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

in terms of signal degradation, is the double Y cable still the cleanest option?

 

Steve what about doing this and putting it into the tape monitor loop? That way it can be turned on and off with the push of a button.

Any negatives to doing this?

 

The shortest length quality cables with quality connectors will influence signal degradation, so I would think a quality switchbox would be better. On one of the threads I recall someone commenting on the quality improvement between using cheap'n'nasty y-connectors and "Monster Cable" y-connectors (which is saying something given Monster's reputation). But the cheap'n'nasty's playing mono was stated as an improvement compared to playing mono vinyl in stereo.

 

This was discussed within one of the threads as a viable option.

 

The link seems to be working for me. Just PM (start conversation) with @xmas111
(John) if he has them I'm sure he'd be happy to hook you up.

 

Cos it's in the classifieds - @PeteFior wouldnt have the 50 posts yet to see them

 

Ahh,gotcha thanks.

 

I contacted Rogue Audio about a mono/stereo switch for my Triton phono pre, and they said that they would do such a mod, and had many times before with their gear. It case others want to take advantage of that...

 

I have worked on needledrops where this method does not work at all, because the LP was mastered in stereo from a mono tape played on a stereo machine...the way mono tracks play back on stereo compilation LP's. Both of these LP's were on UK Liberty from around 1967. So one must be sure that this isn't the case before folding.

 

I didn't follow this; does this capture what you are trying to say:
A mono switch/device is for playing back mono records on stereo equipment. It is not suited for playing mono recordings which have been electronically reprocessed for stereo (as nothing can make these recordings sound good!).

 

No.

When a mono tape is played back with a mono head and cut in mono, summing to mono on playback will usually reduce noise and distortion.

When a mono tape is played back with a stereo head and cut in stereo, summing to mono on playback can cause a loss of high end depending on the alignment of the tape. In those cases, it's better to select one channel or the other.

I can think of a specific example: Missing You on The Best of The Merry-Go-Round. The song is mono, but it was played back in stereo, and there's a dropout that's only in one channel. Summing to mono locks in the dropout, while only playing the good channel yields no dropout.

 

Ah, thanks, I understand now.

 

However, your observation about mono-summing a record that's been electronically reprocessed to simulate stereo is also spot on.

Some labels had a neat little trick to increase the apparent spaciousness of their stere-faux albums: they inverted the polarity of one channel. On stereo equipment, this increases the perceived spaciousness because the common elements to both channels are now out of phase in relation to each other, and are attenuated, leaving the sounds unique to each channel standing out in prominence. (This, by the way, was the way those "stereo wide" switches worked on boomboxes.) But when you sum this to mono, you get nothing but aural garbage; I can think of at least one CBS Special Products big band hits issue from the late 1970s that, when summed to mono, only gave rustly, crackly, tinny highs - polarity inversion had cancelled out all the bass and midrange frequencies!

 

I have this cartridge already wired up and ready to go.. Switch from my stereo cartridge to mono...for my mono vinyl.

Awesome sound for a $100:00 + mono cartridge....have one in stock to..

Audio-Technica AT-MONO3/LP / MC Type Moving Coil Mono Cartridge (Japan Import) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002ERE2Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_DNgpxbEDTEWF7

 

You could say this example is the exact opposite of what we are trying to achieve in this thread, you are canceling out the music, leaving only the noise instead!

But doesn't this depend on what type of "electronically reprocessed" treatement has been applied. I am not an expert on the different methods, but on some such "reprocessed" tracks summing to mono seems to pretty much restore it back to close to it's original state (not perfectly of course, but at least making it more listenable than it was as "reprocessed").

 

Hi, newbie here putting together his first vinyl system in 25 years. I am buying an integrated amp and I want to do the y-cable trick. Since I want the convenience of a single button for switching, I'm going to do the tape monitor loop workaround. The amp I'd like to use is the NAD 316, which has a tape in-out along with a tape button. If I use two y-cables (Cables To Go 03161 & 81) connecting the tape in-out and thereby making a loop, will it work? Will just pushing the tape button switch from mono to stereo and vice versa, and without blowing up the amp? I'd rather not shell out for the 326, which others have said does work in this regard. Thank you.

 

Yep but the tape monitor button is what turns it on/off

The Y cable is a surrogate tape deck

 

When you sum two circuits, you sum the noise from that point backward in the chain as well. It's no more noisy than stereo, but twice as noisy as it could be. Mono cartridge is cleanest way to go.

 

So when the button is depressed, I will hear mono and when not depressed, I will stereo? Thank you.

 

I'm sure you are right, but that's expensive. True mono cartridges are pricey and it would require either a swappable headshell which limits my choices in turntables or an extra turntable entirely. The y-cable is the best compromise for me. Thank you.

 

Very late to this thread!! I cant seem to track down on of these cables anywhere in Europe. Can anyone help me?

 

Any noise "in the the chain" is infinitesimally small compared to surface noise.

 

yes

 

If the button is too depressed then it may not want to play any music at all

 

Hmmm. If I'm depressed will it play mono or stereo?