stereo so there's no slight cancellation that results in a reduction of "air". Where it does favor engaging the mono switch with clean mono disks, the difference is generally only a tiny increase in center image coherency/solidity, nothing to get very excited about, certainly nothing to make me want to spend for another cart in lieu of flipping a switch.

When playing a mono CD, for instance, there is really no difference to be heard between whether the preamp is set to mono or stereo. So I am having a hard time imagining why it would be any kind of revelation to acquire a mono cartridge. Is the real revelation for these guys mostly in acquiring the mono vinyl itself, and the cart companies are just cashing in on that unecessarily? Or am I missing something important here?

Drubin and Eldartford: Yes, your point about stylus profile could be reasonable, but again none of us seems to know if it's actually the case in these products, just as with the suspension question, or Eldee's suspicion (shared by me until I'm told otherwise) that they may simply be no different than the corresponding stereo carts mechanically, just with two fewer output pins. Drubin gets my point about mono CD's -- that mono reproduction of CD's is essentially perfect *from that standpoint* (meaning the "mono-ness" of the reproduction), yet I don't recall any audiophiles jumping up and down and yelling about what a revelation experiencing *that* kind of mono was in relation to playing mono LP's with a benighted stereo cartridge.

Eldee: As I said, I usually find the *audible* consequences of choosing either position for the mono switch when playing good-condition mono LP's to not greatly favor one or the other, but assuming there is no cancellation from misalignment with either the cartridge coils or the way a disk was cut, then it seems reasonable that some of the compartively greater sense of "air" heard when playing a mono LP witout engaging the mono switch would be the result of spurious noise. I'm willing to run your proposed experiment as a learning tool, if you'd be kind enough to spell out for me the connection method you have in mind. (I have available normally-configured speaker cables, and a pair of conventional tube monoblock amps or one conventional solid-state stereo amp, none of which are themselves bridged designs or fitted with a bridging switch. I guess using the stereo SS amp would be easier, and that I don't risk harming it?)

Fran: WPPAPI yerself dude :-) Been a while, nice to see you again! But as I said, with most of my mono CD's I hear virtually no difference engaging the mono switch (I imagine I'd hear more of one if I used a tube preamp and/or player).

Inpep: Yes, agree about the phase aspect as well. But, doesn't *somebody* claim mono playback of mono LP's is superior to stereo playback of mono LP's, despite the same principles applying? If not, who's buying mono versions of stereo cartridges, marketed/sold at an additional $$ premium to boot? (Another characteristic of these devices that makes me question their legitimacy until somebody informs me differently -- in this case, specifically as to why an otherwise-identical product, only needing fewer connections and connectors, and perhaps a simpler stylus profile or a slightly adjusted suspension [if that much], should fetch a few-hundred dollar upcharge over the more complex stereo version. But then again, the prices of high-end cartridges in general bear very little relation to the reality of what goes into their design and manufacture to begin with.)

Eldee: Every once in a while, with certain early-to-mid 60's pop disks, I'll actually *like* the peculiarly distorted sound of the fake stereo versions, probably because in many instances that's the sound I grew up with...But I normally try to own a mono version as well, and the majority of the time with material of this vintage I'll prefer the mono to the true stereo version, with its even fakier-sounding hard left/right "dual-mono" panning.