Am I totally nuts or just a bit off?

I remember walking into the Record Collector on South Highland in Hollywood years ago (i think this was the 'old' store) and seeing these behemoth speakers (old Electovoice, if memory serves, about the size and 3/4's the height of a Sub-Zero refrigerator); one in the front room, and one in the side room. I commented to the owner that his stereo image must suck; his reply: 'stereo is a gimmick.'
Since then, I have collected at least 500 or more vintage mono records. Some sound spectacular. The Starker Kol Nidre on Mercury Living Presence is one. The cello just stands out from the mix in a way that the stereo version doesn't.
I am seriously contemplating a second arm with a mono cartridge to serve up these records.
The (relatively) new reissue of the Julie London record is mono and pretty remarkable sounding. Ditto, if memory serves, that old warhorse of the first Nina Simone record that has stayed in print all these years. (on the Bethlehem label).

I wonder if anyone out there has what could be considered a true mono high end system? Mono source, 1 amp 1 speaker, etc? Stereo gear should not be needed if the source is mono, right?

Also I wonder if there are any digital front ends that do a good job of taking a digital stereo source and producing one or two channels of mono output effectively?

WHART !
Give the details on where to get the Julie London reissue, got to have that !

A stereo record has almost twice the amount of information packed into the groove as compared to a mono recording. Something must have been lost to gain the L+R information. Tracking has to be easier for a mono recording. It's kinda of like a high quality B&W photo; the rich textures, the sharpness and detail are so good that it is hard to imagine it in color, or if there is a color version it seems to take away from the picture. I heard some old mono recordings once on a buddy's Quad ESLs with Quicksilver amps. I could imagine a top notch mono system consisting of a Quad ESL with a mono tube amp and using one side of a dual mono type preamp. The Quad ESL being a good choice in my mind because it is a single point source- and it is fast.