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Monomania

I want to purchase a mono cartridge as a birthday present for myself, but I have no idea which one. I have both SME 3012 seriesII and Audio Technica ATP 16T tonearms so a mono SPU is a possibility, but they are expensive and scarce. Then there are the cheaper MC's from Denon (DL 102) and Audio Technica (AT-MONO3 LP) available from Japan (Audio Cubes.) And then there are MM's from Grado (either conical or eliptical) and Ortofon (OMD25M). The MM's appear to have several advantages over the MC's: user replacable styli (and 78 styli) and theoretically no problems matching with the phono preamp. If the specs. are correct, it would seem the that MC's have lower output than the MM's but more than stereo MC's--not enough voltage for a tube phono pre (Cornet) but too high to use a transformer step-up? And do they require some loading as well? But of course, as a good asylum member, I am willing to try to jumb through hoops to achieve better sound, if indeed that's what the Denon or the AT offer.

I have a few (presumably) high-fidelity mono pressings, but the majority are small label r'and b' and ethnic recordings (questionable quality to begin with) as well as old r'and b' 45's in questionable condition, so the ability to handle less than prestine vinyl is of great importance to me, and "musicality" is a higher value to me than absolute resolution.

All thoughts, experiences, and suggestions appreciated . . .


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Topic - Monomania - belyin 18:54:12 09/18/06 (4)


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