[erimille]

Has anyone here who has built the Bugle upgraded to the Cornet2?

The Bugle for me has far exceeded expectations, and pretty darn fun to build [1] but my current Amp is pretty unforgiving and I'm thinking the Cornet might be a better match.

Are we talking a little better, twice as good, no contest?  I realize this is a subjective question, but I welcome any response

[1] http://potlach.org/2004/08/preamp/

--eric

ps: any upgrades to the Cornet in addition to the ones listed in Jim's manual are also appreciated

[Wayne1]

I built the Bugle first, like you. I really enjoyed the sound of it. It was far better than anything close to it's price range.

A friend of mine, mgalusha, built a Cornet and compared it to my Bugle. The Cornet was an order of magnitude better.

I have now built a couple of Cornets. With the right tubes, I fell they can give just about any phono section a run for their money.

I have listened to the Trumpet. Again, WITH THE RIGHT TUBES, The Cornet came VERY close to the sound of the Trumpet.

Here is my Bugle:



Here is my Cornet:





This was based on the premium version Mr. Hagerman sells.

I went a little bit beyond his version as far as "audiophile" quality parts.

All of the resistors for the RIAA section are Riken-Ohm 1 watts. The dropping resistors for the heater circuit are Mills non inductive. The capacitors in the signal path are Jensen paper in oil, copper foil. The RIAA caps are Multicap polystyrene where it would fit and polypropylene where it wouldn't.

The power supply caps are Elna Cerafine bypassed with Multicap PP and a JJ cap, also with the same bypass. The heater PS used Panasonics.

All of the internal wiring is Bolder Cable, of course. The input and output cable is NITRO interconnect. Two small Bybee purifiers are installed at the circuit board inputs.

I installed the constant current source, star grounding and increased the value of the output cap as per Mr. Hagerman's tips on his website.

[Marbles]

Mgalusha compared them, here are his thoughts.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=3536&

[Marbles]

Wayne also modded my Cornet and I am VERY happy with it.

[mgalusha]

I agree with all of Waynes comments. The Cornet is an excellent phono stage but it certainly requires good tubes.

Damn kind of you to pull up my review Rob, I had forgotten about it.

mike

[erimille]

I built the Bugle first, like you. I really enjoyed the sound of it. It was far better than anything close to it's price range.

agreed!

A friend of mine, mgalusha, built a Cornet and compared it to my Bugle. The Cornet was an order of magnitude better.

Thanks Marbles for the pointer to mgalusha's review. And thanks mgalusha for taking the time to write this up. This was very helpful!

I have now built a couple of Cornets. With the right tubes, I fell they can give just about any phono section a run for their money.

I have listened to the Trumpet. Again, WITH THE RIGHT TUBES, The Cornet came VERY close to the sound of the Trumpet.

If I might ask, which tubes are you using?  I've got a NOS Mazda 5Y3GB I've been thinking of using in this if I decide to build; haven't decided on the other tubes just yet.

Here is my Bugle: ... Here is my Cornet: ...

Thanks again for these pictures. *Very* impressive and helpful. I printed out your Bugle as a means for motivating me to build mine. I just did the same for your Cornet. I'd be happy if I could get this half as nice as yours

This was based on the premium version Mr. Hagerman sells.

Do you know what the specifics of this premium version are? Are these the ones listed the sugested modifications in the Cornet2 manual; or something else?

I went a little bit beyond his version as far as "audiophile" quality parts.

Did you build stock first and then upgrade? or go straight to the top? Just curious as to before or after.

Thats for the additional details on the modifications. I'm afraid without a couple more cups of coffee, the level of detail I'd need at the moment would be a bit more hand-holding. e.g.

change C203 to ???
change C200, C206 and C208 to ???

etc.etc.

If you have this information and willing to share, I for one certainly would appreciate it

All of the internal wiring is Bolder Cable, of course. The input and output cable is NITRO interconnect. Two small Bybee purifiers are installed at the circuit board inputs.

Do you sell wire in small quantities (basically enough to do such a project)?  Bybee purifiers... yumm!

Thanks for the detailed response... I really appreciate the feedback!

--eric

[Wayne1]

When Mr. Hagerman was just offering the Cornet, he sold his assembled ones with Multicaps for coupling and bypass and changed the output coupling caps to 1 uF.

The values I used are the same. I just went to different vendors to get the parts. I have used the Riken Ohms in other projects and really liked the way they sound compared to most metal film resistors. I used the MultiCaps in the areas I did because they could fit the board reasonably well and I have used then before and knew their sound. The Jensens were a large expense and fairly hard to fit. I had heard very good things about the sound when used with vinyl and tubes and decided it was worth the money to try them.

Others that have built the Cornet have used Hovland and Auricaps and have been happy with that combo.

I am currently building a Clarinet and I have decided to try out the new Mundorf Silver foil in oil caps. They are a little bit less expensive than the Jensen and they are quite a bit smaller.

Currently I am using all NOS, 2)Tung-Sol 12AX7s,  1) JG-5814 and a Sylvania JAN CHS 5Y3WGTA.

I built the Cornet as seen in the pictures. That is one of the things I really like about the half-kits, you can build them as you want them. You are not locked into to stock parts. I listened to Mike's and he went through some changes in his Cornet. I took some of his findings and my own experience to decide what parts to use. I am very happy with the result.

I do not sell any of the wire I use for projects. I only sell the wire in finished products. Cardas and Kimber both offer very good chassis wire. Welborne Labs also has a reasonable cost wire as does Handmade Electronics.

[erimille]

I agree with all of Waynes comments. The Cornet is an excellent phono stage but it certainly requires good tubes.

Damn kind of you to pull up my review Rob, I had forgotten about it.

mike

mgalusha,

In you're review [1] I noticed the point you made about the top end of the Cornet. -  "The top end seems slightly rolled off and it may be that the Cornet needs some more break it."

Assuming now it's been broken in, are you noticing a difference?

Also, was did you build the cornet or the cornet2? I'm assuming the cornet, but just checking.

Again, thanks for the review! Very helpful!

--eric

[1] http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=3536&

[mgalusha]

Eric,

I suppose I should update the review I wrote as some things have certainly changed.

I ended up replacing the coupling caps with Auricaps whereas I had originally used the Multicaps. I much prefer the Auricaps over the Multicaps in this application. I also added the constant current source which at the time was part of the Premium version offered by Mr. Hagerman. I think the CCS is now part of the Cornet 2 which did not yet exist when I built mine.

With the above changes and plenty of use the slightly rolled off top end I originally noticed is no longer a problem. The sound is nicely extended and I am very happy with my Cornet. I ended up adding a pair of Jensen MC step up transformers inside the chassis as my cartridge is of the low output type. I put them inside the chassis in order to eliminate the extra cables and jacks required for external step up transformers.

I am using Sovtek 12AX7LPS and a Mullard CV4003 in the 12AU7 position. I have an old RCA 5Y3GT rectifier, not sure what vintage. These are perhaps not the ultimate tubes but are certainly quite good. I have tried quite a few others and found I like this particular combination very much. One of these days I will get a pair of the Tung-Sol 12AX7's and see how they sound but for now things are pretty good.

Good luck on your project, it's well worth it.

mike

[erimille]

Thanks mgalusha for the update! much appreciated!

--eric

[erimille]

(slight diversion but along the same lines)

Anyone have handy the specific dimensions of the cornet2 circuit board?

--eric

[GRD]

Eric,

I agree with the previous comments.  I built the Bugle (stock) and decided to go with the Cornet when pricing the difference between building the Bugle power supply or just upgrading to the Cornet.  The Bugle is terrrific but the Cornet is in a different league - really precise, dynamic, and more alive.  It responds a lot to the tubes you use, and I have been fortunate to have a local electronics swap meet where I can find cheap used and sometimes NOS tubes to try out.  Good news - I find the Sovtek 12aX7LPS are very good in my system.   The AU7 makes a big difference, but these are relatively cheap.  The rectifier was the big suprise and I find  it is as important as the AU7.  

As far as parts, I liked the change by adding a few Riken's in the signal path and slightly preferred The Jensen to the Auricaps in the final output.  But a lot of the final sound depends on your set-up and your preferences.

My current tube combination is a Conn labeled RCA 12AU7, 2 RCA black plate 12AX7 and a 6106 rectifier.  But I could happily live with a lot of other combinations.  

Regards,

Grant