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

This looks like much better quality than I'm currently using. Could you please let me know the manufacturer?

 

Just made my first double-Y chord - $10 for 2 adapters at Radio Shack. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for the tip!

 

Radio Shack brand units. Not sure all of their stores stocks them.

 

Thanks, veejay!

 

Just got some cables from radio shack, the only male-to-male connector was 6ft long though.
Tried it on The Cowsills "Rain, The Park and Other Things". Still surface noise as the 45 is pretty worn, but lowered the noise floor to make it completely listenable, unlike before!

Love the y-cable through tape monitor method, it's like having an actual mono button!

 

And i'm sure this has already been answered in the course of this thread but I couldn't find a page specifically mentioning it, but does this article (http://www.rane.com/note109.html) have any relevance to what I'm doing?

I'm still learning all the ins and outs of "audiophile-dom" and I don't quite understand it.

 

I haven't seen this question asked- should the cable coming from the switch to the phono pre be a mic level phono cable or a line level standard interconnect?

 

I agree wholeheartedly. Got some Audioquest y cables and what a difference it made. Thanks Steve!

 

Well I never knew!! Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere but does the mono switch on older amps do the same thing? Should I use it when playing mono records or is that just some weird button they always put on amps if you wanted a mono sound from a stereo recording.

 

Yes, you want to use it while playing mono records. You'll get an extra high end hiss that is very noticeable if you don't.

Try it both ways and see.....hear for yourself.

 

Yeah should work.

 

Thanks guys. Funny, I have Stan Getz on Verve mono playing as I read these.

 

Love the Getz on Verve in mono. Verrrrrve.

 

I think you were right about the high end. Close, but a little nicer sound with the button in. Always wondered about that button but never had mono records before and have had high end equipment over the years. Have a nice 90's Rotel amp with phono out and that mono button. Not sure if modern amps have that anymore.

 

It's on some nicer equipment but not on most. Also on a lot of vintage stuff. I wouldn't buy a pre-amp or integrated amp without the convenience. It was a must have for me while shopping for a preamp as I was just getting in to Bebop Jazz.

As this threads OP (God) posted, there is a nice work-around. Most folks are not mono fans....but Jazz or Beatles fans.....they are another breed. There are other bands and or genres to appreciate in straight up mono too.

 

I know this is likely a dumb question but - why?

 

It's not a dumb question. I've had some adult beverages tonight and can't get into the specifics of it right now. I'm high on life and love beer. Hey, what's in a Tom Collins anyway?

Here's another old thread on mono that may help. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/stereo-mono-switch.29423/

 

Thank you!!

 

For stereo records (Westrex 45-45 system), the two channels, L and R, are inverted polarity-wise with respect to one another before cutting in order to maintain compatibility with playback using a mono cartridge (reads lateral movement only - so, will retrieve L+R from a Westrex 45-45 cut stereo program).

A stereo cartridge restores the original relative polarity relationship of the channels but since the channels aren't summed (as they are in playback with the mono cartridge) you have a situation where any noise picked up in both channels during playback is now 180º out of phase in one channel with respect to the other.

So, when you play stereo records, the L and R signals are in-phase but playback noise shared between the channels is 180º out of phase.

If you play mono LPs with a stereo cartridge without summing the channels, again you have the L and R signals output from the stereo cartridge in-phase (one routed to each speaker, in this case L and R are ostensibly the same signal) but any noise picked up in both channels in playback is now 180º out of phase in one channel with respect to the other.

This means that simply summing the L and R channels will have the effect of cancelling any playback noise shared between the channels and splitting the resulting signal back out to both speakers gives you the desired L+R in both.

In summary, the Westrex 45-45 stereo system allows for mono compatibility (L+R retrieved by mono stylus) but means that playback of mono LPs with a stereo cartridge needs the channels to be summed to get L+R.

If you don't sum the channels when playing a mono LP in stereo, you don't get L+R in each speaker, you get L in one channel, R in the other, both with playback noise, some of which is shared and 180º out of phase in one channel with respect to the other. Of course, L and R are ostensibly the same signal on a mono LP, but until you effect the vector sum that produces L+R, you have vertical noise that isn't required since there is no vertical signal (L-R is zero for mono). For stereo you have no choice but to keep the 180º out of phase noise.

 

And that answer AppleCorp3 is the whole shebang.

Thank you Mal for your invaluable knowledge and expertize. Detailed to the T.

Thank you sir.

 

Wow!! Very thorough and informative!! Thank you very much. This is why I'm glad I found this forum!

 

And we are glad you joined.

Pretty cool place it is.

 

That's the most clearly I've ever seen this explained. Thank you!

 

I just had my HK 825 fixed and now have a fully functional mono button at my disposal (reverse the polarity of the neutron flow, I guess!). Having this button is one of the major reasons I had it repaired.

Wow - it sure was worth it. I thought Mono Masters sounded great before, but it's even better now.