Mono Cartridges
The Soundsmith is the world’s most diverse maker of mono cartridges: we make more models than any other manufacturer!! Every one of our magnetic designs is available as a MONO design.
Our Mono designs are "dual coil" mono designs. They are true MONO designs that are unique creations in the cartridge industry, allowing the listener to enjoy mono recordings with an ambiance not available with any other mono cartridge design, as well as providing numerous wiring methods for maximum flexibility of use. They also have vertical compliance, so will NOT damage stereo records as some mono designs can, and do.
The dual coil feature allows you to use your Soundsmith mono cartridge in several ways. Wiring the cartridge as if it were a stereo cartridge will allow you to listen to the two independent monaural channels, one from each speaker.
You may also use only one cartridge channel for mono; please use the RIGHT channel (RED-GREEN) as the cartridge body/shield/ground is carried on the green connection. You may also wire the channels in parallel with Y cables, which will cancel some of the difference products on each channel produced by the dual coil design. This can also be accomplished by using a mono switch on your preamp. For higher output, if needed, wire the left/right channels in series, using a short jumper wire AT IMMEDIATE REAR OF THE CARTRIDGE from the red to the blue. Use the WHITE as the hot lead and the green as ground. This will double the output voltage, but will then require a change in the minimum load as follows: 100K load for our high output designs, 3000 Ohms for our medium output designs, and 1000 Ohms minimum load for our low output designs (which normally require a 470 Ohm minimum load).
Please let us know how you are enjoying the Soundsmith’s DUAL COIL monaural cartridge design you have chosen.
Thanks for listening! Peter Ledermann/President
