Cornet 2 Question

fishydan · « **on:** 16 Jul 2005, 05:29 pm »

Hello All-

I'm really enjoying my Cornet 2, but I have an observation and a question- My previous phono pre (Curcio PAS3) sounded quite "dark" or uninvolving with modern Classic Records Blue Note Re-issues, but vintage vinyl (Blue Notes and Prestige, etc) sounded great. With the Cornet, the Classic Records sound fantastic, and the vintage stuff sounds bright! Don't get me wrong, the Cornet is much more involving, and has great bass and detail. That said, though, passages with a rapid change from soft to loud sound especially harsh. I have tried adjusting VTA, but it seems to have no effect (and the thickness of the various records seems quite similar).

Any ideas? A friend suggested bypassing R200 with a 100pF silver mica cap.
Any thoughts on that?

I have tried several different brands of coupling caps- Auricap, Multi-Cap RTX, and am about to try Cardas. But that gets expensive. Any help will be appreciated.

Best,
Dan

hagtech · « **Reply #1 on:** 16 Jul 2005, 06:38 pm »

I would never recommend adding loading capacitance. It is what usually causes any treble harshness. Nonetheless, the Cornet is an easy platform with which to experiment.

Not sure if this is a phono stage problem. Could be cart/arm or TT. What tubes are you using? I take it the coupling caps have all had some time on them to break in?

jh

fishydan · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 Jul 2005, 07:06 pm »

Hello Jim-

I'm using a Nottingham Horizon with a Graham Robin arm and a Shure V15VxMR cart. The reason I focused on the Cornet was that it was the new variable. I was very used to the sound of my Curcio PAS3.

Tubes are Electro Harmonix 12AX7EH, and I am currently not using the hybrid mod, so the 12au7 is a Telefunken. The rectifier is a NOS Mullard GZ34.

How long for the caps to "break in"?

Best,
Dan

hagtech · « **Reply #3 on:** 16 Jul 2005, 11:43 pm »

Aha, the V15. A classic that hates capacitive loading. You can verify this for me, add the 100pF and I bet the harshness gets worse. If so, then maybe the tonearm wiring has too much capacitance. Maybe it is possible to shorten? The Cornet is already as low as it can get (about 40pF).

The FryKleaner will do capacitors in about a day. Longer if you're using just music. Probably not caps anyway, as none of the records would sound good.

I wonder what the difference is between the old and new. Maybe they are cut different? Depth or amplitude levels? I don't know.

jh

fishydan · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Jul 2005, 01:27 am »

Hello Jim-

The added capacitance made the sound "grungy" overall. I didn't notice any change in the high frequencies. I have contacted the distributor of the tonearm cable (Exteme Phono Crimson) and asked about capacitance- I am awaiting a response. I am now back to using Telefunken 12AX7's, and they seem to have done the trick, though in the past I have had problems with high frequencies and the Teles. I am beginning to think something else is effecting the sound... but I'm not sure what it is.

Thanks,
Dan

fishydan · « **Reply #5 on:** 6 Aug 2005, 09:29 pm »

Hello Jim-

I have a follow up on my question about my Cornet treble harshness. I noticed that my Dynaco PAS 3 phono stage has 2.2K ohms of output impedence, and the Cornet has 1K. Might this effect the sound? The line stage of my PAS 3 had 1 MEG Ohm of Input impedence, but this is indicated as being adjustable.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dan

hagtech · « **Reply #6 on:** 6 Aug 2005, 11:17 pm »

I don't see a problem with it. Either stage should be able to drive it easily.

jh