SH Spotlight If you have a turntable you need to play your mono records in true MONO. How to do it cheaply..

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, May 14, 2006.

  1. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    No they don't. It's stereo female -> mono male -> mono female -> stereo male.
     
  2. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    That's not what is advertised.
     
  3. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    That's what is shown, both on Amazon and in @dbsea's photo.
     
  4. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Nope. Read the second item's description. Female stereo to male stereo RCAs.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 12, 2017
  5. Sorry, sounds the right price. When i checked the pages you highlighted the price came up as over 400 us. I guessed it was an error
     
  6. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Second item:
    • Convert the signal from dual RCA jacks (stereo) to a single RCA jack (mono)
    • Connector 1: (1) RCA Mono Audio Female
    • Connector 2: (1) RCA Stereo Audio Male
    Which is exactly what is pictured.
     
  7. Wally Swift

    Wally Swift Yo-Yoing where I will...

    Location:
    Brooklyn New York
    This is how it's done. When I digitize mono records the summing occurs in the cable that runs from the receiver's tape out into the computer.
     
  8. richierichie

    richierichie My glass is always full.

    I`m unsure of the stage of the discusion, 45 pages, too much for me to read. I have a Linn Axis turntable so I contacted Linn (A company in Scotland specialising in top end Hi-Fi product) regarding playback of Mono LPs below is Linn`s reply. Me? I play them (mono LPs) with a stereo cartridge, tried the `Y` cable, too much hassle for no discernible difference in sound to my ears. Cheers Richie;


    Dear Richie


    Thank you for your e-mail.


    I have spoken to an engineer and he advises that if you are looking for the ultimate reproduction of mono recordings, a dedicated mono cartridge would be required. A dedicated mono cartridge should reduce the noise level, as you are eliminating any differences picked up from the L & R channels. Using a stereo cartridge is a compromise, however, most people choose this option as the alternative is either swapping cartridges or running a second turntable (we design and listen to all our cartridges with stereo records). The engineer believes that very early records were actually cut with a different shaped groove for mono, it was a U rather than V profile, however, nearly all LP records in the last 30 years are cut with a V for mono anyway, so it might also depend on the collection.


    Although Linn do not manufacture a “Y” cable, this may be something that a retailer can custom make for your requirements, but given the above, a “Y” lead may not necessarily change the playback performance of a mono LP.


    Best regards


    Richard

    Customer Support

    Linn Products Limited
     
  9. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    That's NOT the description in the ad. Oy vay.
     
  10. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
  11. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
  12. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    That's the product name, which is incorrect. Never mind the fact that there's no such thing as a stereo RCA connector.

    @dbsea's photo, the photo on Amazon, and the description on Amazon all correctly show/indicate a single RCA female going to two RCA males.
     
  13. Alan G

    Alan G More A Lurker Than A Poster

    Location:
    OH
    I am hoping that someone here that has more than my limited knowledge can help me out...

    I have a Rogue Pharoah integrated amp that sadly lacks a mono button. I am using a Dynavector 20X2L cartridge and a Dynavector P75 MKII phono amp. The cartridge is connected correctly with all of the color coding matched up.
    About a year ago I purchased one of the mono boxes from our fellow member but I could never get it to work right. All I got was some buzzing and no sound from the turntable. My money was cheerfully refunded and I chalked it up to something that was not to be.

    With my recent purchase of the mono Stones box my curiosity was again piqued. I purchased the exact cables pictured up thread and hoped for the best since this time I was going to route it through the processor loop. When I connected the y cables I gave a quick test with a stereo cd to see if it was collapsing into mono. No problems there. Of course, when I tried it with a record I got the same results as before...no music just some buzzing. I have run the y cables directly from the turntable into the Pharoah phono input and it seemed to work ok but I greatly prefer the Dynavector phono stage to the Rogue.

    So what am I doing wrong here? I am using the Enhance Mode on the P75 but that did not pose a problem with my previous preamp that had a mono button. It was mentioned up thread that Rogue can add a mono button to one of their models. Maybe that would be worth looking into. Thanks for any input anyone can provide as this has got me stumped!!!

    Alan
     
  14. xmas111

    xmas111 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Plymouth MA
    Alan,

    I know you said your cartridge is wired correctly with the color coding but if it's not to hard to do try reversing one channel and see what happens.... just a thought.

    John
     
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  15. Alan G

    Alan G More A Lurker Than A Poster

    Location:
    OH
    I think I tried this once before but I can give it another shot. Which colors should I swap?
     
  16. xmas111

    xmas111 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Plymouth MA
    Try reversing the Red and Green. That should be the right channel.
     
  17. Alan G

    Alan G More A Lurker Than A Poster

    Location:
    OH
    Well, I swapped the red and green leads and I still got no music with a buzz using the y cables. Playing a stereo record it was obviously out of phase.

    Maybe my system is haunted. I can't imagine why this is so easy for everyone else and so difficult for me!! Anyone else have any suggestions? Does anyone else use y cables with the Dynavector P75/20X2L combo?

    Alan
     
  18. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    You're getting no sound through the processor loop with records, but you get sound through the processor loop with CDs?
     
  19. Alan G

    Alan G More A Lurker Than A Poster

    Location:
    OH
    Correct.
     
  20. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    :confused:
     
  21. Alan G

    Alan G More A Lurker Than A Poster

    Location:
    OH
    Yep, I just double checked. When using the cables through the processor loop I can get a wide stereo cd to collapse into mono. Putting on a record with the processor loop in all I get is some hum/buzzing and not a bit of music. Maybe it has something to do with the phono enhancing circuit. Tomorrow I will unhook the P75 and configure it for a standard low output moving coil cartridge.

    This sure has me confused and frustrated!!
     
  22. john morris

    john morris Everybody's Favorite Quadron

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    For example: Your have decided to make your 'mono loop' using tape loop 1 on your intergrated Amplifier. You take a Y adapter (sums stereo to mono) and plug it into the tape 1 out jack (or 'record out' as it is sometimes referred to). Then you take the splitter and plug it into the RCA female jack of your Y adapter. Now your mono signal is split into 2 channels. You connect this into your Tape 1 input (or playback as it referred to on some amps). You have now created your 'mono loop switch'. Simple. If you are listening to a mono record or a mono recording on vinyl "electronically enhanced for stereo" and you want to hear it in actual mono you press/turn your monitor switch to 'tape 1.' This will activate the super cool 'mono loop' you designed. Want to go back to stereo - turn off the 'tape 1' on your monitor switch. The mono loop only gets activated when you switch to 'tape 1'

    This is a great way to hook up an equalizer as well without it permanently compromising the sound of your audiophile setup. You hook up the EQ to say 'tape loop 2' (if you have two tape loops) but without all the summing/splitting. This way the EQ will only be running through your system when you want it to be. For example: your listening to a badly mastered CD with the mid-bass killed and the midrange/top end boosted. Switch to, 'tape 2' and start equalizing. Or you can do both. With mono loop in 'tape 1' and EQ loop in 'tape 2.' Being able to do both would depend on how many tape or processor loops you had and how your monitor section is set up in your intergrated amplifier, passive preamp or receivers. If you only have one tape loop some equalizers have provisions for 2 tape loops.

    I hope this helps.
     
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  23. Alan G

    Alan G More A Lurker Than A Poster

    Location:
    OH

    Resurrecting this one. This has got me puzzled and I can't figure out where the problem might be. I would sure love to convert the processor loop into a mono button but even with this seemingly simple set up I can get the CD player to fold down to mono but the turntable only gives me a low hum/buzz. Any suggestions are welcome!
    Alan
     
  24. qwerty

    qwerty A resident of the SH_Forums.

    Although the cartridge is connected by the colours, I would wonder if there the other end of the leads reverses the polarity of the signal. So when you put it to mono, the left cancels the right in an OOPS effect. With mono there is no significant differences in the l+r music, so they would completely cancel each other and all you are left with is the stereo noise artifacts. The CD would be wired correctly, so behaves as expected. Check from one end of the tonearm to the end of your rca leads with a continuity tester (or multimedia) that the signal is travelling to the correct parts.

    Alternatively, there may be a problem in your phono stage. Good luck tracking down this problem.
     
    xmas111 likes this.
  25. Alan G

    Alan G More A Lurker Than A Poster

    Location:
    OH
    Thanks. I would tend to think the problem is more likely to be associated with the P75 phono stage as opposed to the turntable itself. My reasoning is that the y cables work fine in the processor loop when I have the turntable connected to the phono input of the integrated amp. So maybe I have isolated the problem but that still leaves me wondering what could be up with the phono amp that would cause this!? The P75 is a lot better than the internal phono stage so I would hate to not get to use that. I am open to ideas and I will keep experimenting.

    Alan
     
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