Mono buttons

[sharedon]

Can someone tell me which currently available receivers/amps have a mono button?? Hardly see them anymore...

[Metralla]

My VK-50SE preamp has one - most useful. Accessible through the remote control, along with the polarity button. Good user interface on the BATs.

Regards,
Geoff

[Ted Bell]

My pre-amp (Joule LA150) has one also. Only problem is I forget to re-set it until I notice the next stereo recording I play sounds like crap.

Jay N.

[Casino]

Any decent receiver should have it - if it doesn't, I wouldn't even consider it. Better brands such as Bryston, McIntosh, etc. have mono switches. But so do some less expensive brands.

[sgraham]

Originally posted by Casino
Any decent receiver should have it ...
Oh that this were true. Many audiophile components take minimalism to an extreme. No mono/stereo switch, no tone controls, sometimes even no balance control.

Me, I like controls. I'll even give up a little sonic purity for them - gotta have bass/treble/mono.

[AudioEnz]

I review a lot of hi-fi equipment. It's years since I came across a mono button - I remember exclaiming surprise about it because a mono button is so unusual.

[Cafe Jeff]

If you're really desperate for a mono button (and I love mono)

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/archives/

Would be is to take an rca male to female y adapter and couple that to an rca y male to male, put in your tape loop, and voila, instant mono at the touch of a switch. (Provided your pre-amp has a tape loop.)

Or you can do what I did and build a complete mono system complete with corner horn. Jeff

[Johnny C.]

Originally posted by AudioEnz
I review a lot of hi-fi equipment. It's years since I came across a mono button - I remember exclaiming surprise about it because a mono button is so unusual.

I wouldn't do without one.

[JohnnyK]

My Arragon Stage One processor has a mono mode. In fact, when the unit is in 'mono mode" by default, all of the music is directed to the center speaker and subwoofer. I like this feature because I think that mono should be heard from a single speaker.

Unfortunatly, the Stage One does not have any tone controls.

[-Ben]

Originally posted by Metralla
My VK-50SE preamp has one - most useful. Accessible through the remote control, along with the polarity button.
Geoff

VERY interesting.
I still use the VK-5i pre-amp (no mono switch). I remember talking to Victor K. (long before the 50SE came out) and I told him I wished the 5i had a mono switch. He responded that he did not think many people would want one. I am not claiming responsibility for the mono switch, but it 's nice to know the 50SE has one.

BC

[Grant]

Mono buttons are very important for me because I can check out the phase distortion/cancellation with it.

[Cafe Jeff]

Van Gogh, I seem to remember, said stereo made no difference to him. Jeff

[sgraham]

Originally posted by Cafe Jeff
If you're really desperate for a mono button ... take an rca male to female y adapter and couple that to an rca y male to male, put in your tape loop, and voila, instant mono at the touch of a switch.

I have done this. However it may not be a perfect solution. Audio outputs really don't like being tied directly together. Sometimes it leads to distortion. In extreme cases it can lead to damage (happened to me around 1973).

[sgb]

Originally posted by sgraham

Oh that this were true. Many audiophile components take minimalism to an extreme. No mono/stereo switch, no tone controls, sometimes even no balance control.

Me, I like controls. I'll even give up a little sonic purity for them - gotta have bass/treble/mono.

Amen to that!

My old SP9 had Mono, Stereo, Stereo Reverse, Left or Right only (in both channels). I sure do miss them!

[Cafe Jeff]

SGRAHAM Wrote this:

>I have done this. However it may not be a perfect solution. Audio outputs really don't like being tied directly together. Sometimes it leads to distortion. In extreme cases it can lead to damage (happened to me around 1973).

It's definitely not a perfect solution, but I didn't know it was a dangerous one either. I really must get the Leak Varislope with its Stereo, Reverse Stereo, Mono Right, Mono-Left, variable high pass filter and 5 record curves back into use. No remote though. Jeff

[TommyTunes]

Most Audio Research Pre amps still have them.

[Steve Hoffman]

Originally posted by Cafe Jeff

It's definitely not a perfect solution, but I didn't know it was a dangerous one either. I really must get the Leak Varislope with its Stereo, Reverse Stereo, Mono Right, Mono-Left, variable high pass filter and 5 record curves back into use. No remote though. Jeff


Jeff, do you have a picture of this beast?

[MMM]

My preamp has a mono button (and I wouldn't be without one either). But I've been thinking of something different lately - would it be possible to basically do what a Dolby Pro-Logic decoder does to extract the just the center information, but without any decoding or "steering" - meaning is there some way of accomplishing this just through wiring? If possible, how would I have to wire this? And would it possibly be harmful to my equipment? I would think this might be a good alternative for playing back mono sources, instead of just combining the L & R channels.

[Cafe Jeff]

Hi,

A picture of the preamp can be found here:\

http://home.mira.net/~kiewavly/VarislopeStereo.html

I would use the pre-amp more if it had its own power supply, but in the best British tradition must be tethered to its matching power amp. Curiously, on line level inputs the amp actually sports negative gain. This is more than compensated however by the hypersensitivity of Leak power amps. Jeff

[Cafe Jeff]

Let's see if this works!

[stereoptic]

See if you can find the "back to mono" button!! :)

[Cafe Jeff]

One fellow who turned up his nose at newfangled Stereo!

[JohnnyK]

The latest theory is that Van Gogh cut off his ear to get rid of the ringing in his ear caused by Tinnitus. There is clear evidence that as a teenager, he was in a band called the Impressionists and that he played an electronic instrument called the electronic Helmholtz Resonator. The story goes on to say that he played his Helmholtz Resonator so loud that he damaged his hearing. Other members in the band played the Musical Telegraph, the Singing Arc and the Telharmonium.:laugh:

Of course, Mr. VG was never in a band, but the instruments mentioned above were real "electronic" instruments used in the late 1800's.

Too bad The Beatles didn't know about this stuff. Can you imagine how much stranger Strawberry Fields would have sounded if they used the Musical Telegraph and the Telharmonium:eek:

http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/pre60/1800/elishag.html

http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/intro.html

http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/telharmonium/index.html

[stereoptic]

Nice JohnnyK and CafeJeff.

copied from JohnnyK's website:
Helmholtz was concerned solely with the scientific analysis of sound
so, if he were alive today, he wouldn't post to this site! :)

[JohnnyK]

If Helmholtz were alive today, he might have been some like Steve Hoffman. Think of it, we would be collecting Helmholtz remastered CD's.:D