Vinyl Me Please Classics

I just re-joined VMP for 3 months in part bc of Lateef/December.

I used the opportunity for membership to pick up the RKS/mono Shape Of Jazz to Come on sale for $29. I have the Speakers Corner stereo, which sounds great generally but, to my ears, is missing some punch w/ the rhythm section, particularly the bass, which is clear but a little recessed sounding to me. I know it’s sacrilege around here, but I think this has been an issue with a few of KG’s reissues.

I love Shape of Jazz to Come so it was worth it for me to try the mono/RKS after seeing so many positive comments here, on Discogs, and elsewhere. I know listening preferences are all subjective so my $.02 is worth about that much, but this VMP mono absolutely kills. Crystal clear sound with driving rhythm section, especially the bass. The horns remain out front (and center!) and, to my ears, don’t get in each others’ way or overly blend due to the mono sound. This isn’t a knock on the SC stereo. It’s great, but I’m firmly in the mono camp on this one.
 
Man I wish my rig did justice to mono pressings. One thing I overlooked when I built it, no mono switch and no removable headshell.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
You probably just need to added a second mono dedicated turntable to your set up.
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but you don't want to run that through a splitter or something, and you're probably going to want some isolation, so you're going to need another amp/reciever/table/speaker setup, at least.

I know that's not enough to get you to seriously consider it and like, open up webpages and start looking at equipment though.

Hey, out of curiousity, what kind of amp/speaker combo do you think would work better for mono? You probably wouldn't want the same setup as for stereo, right? I don't know these things.
 
Mather said:
Man I wish my rig did justice to mono pressings. One thing I overlooked when I built it, no mono switch and no removable headshell.
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It’s my understanding (and I could be wrong) that the main benefit of a mono cart is only for old mono pressings. Modern mono pressings are cut on stereo heads with left and right channel being the same. So maybe you have a tiny phase shift but not sure how noticeable it is to most. The only stuff cut true mono now is stuff like ERC where they cut on a mono head and the grooves are physically different.
 
MikeH said:
It’s my understanding (and I could be wrong) that the main benefit of a mono cart is only for old mono pressings. Modern mono pressings are cut on stereo heads with left and right channel being the same. So maybe you have a tiny phase shift but not sure how noticeable it is to most. The only stuff cut true mono now is stuff like ERC where they cut on a mono head and the grooves are physically different.
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Yeah but it just doesn't sound as good to me as stereo, I think a mono switch would help.
 
Mather said:
Yeah but it just doesn't sound as good to me as stereo, I think a mono switch would help.
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There’s a guy at the hoffman forums who makes custom mono switches. Always been interested to try it but then it’s just another box to add!
 
MikeH said:
There’s a guy at the hoffman forums who makes custom mono switches. Always been interested to try it but then it’s just another box to add!
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Yeah I'm way too psycho to add something to the chain, there is zero chance I don't imagine that everything immediately sounds worse even if it is literally exactly the same. Only way I could do it is with a tape loop but my AVR ain't gots one o' those.
 
Mather said:
Yeah I'm way too psycho to add something to the chain, there is zero chance I don't imagine that everything immediately sounds worse even if it is literally exactly the same. Only way I could do it is with a tape loop but my AVR ain't gots one o' those.
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onbviously -- that's why you need a whole duplicate setup
 
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