Mono vs. Stereo

Lots to keep in mind.

Multi-track recordings happened before stereo, so some multitrack recordings were made for mono, but when stereo came out they attempted to take advantage of the new medium, often with poor results.

Next, mono should be listened to from a central speaker. Your head interferes with the signals in a variety of ways, depending on the location of the source.  See "head related transfer function" for more.

But basically a true mono recording will reach your ears differently when played back from a stereo setup than from a single speaker dead in front.

Enjoy!

Erik

I've done comparison on my Beatles collection Please, Please Me and With the Beatles Lp's definitely sound much better in mono while the White Album and Abbey Road are superior in stereo. With early rock Lp's you get a nice full punchier feeling with the mono mix as recording techniques improved stereo sounded much better.

The difference between stereo and mono? With stereo, you are there. With mono, they are here.

Frank

another aspect of mono vinyl playback is the groove size. early wide groove mono’s are optimized with a 1.0 mil stylus, later (after the mid 60’s) cut with a stereo cutter head are optimal with a 0.7 mil stylus.

it makes a significant difference in playback performance. 60’s mono pressings need to be played on both to determine which is optimal.

therefore i have 2 mono vinyl rigs. the one with my 0.7 mil stylus uses the Miyajima Infinity mono 0.7 mil on a Durand Kairos arm, mounted on an EMT 948. the other is the Miyajima Infinity mono 1.0 mounted on a 12" Durand Telos wood armwand on a Wave Kinetics NVS tt.

new reissue monos sound fabulous on the 0.7 mil. early 50’s monos are to die for on the 1.0 mil.

all the good things mentioned above are going on with these pressings. i have some great stereo cartridges and gear, but these mono cartridges take the music to another level, even with tip top stereo cartridges and arms directly comparing them. and proper mono vinyl listening has this magical direct sort of sound that is addicting.

frank said

The difference between stereo and mono? With stereo, you are there. With mono, they are here.

Yes, and with properly reproduced Mono, they are each distinctly here.
..............

As for a single speaker, as Eric mentioned (which is unrealistic for me and I presume many others) I will add:

From your normal centered listening position, if both speakers are fed the identical signal, PRECISE BALANCE, to properly create a solid phantom center image is very important.

Mono LP, both speakers on, I often move to a different listening position so that my mind does not seek imaging, and do not hear any slight off center wandering that may occur. 

My McIntosh Preamp Mode Switch has L+R to L only ... or L+R to R only. I'm gonna try that next time I have a great Mono LP on, probably later today.