The Tone Poet series is now 152 titles (as of Jan 2, 2026). All the mono reissues in the series are from mono masters. There is not a single Tone Poet release that is mono from a stereo fold down. What that means is that every Tone Poet reissue of Blue Notes recorded after Oct. 1958 – when RvG stopped recording on a mono tape machine – are mastered and reissued in stereo. Every single one.
Compared Tone Poet to Mosaic
This might interest some people. The new copy of Hank, by Hank Mobley Sextet on Tone Poet just arrived last week. The sextet: Donald Byrd, trumpet; John Jenkins, alto; Hank Mobley, tenor; Bobby Timmons, piano; Wilbur Ware, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums. Originally released in 1957, new release dated 2026, but received 12/2025. Anyway this is a terrific hard bop record in the best Blue Note tradition. Originally recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, remastered by Kevin Gray and Produced by Joe Harley. I thought it might be fun to compare the vinyl Tone Poet with the Mosaic release of 2022, which is on CD.
For vinyl playback: VPI HW-40 w/SoundSmith Hyperion set up using AnalogMagic, Conrad Johnson ART Phono.
For digital playback: Luxman D-10X
Amp, line stage, speakers, wires etc. were the same for both.
Well some interesting differences and similarities. First the Mosaic set used the mono master, whereas the Tone Poet set used the stereo master. With that said the two masters were made simultaneously so there were no differences in performance. The overall tonality of two were exactly the same. That surprised me. Overall I found that I liked the mono recording better. I was amazed that there was no real difference between the analog and the digital versions that I could discern. They were equally great and I would be happy to own either. The difference I heard was more to do with what the recording engineer did and it is clear that Rudy V.G. was more adept or more comfortable with mono and lavished more attention on it to get it right. I also think that Kevin Gray must have done everything possible to capture the sound of the original mono master. The two recordings are remarkably transparent. Later recordings in the Mosaic set are in stereo and if there is interest and if I have a duplicate in vinyl of another record, let me know and I will endeavor to do a follow up.
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No, it doesn’t contradict that at all.
I assure you, and I know this. Hank reissued for the Tone Poet series is not mastered from a stereo fold-down. Joe and Kevin used the original mono master. If they wanted to use the stereo master the Tone Poet would have been a stereo release, and that isn’t the case here. |
The confusion is my fault. I apologize. I heard difference coming out of left and right speakers, that was caused by me using a stereo cartridge. My bad. With a mono cartridge the sound between the Tone Poet and the Mosaic CD completely vanishes though, which I still find astonishing. I want to thank @dwette for straightening me out on this. |
Thank you Bill. We've all been done that road, or a similar one before. I've bought records I thought were stereo – and not explicitly stated as mono – and played them with my stereo cartridge, only to wonder if it was stereo with a very narrow field of soundstage. Then trying it with my mono cartridge set me straight (with a post-it note attached to the inner sleeve thereafter). The worst is when AP, Craft, etc reissue early stereo jazz albums, but use the mono jacket and label artwork for it. Talk about confusing. Enjoy "Hank." It's a nice release. |
This is a good lesson for those who still think playing Mono LPs with a Stereo Cartridge, even with a MONO switch somewhere, is as good as a true mono cartridge. That was me until I tried the advice here, and found a true mono cartridge, can be a bit, some, a lot, a whole lot better Some Mono LPs, I purposely listen from only 1 speaker which takes away the habit of my brain’s seeking imaging. blessed be my McIntosh Mode Switch I started with this basic Grado Mono and found it was better than using any of my Stereo Cartridges, as I say, the reduced noise and distinction of individual instruments improves, sometimes dramatically. https://gradolabs.com/products/grado-prestige-mono-phono-cartridge-model-me Jim brought part of his collection of Beatles, 6 LPs: 3 Albums, both Stereo and Mono LPs, we had a good time listening to the differences. Several friends who heard the differences here subsequently bought Mono Cartridges, I now use one I had VAS build me, an AT33PTG/II MC Mono Body I bought broken, rebuilt with a Line Contact stylus on Boron, always ready to go in seconds on my 3rd arm. I have a lot of Mono, mostly Jazz, some purchased, most inherited. The recording skills were very good in the late 40’s, early 50’s, but as now, the results captured varied. here’s a broken Mono Cartridge that VAS could do something with, and you end up with something otherwise unobtainable
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