Should I be listening to mono lps, with only 1 speaker?

A UK £5 bill.

 

After reading only the first page of this thread I came to a suspicion my speakers may not be placed ideally- based on a just slightly off image from mono and stereo playback I had noticed but been trying to rectify.

I had set the speakers up to exact symmetrical angles of toe-in, distance from back wall, and degree of tilt. Painstakingly to within 1/8th" angled (using a two foot angle finder)from all directions; back wall, floor, side wall etc. All dead nuts on. This should be perfect...

But Not.

So, this morning I grab a mono Beatles and toss it in the cdp. Sure enough, from center it was pretty ok- but on walking back and forth in front of the speakers the slight 'phasing' issue was there.

I moved the right speaker outside edge about an inch or a little more forward. Reset the pads under the feet.

Wow. From the center it's locked in. Walking back and forth from seven feet out it's still locked in with the soft left/right pan.

I put on Ray Charles Mono Crying time LP. Indeed- there's Ray in perfect focus center and centered also from side/side. More vertical dimension as well. The speakers disappear to a higher degree.

Now I play- Stereo Diana Krall from Girl in the other Room sacd. Once again centered and perfect with no subtle odd phase shift from side to side. A larger Sweet Spot. A Miracle! (actually I may be overstating it as I'm sure 99% would neither notice nor care the difference- but to me it solved a 'bothering me a little' problem) Better placement of instruments. Truly a subtle but very noticeable shift towards "!!!!"

I guess maybe perfect symmetry in speaker placement isn't always the answer- based on whatever room, speakers, system, etc...

Very cool. Thanks guys- I guess it goes to show even after years doing this audio thing we can sometimes still learn an easy fix to a nagging problem.

Cheers,
RW

 

This guy loved mono!

 

I admire mono purists. But I'm not a mono purist. I play my mono albums with a stereo cartridge and usually don't bother to mix the channels with the switch on my receiver. Some of the fullness I get from playing early mono lps with an old stereo cart like a Shure M3D or Pickering V-15 (Stanton 500) with a conical needle probably does come from "stereo artifacts."

But, if I had a larger house, I'd love to have a room devoted a totally mono system:
- Mono cartridge
- Mono tube amp (what we had when I was a kid growing up).
- A nice big full-range speaker.
- An overstuffed chair

MMMMMMMM-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

I'm about to get my 3-tone red/white/grey Garrard Type A back from being completely overhauled, and my dilemma will be which to go with: a Shure M3D with NOS N3D stylus, or a GE VRII. I have each in its own headshell. I like the GE, but I don't want to be switching headshells back & forth when I switch from a 1950s mono LP to a @1965 mono LP.

My system, incidentally, is mono: Fisher TA-500 receiver and a single KLH Six speaker.

 

I am building a mono system and this will have one speaker - otherwise, what's the point, I reckon?
(I'm gunna smoke a pipe, too.)

 

Here's a classic mono system, from about 1947, if it played LPs and 78s, I wouldn't mind having one.

Daddy Dom, I would guess that Bing will be lighting his pipe after he gets his record loaded.

 

100% yes