Are There Any Phono Preamps that Come with a Mono Button?

In another thread I discovered that the mono switch I had fashioned, which worked perfectly with mono LP's, narrows the stereo image by about 50%. So now that I removed the mono switch, my stereo image is back to normal, but I don't have a mono switch for playing my mono LP's anymore.

So that makes me wonder. Are there phono preamps that come with a mono button on the unit?

 

None that I know of. A lot of preamplifiers have a mono switch on them.

 

That's really strange. It seems to me that the phono preamp is the BEST place to combine the signal. I've done it before by "Y'ing" the outputs of the cartridge together into one channel of the preamp and "Y'ing" the output back to drive both channels of the stereo amp.

I'll certainly be giving this some consideration as I approach my big needledrop project. I do have many mono albums.

Also I've got this SQ encoded Grass Roots hits album that has mix of "Midnight Confessions" that sounds sort of cheezy in quad but makes a killer mono folddown. I much prefer it to the normal stereo mix of the song.

 

Look at the Audio Research PH5. It does. Sounds great too.

 

The McIntosh C220 has a mono button.

 

As does the PS Audio GCPH:
http://www.psaudio.com/products/gcph_phono_amplifier.asp

 

The Mac C2200 has phono and a mono switch too.

I think you can get true mono from the Manley Steelhead by using the SUM switch and disconnecting one speaker. Never tried it though.

 

Maybe I should rephrase that.

Are there any affordable phono preamps with a mono switch?

 

It would be easy enough to build one, and since this is not a mainstream desire, that will be the way to go.

The Marantz 7 and Mc C22 (but I repeat myself) have a mono position on a switch. Many people build clones of these but ususlly they leave out the switches.

Gary Galo published a mod to the mono Mc preamp (C8?) for use with regular or hill and dale 78s with a stereo cart. This was in Audio Amateur a long time ago but you can get the article on interlibrary loan if you wish. This was a mono preamp though, one channel.

 

Hope this isn't threadcrap. But with a Technics, wouldn't a dedicated mono cart on a separate headshell work, with better results?

 

Once again Lee shows himself to be a man of few (but well choosen) words.

 

Not exactly what you are asking for, but one relatively affordable option would be to get a 1970s era Marantz receiver--2270, 2240, 2325, etc. They have decent phonstages and most all come with mono switches.

 

Why don't you make one.

I assume you were using a Y-cord on your tape out and that is why you partially collapsed the stereo image. If so, all you need is an external switch. I can think of several ways to configure this, but if nothing else you can put your y adapter after a switch. That way you can unload the preamp by engaging the switch, effectively taking the y out of the circuit when you don't want it there. Then it will not affect your stereo image.

 

Well, initially I was using a double Y cord between the turntable and the receiver. But that was causing an increase in hum. My guess is that any switch I can fashion would have the same problem.

 

I was looking into that very thing today.

 

Depending on what you mean by, "affordable", something like a Mac MX-110 pre/tuner has all the functions you're looking for. Bit of overkill, though.

There are ways of making an adapter without loading down a stereo phono preamp but I'd think the best way - and even more affordable than yet another box - would be to go to a mono phono cart.

Cheers,

David

 

My Slee has one....

 

Tke Modwright has a mono switch

 

I partied with that ketchup bottle back in art school on an acid trip once....
At least I think I did!

 

Graham Slee Era Gold Reflex

 

For my needledrops, I use an HK AVR55 receiver. Denon DP-47F turntable with AT440ML cartridge.

With stereo records, I just run RCA cables from the tape outs into my computer setup (Digidesign Digi001).

But for mono records, I put the receiver into Dolby Pro Logic mode (making sure to set the front speaker sizes to large and subwoofer off so as not to lose the low end). The result is pure mono signal, because everything that is not exactly equal on the left and right channels (crackling and surface noise) gets stripped away and sent to the left, right and surround channel preamp outs, which are not connected to anything. Only the remaining mono center channel signal gets recorded by the Digi001. The results are pretty dramatic - sometimes my mono needledrops end up sounding a lot better than stereo ones!

 

Mmm...Get back to me on that.

 

My NAD preamp has a mono/stereo button.

 

This may be more $$$ and do more than you want, but:

http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/index.htm

If you go for an old receiver or such, make sure that the mono button affects the phono section, not just the FM tuner section (some are so limited). You might also want to make sure that it affects the tape outputs; in my experience, most affect only the speaker outputs. NAD and Adcom are the lines that I've experienced in which the mono button affects the tape outs, but note that you must have the "listen to" set to "phono," *not* to tape.