Mono?

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I use two speakers for my mono. Some cats here have dedicated mono setups with mono cartridges and even single speakers.

If you have a mono button (generally, it sums the channels), it makes mono LPs sound better and less noisy. No need for a mono button with CD.

I have a mono button on my vintage Marantz 2238 and often use two cables to sum to mono from my turntable when using my modern setup.

For some 60s bands, mono recordings sound better. But not always. For early Stones LPs, mono is the way to go since the stereo was fake, "electronically processed" doo doo.
 
I use it for weak FM signals. Most of the time what we call mono these days is actually the summed signal (L+R), of course. Most of us know this, but some don't understand the difference. I mean, uh, the sum.

However, like most, my mono listening (except for portable radio) is done with two speakers, and most of it is when listening to old Bruno Walter recordings - which sound great, imo.
 
The only time I use the mono button on my preamp is for mono recordings (although it really doesn't matter, in that case), but also for some of the "false stereo recordings"--stuff that was originally recorded in mono and "re-created" in stereo (can be quite awful), and some early stereo recordings where they were "showing off" the stereo effect and creating a really unbalanced (or even lack thereof) sound-stage by placing specific instruments or vocals 100% in one channel to prove that there were two distinct channels.
 
Since some units have a mono button, you can use it when playing mono records and like Hal said the radio. Since the same sound come out both speaker in a stereo system, you can also throw the balance to one side and really have a better mono sound.
 
My preamp has a mode switch that allows switching for Stereo, Mono, Reverse, Left, Right.
 
I play MONO about 92.35% of the time using my dedicated MONO system. It sounds so good and the sweet spot is the whole room. :music:

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Summing a monaural record played on a 2-channel system (by way of the "Mono" button) is a known way to reduce some of the noise of LP playback. Remember, monaural records are cut with lateral (horizontal) modulation, so any type of noise that is out of phase between channels (or essentially, any vertical stylus movement) will be cancelled out during playback. That is the one thing I miss in my current setup--not having the Mono button. And I don't care to add extra jacks, plugs and wires to make an outboard switch for it.
 
I use mono when I have a mono source. Just place the stereo pre amp in the mono mode and then feed the HT processor in and the sound comes out the center channel. If I don't want any Digital processing and want total analog, I have inst alled a switch so the left channel of the Stereo preamp will feed the center channel speaker. and by pass the HT processor. I have over 200 mono recordings, both on CD, and LP.
 
I listen to mono if the recording is mono. I also purchase recordings of mono albums if the original mix was done in mono and then electronically altered. Like Kenindc says early Stones and a lot of the British invasion bands like The Kinks, The Who, The Beatles,The Animals and of course Dylan were originally recorded and mixed in mono mode.
 
My phono-pre has a mono button, but I only use it to adjust balance by tweaking the individual channel gain controls on my amp. Works for me.
 
You can also use mono if you're not going to be sitting in the sweet spot. Maybe you're playing cards with the family on the floor and you're next to one of the speakers. You could switch it to mono and make sure you're hearing the full recording, not just the one channel you're closest to.
 
savatage1973 said:
The only time I use the mono button on my preamp is for mono recordings (although it really doesn't matter, in that case), but also for some of the "false stereo recordings"--stuff that was originally recorded in mono and "re-created" in stereo (can be quite awful), and some early stereo recordings where they were "showing off" the stereo effect and creating a really unbalanced (or even lack thereof) sound-stage by placing specific instruments or vocals 100% in one channel to prove that there were two distinct channels.
Click to expand...
The fake stereo recordings are terrible, and I try to avoid them. They seem to have a hollow sound or as one person put it, they sound like your speakers are at the bottom of an oil drum.
 
I use mono for:
Mono recordings
Weak FM radio stations
and most recently, I replaced some components in one speaker and used mono to compare the sound of the two speakers.
 
Whenever I'm fishing cut bait on a sandy beach (Trilene Big Game in 15 or 20# test). PP braid the rest of the time (especially for bucktails and other lures).


Oh, wait...where am I?
 
I use the mono buttons all the time when repairing gear. Very useful to check volume pot tracking, audible phase shift from one channel to the other and overall balance (play anything mono, lift the two negative speaker wires * and connect together- perfect balance means no sound).

The interesting thing about many mono (summing) networks is they don't always truly combine all the signal, ie some are not the same as using a Y-splitter and feeding the same signal to both channels.

*only with common ground amps
 
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