Which Mono Cartridge at around $1,300.00?

I have a Benz LP-S MC stereo cartridge on a Graham Phantom Supreme. My second tonearm is a Schick 12" tonearm with a Miyajima Premium Mono BE cartridge (special low output version). I run it it through Bob's Devices Cinemag 1131. Use both old 1950s mono albums as well as new reissued mono vinyl. I love the Miyajima. Big, bold, meaty sound, with extension and transparency (not dark sounding at all). I love both my cartridges...both excel. The LP-S is incredible, especially for capturing everything and put it out there in a 3d organic manner. But, the Miyajima, while not as spacious as the Benz, excels in drive and sheer heft of musical impact. I'm glad I have both. If looking for mono, the Miyajima Premium Mono BE coupled with Cinemag 1131 is the bomb. And Robin Wyatt the distributor is A+++++++ in my book -- I speak from experience. He has gone above and beyond to make sure I'm taken care of both on cartridge and SUT. He is white glove treatment all the way. Order direct from him and you won't be disappointed.

I agree some of my mono albums sound better than their stereo counterparts even when playing both with a stereo cartridge. That outcome surprised me. Reason alone to pick up some mono vinyl even one doesn't have a mono cartridge (eg my mono version of Ben Webster soulville kills the stereo version).

Robin Wyatt can be reached at 1 (855)-robayatt and the website that shows product he carries is robattauido.com. He has a step up transformer specially built for the Miyajima that's awesome and less expensive than cinemag 1131. I needed the ground lift feature of the cinemag or would have been just fine with robin's SUT. U can always run the Miyajima straight into phono preamp without an SUT just like any cartridge. I find the SUT brings more dramatic impact out of the mono vinyl. A fun reason to have 2 cartridges.

no difference between mono and stereo on whether to use a step transformer or not. Either you need the extra gain or not. If you have an MC input with enough gain then you don't "need" an SUT. The benefit of using an SUT is related to running low output cartridges into your MM inputs versus MC inputs that oftentimes aren't as well constructed/thought out/matched as an SUT into the MM inputs.