Hi from new member

I joined a few months ago to take advantage of the loaner program. Many thanks to Bruce for his friendly assistance. I'm finally placing my order for an Accession MC. It's the best of the phono stages I auditioned over the last few months. A full, rich sound without sacrificing detail. The mono switch sealed it. I have many mono LPs, and they all sounded dramatically better using the mono switch. I don't know why so few phono stages have one.

Anyway, I'm happy to be joining the club. My current system is mostly tubes:

Devore O93 speakers

Line Magnetic 845 SET integrated amp

VRD ST-45 power amp (KT88 push-pull amp made by Craig Ostby of NOSValves)

DeHavilland Ultraverve III preamp

Manley Chinook phono stage

Garrard 301 in DIY plinth with Ortofon RS-309D

Lumin D2 streamer/DAC

Happy listening!

Played with a stereo cartridge in a stereo system, a mono record still gives you the same musical content out of each speaker, so it still sounds mono. But with the mono switch engaged, there is significantly less surface noise, I assume due to the absence of any vertical signal from the cartridge (vertical signal from a mono LP is just noise--all the recorded content is in the horizontal signal). I have some VG- mono LPs that play with almost no surface noise when the mono switch is engaged. It's really night and day. I also hear better bass and more solidity and presence in the recording with the mono switch engaged. I actually prefer the mono versions in most cases where I own both mono and stereo.