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Grace F14 MONO cartridges and styli

Dear all, i have to start this thread because i’ve come across first MONO cartride in my system.

The cartridge is extremely rare Grace F14 (MONO) LC-OFC from the mid 80’s.
I’m a huge fan of the Grace stereo cartridges, in stereo world the F14 LC-OFC is superb, this MM generator is the best ever made along with LEVEL II LC-OFC. As you might know the Grace made so many different styli with different cantilevers and different diamonds for F14 and LEVEL II series in the 80’s.

BUT I know nothing about mono cartridges, because i’ve never used any of them.
And i don’t even have enough MONO records, but i got some for sure.

I don’t play 78rpm SP ... and most of my mono records are 45 rpm (7’inchers) from the 60’s, 70’s, maybe a little bit from the 50’s.

My F14 LC-OFC cartridge has ONLY 2 PINS (not 4 pins like stereo versions). The special lead wire designed for use with mono is included, no problem with that.

Looking at the MONO stylus on my F14 MONO cartridge i realized it is not an SP version described here (definitely not a huge 3 mil. tip), but a nude stylus tip, small just like stereo tip on some other Grace styli that i have in collection. So it’s a good news, because i’m not gonna play 78 rpm anyway.

What i realized by trying this cartridge/stylus on my mono records is a lower compliance of the stylus compared to normal Grace (they are high compliance). The stylus replacement designed for F14 (not for older F9), the plastic shape of the F14 is always different compared to F9.

I’ve searched for MONO styli shapes online and i’ve seen many articles about oldschool conical styli of the different size for the mono records from the different eras. Also about the mono cut on stereo cutterhead.

I could find only one more Grace mono cartridge (LEVEL II) with 1 mil. conical tip described here. 

BUT this post on another forum is the most interesting:

"I play a number of vintage monos (primarily stuff from ’58 to the mid 60’s, admittedly no pre ’57 stuff) here with a modern microridge stylus and would never go back to using a conical on them (having done so in the past). They sound incredibly good with the microridge...

Based on my experience, I feel all the talk of conical styli being necessary to get the best out of mono records is urban legend at best, if not patently false."

If this is true i can use any stylus on my Grace MONO cartridge for my records pressed in the 60s/70s in mono ?

I don’t have a mono switch anywhere on my gear, but since the cartridge pins are designed for MONO only, i believe, i’m safe to cancel vertical noise caused by conventional stylus with vertical compliance ?

I can not detect a stylus shape yet, it can be Conical, Elliptical, Shibata (or maybe even Micro Ridge). I’ve heard they are all good for MONO made with stereo cutter head in the 60’, 70’s or even today.

Let me know what you think, it can be my first mono cartridge then.
chakster
lewm
6,770 posts
 
Chakster, You wrote, "4 lead wires from the conventional headshell are "Y" type for use exclussively with just 2 pins on the MONO cartridge."  I am not sure I understand.  How do you attach your 4 lead wires from the headshell to two pins on your mono cartridge?

Where did I say that all true mono cartridges are LOMC types?  I didn't say that; nor is it true.  However, if you ask me to name some current MM cartridges that are true mono, I cannot do that, because I have not looked for one.  I am pretty sure Audio Technica makes one that is widely advertised on eBay. Also, you've got one, and it's vintage.

As I wrote above, what I call "true mono" cartridges are cartridges that are built such that they cannot "read" vertical deflections of the stylus tip.  Stereo cartridges that are also marketed as mono variations usually have intact two internal channels that are simply bridged at the output.  These CAN read vertical motion at the stylus, but because of the bridging, the electrical signal produced by vertical motion of the stylus is cancelled.  The result is the same.

Read the Miyajima website. They make mono cartridges for 78s, but they also make mono cartridges for modern mono LPs, using a different stylus from the dedicated 78 rpm type. They probably sell more mono LOMCs than any other company.

You should try a mono 33-rpm LP some time, using your Grace cartridge.  You'll be pleasantly surprised at how great such LPs can sound, and in some cases you won't care that they are not in stereo.

But do tell me how you are connecting 4 wires to two pins.
chakster's avatar
chakster OP
2,482 posts
 
@lewm Well, the "Y" type is just a simbol, if you will look at that simbol this is exactly how two wires from the shell goes to one pin to attach to the cartridge. I got two "Y" type leadwires, headshell got 4 pins, cartridge got 2 pins, the "Y" type wire in between. They are designed only for mono application.

Everything related to the compliance in case with MM is about the stylus, not about the generator. I don’t have that stylus anyway, my stylus have vertical compliance. But i hope a cartridge generator is a true mono as it has only two pins on it.

MC carts for mono is not a subject of this post, it’s completely different design.

Got some mono LPs, maybe just a few :)
chakster's avatar
chakster OP
2,482 posts
 
@sleepwalker65

The Audio-Technica VM-610 MM mono cartridge has 4 pins like a stereo cartridge, so this one is bridged internally as Lewm said.

What’s the benefit of having just 2 pins on the cartridge body? Does it meant to be a "true mono"? 
hdm
971 posts
 
Not necessarily "bridged internally". Maybe, maybe not. 

There’s a lot of great info provided by JC in the thread linked below:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/which-mono-cartridge-at-around-1-300-00

Generator and coil orientation is the key. I have come around to believing that very good mono reproduction can be achieved with a conical. Am currently using an AT 33 Mono but would like to try it out with a more sophisticated stylus profile and/or better cantilever material. May tackle that in the future.


chakster's avatar
chakster OP
2,482 posts
 
@hdm thanks for the link

I think i will copy paste J.Carr's comment here:

Even if the LP groove is mono, you will get maximum information retrieval if the vertical stylus contact is maximized and the longitudinal stylus contact is minimized. This dictates a line-contact stylus - similar to the requirements for a stereo LP.

But there are two things to watch out for regarding the stylus shape.

One is that many earlier mono LPs have shallow bottoms, and/or the bottoms of the groove are mired in decades of accumulated grime. You can run into problems with tracking and noise if the stylus shape is narrow and pointed enough to allow the very tip to touch the bottom of the groove or the dirt that may be there.

Two is that a line-contact stylus will make the effects of stylus rake angle (SRA) and cantilever rake angle (which I think is a far more descriptive term for cartridges than VTA) more noticeable, and if you have a tonearm that doesn't allow easy height control, you may be better off with a spherical stylus.

Regarding coil structure, it should be real mono rather than strapped stereo. On paper, strapped stereo coils, or using a mono switch on the preamp will get the job done. In the real world the results are audibly better with real mono coils. Canceling whatever vertical noise component that may be present in a mono groove assumes very tight matching of channel output as well as magnetic and capacitive crosstalk - but this assumption doesn't hold up well in the real world. And in general (with amplifiers as well as transducers), not picking up an error component in the first place is preferable to picking it up and trying to cancel it out later.

Regarding vertical compliance, a mono cartridge should have it. Mono LPs are not tougher than stereo LPs, both are made from the same materials, and both will remain in good condition for a lot longer if grooves are not subjected to high pressure - especially if that pressure is concentrated on a narrow area of the groove. If the cartridge suspension has no vertical compliance, the same stylus will require higher tracking forces than if there is vertical compliance.

This also becomes an argument in favor of line-contact styli, since they do the best job of distributing the vertical tracking forces over a wide area of the groove. ... 

hope that this has been informative, jonathan carr

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