periclimenes
Active Member
Hello. I recently became curious about the effect (if any) of the stylus profile and size on the playback of older mono records. My understanding is that early mono LPs were cut and intended to be played back with 1 mil conical styli. I had been using a Grado Black on my turntable and was looking to try a new cartridge, so I picked up a Nagaoka MP-110 (which has an 0.4x0.7 elliptical diamond), a JN-P100 stylus (0.6 mil conical), an N-MP 1.0 stylus (1.0 mil conical), and an N-MP 2.0 stylus (2.0 mil conical). If you are interested in the results, here is a recording of So What from a VG 1st Dutch mono pressing of Kind of Blue using each stylus. None of these have had any sort of break-in period. Please weigh in and share your thoughts!
Elliptical
0.6 Conical
1.0 Conical
2.0 Conical
Elliptical
0.6 Conical
1.0 Conical
2.0 Conical