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Grace F14 MONO cartridges and styli

Dear all, i have to start this thread because i’ve come across first MONO cartride in my system.

The cartridge is extremely rare Grace F14 (MONO) LC-OFC from the mid 80’s.
I’m a huge fan of the Grace stereo cartridges, in stereo world the F14 LC-OFC is superb, this MM generator is the best ever made along with LEVEL II LC-OFC. As you might know the Grace made so many different styli with different cantilevers and different diamonds for F14 and LEVEL II series in the 80’s.

BUT I know nothing about mono cartridges, because i’ve never used any of them.
And i don’t even have enough MONO records, but i got some for sure.

I don’t play 78rpm SP ... and most of my mono records are 45 rpm (7’inchers) from the 60’s, 70’s, maybe a little bit from the 50’s.

My F14 LC-OFC cartridge has ONLY 2 PINS (not 4 pins like stereo versions). The special lead wire designed for use with mono is included, no problem with that.

Looking at the MONO stylus on my F14 MONO cartridge i realized it is not an SP version described here (definitely not a huge 3 mil. tip), but a nude stylus tip, small just like stereo tip on some other Grace styli that i have in collection. So it’s a good news, because i’m not gonna play 78 rpm anyway.

What i realized by trying this cartridge/stylus on my mono records is a lower compliance of the stylus compared to normal Grace (they are high compliance). The stylus replacement designed for F14 (not for older F9), the plastic shape of the F14 is always different compared to F9.

I’ve searched for MONO styli shapes online and i’ve seen many articles about oldschool conical styli of the different size for the mono records from the different eras. Also about the mono cut on stereo cutterhead.

I could find only one more Grace mono cartridge (LEVEL II) with 1 mil. conical tip described here. 

BUT this post on another forum is the most interesting:

"I play a number of vintage monos (primarily stuff from ’58 to the mid 60’s, admittedly no pre ’57 stuff) here with a modern microridge stylus and would never go back to using a conical on them (having done so in the past). They sound incredibly good with the microridge...

Based on my experience, I feel all the talk of conical styli being necessary to get the best out of mono records is urban legend at best, if not patently false."

If this is true i can use any stylus on my Grace MONO cartridge for my records pressed in the 60s/70s in mono ?

I don’t have a mono switch anywhere on my gear, but since the cartridge pins are designed for MONO only, i believe, i’m safe to cancel vertical noise caused by conventional stylus with vertical compliance ?

I can not detect a stylus shape yet, it can be Conical, Elliptical, Shibata (or maybe even Micro Ridge). I’ve heard they are all good for MONO made with stereo cutter head in the 60’, 70’s or even today.

Let me know what you think, it can be my first mono cartridge then.
128x128chakster
chakster's avatar
chakster OP
6,144 posts
 
What i can see in Lyra Etna MONO specs is LineContact stylus: 

"Lyra-designed long-footprint variable-radius line-contact nude diamond (3um x 70um profile, block dimensions 0.08 x 0.12 x 0.5 mm)" 

Here is more about mono cartridges in the article by Art Dudley. Only the cheapest carts have conical tip for mono, most of the high-end mono have at least elliptical or line contact. 

Interesting. All these makes me think that signal generator is more important that the tip ? 

Art Dudley says: " stereo cartridge that's been optimized for mono rather than a mono design from the ground up "  What's the difference? Vertical compliance or something else ? 


solypsa's avatar
solypsa
462 posts
 
These days many are coming around to using modern styli on for later mono records (excluding 78 as you noted). The main advantage for a true mono cart is the lack of output for vertical modulation- which if present is unintended for mono records. That said people with pristine mono collections often use a stereo cart as the selection and quality levels are often greater and vertical modulation noise is not much of an issue...
lewm
12,461 posts
 
I don't recall ever reading that a spherical tip is to be preferred for mono.  Rather, I have often read that the spherical shape is OK for mono, whereas it would be regarded as out-dated for stereo.  Miyajima make some of the best mono cartridges, and I believe without having checked recently that some of their models use spherical tips.

Mono cartridges come in two very different "flavors".  Most modern mono cartridges are stereo cartridges in which the two channels are bridged, internally, to provide mono output into two channels of a stereo system.  In that case, the signal derived by vertical deflection of the stylus is present but cancelled before it goes anywhere. Only a very few modern mono cartrides, like those made by Miyajima and maybe some of the Lyra mono cartridges, are "true" mono, designed so that they cannot read a stereo signal, which is to say they cannot read signal derived from vertical deflection of the stylus.  Your Grace is vintage and evidently is of the latter type.  So, I am curious, do you somehow run the output into both channels of a stereo system, or do you listen to it over just one speaker of your stereo pair?

Last year when I was in Tokyo, I bought a Shelter 501 series II mono cartridge.  It has 4 pins, so is probably a bridged stereo type. I have yet to install it on a tonearm.  I really should do that.  In one of my two systems, the phono stage has a mono switch.  Engaging the switch for mono LPs affords a huge improvement, and I think you will find the same at least with your mono cartridge, on mono LPs.  Using the mono switch on a phono stage is really just like using a bridged stereo cartridge that produces a mono signal into both channels.  I've wondered whether it is even better to use both a mono switch AND a mono cartridge, for mono LPs.
sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
832 posts
 
I’ve been pondering the effectiveness of my Audio-Technica VM-610 mono cartridge. It comes with a comical stylus (ugghhh), but I’ve been contemplating the VM540ML stylus on the mono body, and wondering if that combination will be better for my mono records that are all from the mid-60’s and later. 
chakster's avatar
chakster OP
6,144 posts
 
@lewm

Does that mean that "vertical signal" is cancelled before it goes anywhere, if a cartridge has ONLY 2 PINS ?

4 lead wires from the conventional headshell are "Y" type for use exclussively with just 2 pins on the MONO cartridge.

I use 2 stereo speakers, of course.

No mono switch on my First Watt and Pass Labs amps (or on the phono stages).

I’m not a mono guy, it’s all about curiosity.

My mono records are not LPs, but a vintage 7’ inch singles on 45 rpm. Most of them have Stereo version of the tune on one side and MONO version of the same tune on the flipside. By Playing MONO side with Stereo cartridge i’ve never noticed an improvement and always prefered the STEREO to MONO. But i’ve never owned a MONO cartridge untill now (Grace F14 LC-OFC MONO)

Cartridges you’re calling "TRUE MONO" are all LOMC, but what about true mono MM cartridges ? What’s makes an MM a "true mono" ? Why Grace MONO can not be a "true mono" ? After all are you aware of any MM with no vertical compliance ? This grace model designed for use with 78rpm only (SP) and the stylus must have no vertical compliance then (or not)? My stylus is different, not for SP, and it does vertical movement, but on a low compliance.

I’m aware of Miyajima, but i think it’s for oldschool MONO records made on MONO cutter before mid ’50s or for very old 78 rpm which i don’t use at all.

My MONO records are 99% 45s made on stereo cutter head (i guess) after mid ’50s (mostly in the ’60s and ’70s).



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