Some of you have been following my issues with this little experiment before it even really started. I bought the cartridge to experience monoaural sound as played with a mono cartridge. However, I don't know much about this sort of thing, and it was only after I ordered it that I realized the Ortofon model uses a 1 mil. stylus tip that's only suitable for older, wide (or deep) groove recordings, so I can't use it with the majority of my mono LPs, which are newer audiophile pressings.

Then the cartridge arrived yesterday and the cantilever appeared to not be lined up straight with the cartridge. But I sent pictures to Ortofon and was assured that the cartridge is OK to use and not defective.

So today I set it up. There's bad, and then there's good, happily in that order.

Setup was a snap and took less than 30 minutes, which included removing the Grado Silver. The turntable/tonearm in question is the Thorens TD125 MKII with original TP16 tonearm - again not an ideal match for the cartridge, but so far it doesn't seem to matter. I lined up the cartridge according to the cantilever, which was easy to see looking straight down due to the design of the cartridge. The recommended VTF is between 2 and 3g, so I set it at 2.2g.

My library of old, wide groove mono LPs is very limited. The first one I chose to play is the one I've most wanted to hear in mono, Miles Davis "The Birth of the Cool." With my Benz Glider this record sounded noisy, I think it would benefit from a run through a RCM, but I don't have one. Unfortunately it wasn't much quieter with the Ortofon, although it did sound different, which was intriguing, and a little frustrating.

I then went to a couple records I bought for a few dollars apiece on ebay in anticipation of the arrival of the new cartridge. One I didn't care for, the other, "Back Room Piano" by Frank Froeba, sounded so awful I actually tossed it in the garbage. It was like someone had taken a belt sander to it! A perfect example of why it can be dangerous to buy records on ebay.

Now I was getting irritated and wishing I hadn't bought the Ortofon. So I put on another one from ebay Cannonball Adderley Quintet "At The Lighthouse," a live recording from about 1960 I believe. This one sounded very good. There was background noise, a bit crackly, although the Ortofon made it less distracting somehow. When the lead saxophone came in it had my full attention. The dynamics were very impressive and life-like, and the cartridge never sounded overwhelmed, it remained smooth and coherent. Bass was the kind you hear very well but has little impact (referring to sound, not emotion), but that could be because the cartridge is brand new and not yet broken in. This was one of the most live-sounding live recordings I've heard yet on my system, very intimate, and Adderley's voice intro was a little eerie as it sounded like he was right in the room. There was something else about the sound that was different, I still can't quite put my finger on it.

In the past whenever I've tried to play older mono records with a good stereo cartridge there was a couple of problems: One, they were simply too noisy, which caused me to stop playing most of them before I really get to hear the music. Two, louder passages, especially the higher frequencies, tended to break up in sync with the background noise, regardless of what cartridge I was using. The Ortofon makes the first issue acceptable and seems to completely eliminate the second one. There's still background noise, crackles, specifically, but with the Ortofon they actually sound like they're more in the background and interfere less with the music, so it's not distracting, and in some ways it even adds a little charm since these recordings are pretty old, if you can believe that. As far as the break up, what stands out to me the most with this cartridge is how smooth and solid the dynamics are. It just doesn't waver, which I think is a large part of why I'm able to deal with the noise in the background and really just listen to the music.

As I flipped through my LPs there were some nice surprises. A couple Ramsey Louis records that I had forgotten are mono, plus a Mahler Symphony No. 4 from the 1950s that's a London FFRR, so you can imagine how great that sounded (though noisier than the others). There was a couple others that I haven't gotten to yet.

I've now been listening to this cartridge for three and half hours. The girlfriend is growing impatient, so I'm going to have to take a break, but I plan on putting some of these LPs to cassette later tonight.

I really like the cartridge so far, it's nice to experience this kind of sound, which is really all that I wanted out of this. It probably won't be very long before I put the Ortofon away for a while, but in the future I'm confident that having a 1 mil. mono cartridge just lying around is going to be quite a luxury! I'd also like to get the Denon mono cartridge eventually so it's safe to play all my mono records, not just the older ones, but that's going to be further down the road.

Pictures below in case you like to see pictures of cartridges. I know I do.

Dave

Wow great write-up! Makes me want a mono cart now, but with only 6 or so mono pressings don't really think I'll get around to it very soon.....

Wow great write-up! Makes me want a mono cart now, but with only 6 or so mono pressings don't really think I'll get around to it very soon.....

Yeah, well since mine has the 1 mil. tip I'm basically in the same position as you. Looks like those 5 or 6 records are going to be getting a whole lot of play time for a while. Nothing wrong with that I suppose.

Thanks for all that Dave. I've been following your posts on this topic and have also been learning a little a long the way.

I had no idea something as simple as mono playback could be so complicated. "The Birth of Cool" is one of my favorite Miles recordings and because it's mono I was particularly interested in how proper playback with a real mono cartridge would sound. Can I ask a dumb question? With the 4 cartridge pins and only needing 2, what are the other two used for?

I'm glad it sort of worked out for you and really appreciate the write up.

Thanks for all that Dave. I've been following your posts on this topic and have also been learning a little a long the way.

I had no idea something as simple as mono playback could be so complicated. "The Birth of Cool" is one of my favorite Miles recordings and because it's mono I was particularly interested in how proper playback with a real mono cartridge would sound. Can I ask a dumb question? With the 4 cartridge pins and only needing 2, what are the other two used for?

I'm glad it sort of worked out for you and really appreciate the write up.

Great, I do this because I love talking about this kind of stuff, I love reading about other people's experiences in this forum, so I almost always put together a little writeup to share what happened and what, if anything, I've learned. Glad you're enjoying it.

As for the pins, it's going to a stereo setup, so I have to use all four leads. Similarly, if I were to use the Denon mono cartridge, it only has two pins, so with a stereo system you need the type of headshell leads that allow you to attach two leads to one pin. Thus, this is not a pure mono playback, but the cartridge is a big step in that direction. Like I said, all I really wanted was to hear a more genuine mono sound just to see what it's like. In hindsight I should have waited and just gotten the Denon that I really want, but I don't really regret the choice, it's always good to have another cartridge and who knows, some day I might have a turntable with removable headshell dedicated to mono playback. That would be great. I do have a Sansui turntable sitting in the basement waiting to be restored...

I went back and listened to Birth of the Cool all the way through. It's too bad the record is so crackly, but aside from that it did sound good, with more depth and better dynamics than the CD version I've been frequently listening to on my way to work lately.

At the moment Cannonball Adderley Quintet at The Lighthouse is being recorded onto a Denon DX3 cassette. Noisy? More that I usually allow for recording, but I'm telling you, it's hard not to just listen to the music. It's an inspired performance, so I wanted to add this to the tape collection for when I've temporarily put away the Ortofon.

How can I say this without sounding bossey or pushey. Do yourself a favor and get a Grado FTR stylus it's a 0.07 mil conical it made a big difference on my MC+

Here is a link
http://cgi.ebay.com/PHONO-NEEDLE-GRADO-FCE-FTE-S-FCR-FTR-FTR-526-D7_W0QQitemZ260297841309QQcmdZViewItemQQptZTurntab les?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Would I be right in assuming that it would be possible to use the mono tip with an OM stereo cart? I've got an old one sitting unused and I'm looking for a way to tame my selection of extremely hot mono 45s.

I recently bought a Stanton 500AL II with a .07 conical stylus, and bridged the channels with thin copper wire wrapped around the pins, for mono output. (I don't have a mono switch on my amp.) It sounds terrific on 45s and pretty darn good on mono LPs, and it was very affordable. I have it tracking at 3.75 grams.

It does a nice job of taming surface noise, even on records that are barely listenable with my AT440MLa.

How can I say this without sounding bossey or pushey. Do yourself a favor and get a Grado FTR stylus it's a 0.07 mil conical it made a big difference on my MC+

Here is a link
http://cgi.ebay.com/PHONO-NEEDLE-GRADO-FCE-FTE-S-FCR-FTR-FTR-526-D7_W0QQitemZ260297841309QQcmdZViewItemQQptZTurntab les?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Hey! Don't tell me how to live my life. :D

I almost went for the Grado. I think a lot of my decision to go with the Ortofon was about the desire to try something different. I already have two Grado cartridges. Of course I'm not at all opposed to getting more, in fact I probably will, but in this case I figured I'd try a brand I've never even heard before.

Right now I'm listening to the tape I made from the Cannonball Adderley record last night, and the results are very good. You know, normally when I record from vinyl to cassette (as I've been doing more frequently lately), excessive noise drives me nuts, I want it to be as quiet as possible. Given that, if you heard this tape you'd think it's my worst nightmare as there's constantly noise in the background. Yet here I am, enjoying the heck out of this recording, not really bothered at all by the crackling and occasional pop. I keep pressing this point, but I really like the way this cartridge handles a noisy record, it really does put it in the background. So I'm going to have to record another one tomorrow night. Now all I have to do is pick the record and choose from the five million blank cassettes I have...

Would I be right in assuming that it would be possible to use the mono tip with an OM stereo cart? I've got an old one sitting unused and I'm looking for a way to tame my selection of extremely hot mono 45s.

Yes, you can do that, I asked Louis from Ortofon when we were discussing the cartridge back and forth in e-mails. I admit I'm tempted to get a OM stylus and try that out, and you can do it the other way around to try on your mono records.

My only reason for giving you that advice was if you already have an MC+ that stylus I posted the link about is a great replacement for that cartridge and having used both to my ears just sounded better with less surface noise, plus it's a 0.07 conical vs the 1mil that came with those. So it would be safe to use on newer MONO pressing. Like the red vinyl Beatles pressings from Japan and as an added + you can use the conical on Stereo pressing that are a bit beat.

My only reason for giving you that advice was if you already have an MC+ that stylus I posted the link about is a great replacement for that cartridge and having used both to my ears just sounded better with less surface noise, plus it's a 0.07 conical vs the 1mil that came with those. So it would be safe to use on newer MONO pressing. Like the red vinyl Beatles pressings from Japan and as an added + you can use the conical on Stereo pressing that are a bit beat.

I might still get one in the future, but what I really want is the Denon, which also has a .7mil stylus tip.

Great write-up; I always enjoying reading your posts. It's great that there are so many articulate and interesting members here who write up their experiences.

Great write-up; I always enjoying reading your posts. It's great that there are so many articulate and interesting members here who write up their experiences.

Thank you, I appreciate that.

[mono cartridge..]With the 4 cartridge pins and only needing 2, what are the other two used for?

For the second of your amplifiers two stereo channels. This means you can easily choose which ever one of your speakers should output the monophonic sound, and it will not be just like listening to one channel off the vinyl.

If you can imagine that then the corporate reason why there is 4 pins on the monophonic cartridge is that it is most likely the same body as the OM series, and you can exchange the stylus with a 78, or 5/5E/10/20/30 stereo stylus, this one, and keep the wiring just like it is.

-Mikkel

For the second of your amplifiers two stereo channels. This means you can easily choose which ever one of your speakers should output the monophonic sound, and it will not be just like listening to one channel off the vinyl.

If you can imagine that then the corporate reason why there is 4 pins on the monophonic cartridge is that it is most likely the same body as the OM series, and you can exchange the stylus with a 78, or 5/5E/10/20/30 stereo stylus, this one, and keep the wiring just like it is.

-Mikkel

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack your thread Mr. Lin, but do have one more question maybe you can answer Mikkel?

I get all of what you said and thank you but it makes me wonder aren't these mono 4 pin cartridges then nothing more than a stereo cartrdge with a spherical stylus? And if so can I just jump the pins on say a Sumiko Oyster with spherical stylus and achieve the same results? :scratch2: