Am I totally nuts or just a bit off?

Mono is every bit as capable of producing high end sound as stereo or multi-channel sources. By removing L/R soundstage info more attention can be focused on tone, rhythm and dynamics.

Don,to me stereo is artificially wide on must music while mono is more realisticly deep. Does live music have a center channel?

Stereo allows you to fully utilize the fact that you have two ears on opposite sides of your head. They take in slightly different information. In that difference lies the beauty of stereo, when properly mixed.

Walk around for a day with an eyepatch on and see how you like that.

Many people prefer mono because the sound is more natural without the phase problems you get with stereo.

You're probably not completely nuts, but then you are into vinyl so that's a big step toward the brink. :)

What you're listening to probably was not recorded using the standard RIAA equalization, but most likely a different EQ. That makes for a different tonal balance, sometimes pretty laid back, sometimes it's a knife in the ears.

I think the mono original Mercury 1812 used a different EQ, before the RIAA standard EQ was developed. Definitely a different tonal balance.