You know, I've never paid that much attention to whether the vinyl in my collection was mono or stereo, as it really didn't matter much to me, because in the past I was only listening with a stereo phono cartridge, like my EMT TSD-15 or Denon DL 103.

But these days, every time I pull out a record I look at it, and ask myself, "Is this stereo or mono?" Well, it turns out that a lot of my jazz albums are actually mono, and I just never paid attention before.

To make it more interesting, old jazz records & their remasters don't necessarily say 'mono' on the cover or in the notes anywhere. Instead, the cover or notes will say something like 'high fidelity record', which appears to be what 'mono' records were called before it became popular to identify those new-fangled style of records as 'stereo'.

So, as a result, I am making discoveries of 'accidental mono' and it's been a revelation. Mono records that I knew only in 'stereo' - like the 45-rpm Ella and Louis reissue from Analogue Productions - that when played back with my Ortofon SPU Mono CG 25 Di MkII phono cartridge, bubbles forth with life and musicality that eluded my otherwise wonderful Ortofon SPU Classic GM MkII or EMT TSD-15 stereo phono cartridges.

My mono records, like the ones in my Miles Davis 45-rpm box set from Analogue Productions, another accidental mono discovery, when played back with a mono cartridge like the Ortofon SPU Mono CG 25 Di MkII, are full of presence, tone color, truth of timbre, and sheer beauty, that just eludes stereo phono cartridge playback.

I'm not saying mono is superior to stereo, as stereo recordings can be absolutely amazing, but using the right cartridge for the right records is really important to get the most music out of the grooves.

In my last blog post, I mentioned that the mono version of Gil Evans Great Jazz Standards from Pure Pleasure Records was not quite up to the exalted level of Masterpieces By Ellington as a mono record, but guess what, these two 45-rpm examples from Analogue Productions are most definitely at Masterpieces' level, and maybe beyond. They're really good.

As I continue to go through my records I'll let you know about my accidental mono discoveries.

Thanks for stopping by!