Which mono Grado cart?

Here's another one for the peanut gallery...

I've decided to use my Dual 1219 turntable for mono records. I'm looking at two Grado carts over at Red Trumpet:

ME+ (MONO)
Price: from $130.00

MC+ (MONO)
Price: $80.00

Not sure if the ME+ is worth the extra $50.00. Anybody know?

Then I found this thread and now I'm thinking I shouldn't bother.

Thoughts?

 

Steve, if you're reading:

You posted that on the old mono playback thread. When you say that 'the sound is slightly less hi-fi', could it be taken to mean that, in a way, the conical tip would be more forgiving with regards to damage/surface noise, resulting in cleaner playback of LPs that have seen better times?

You've already recommended this Shure conical tip to me before, so when the elliptical I'm using gives up I might make my next a conical- I even have the cart body you said sounds good, the 30-year-old M55E.

 

Would it make more sense to set up a turntable with a "vintage" cartridge (an older Shure model, perhaps)? Not necessarily mono, in other words.

 

Are you asking me or just thinking aloud Rood?

In any case, I think .. as long as space/wife/etc. permits, a second 'vintage' system could perhaps be an interesting thing to have- it might suit the sound or 'mood' of certain LPs better than a current-day system, so to speak.

Also, one could perhaps go for a simple tip profile on this system for those LPs that are noisy (ie. worn or otherwise damaged) enough to be distracting on a slimmer-profile stylus.

Just my .02

 

Yeah, that's what I thought after reading that thread. Funny, I started THIS thread asking about the carts, but before I hit "post" I did another quick search of the forum and found that other thread.

I'll just save my money for more vinyl.

 

A true mono cartridge...

Only has two generators, rather than four. A Denon DL102 mono carrtridge only has two pins on the back of it, same for the Ortofon and EMT monos. The compliance of a mono cartridge is also very different. As a result of only having two generators (magnets or coils, that is) the cartrige only needs to read side to side motions in a meaningful way. Up-down motions are largely ignored. The lateral compliance is what sets the Grado mono apart from their other catridges. It is not as succesful as the Denon.

The mono listening experience is very different from stereo. Here is where Steve's opinion and mine divide.

I think BG's mono setup over at Classic records is brilliant. The new Blue Notes are the only modern Mono records to capture the sharp detail of the 1950s era mono records. These pressings are simply stunning to hear on a proper mono rig.

Most of the failure of the old 50s pressings can be chalked up to poor vinyl compounds. Often times (as in early Blue Notes) some original (RGV)stampers were sent over to Europe to be pressed for release over there. These pressings, on superior vinyl, reveal the truly high quality of the original mastering work. To this day, the best drum sound off any lp I have ever heard is from a UK 10" lp of Thelonius Monk with Art Blakey and Percey Heath. I have been trying for some time to get Chad to include it in the Fantasy Jazz series, thusfar, to no avail.

This says nothing about the records which were mastered over there. The Pye and Decca mono mastering represent a pinnacle of the art form.

Which leads me to Steve's exellent work on the Fantasy jazz series. The monos, luckily, sound stunningly good. They do have a bit of "stereo fuzziness" to them when compared to BGs Classic Records work, but I listen to them as much as the BG stuff and much more than the original pressings, even the European pressings.

Yes, try and set up a dedicated mono rig. It is worth the effort.

Jason