[markmaloof]

I just finished a late night music session and am so excited I have to do a post.  I finished my Cornet Classic a couple months ago, but have waited for it to burn it a bit before I comment.  And, yes, it has "opened up" over time.

If I get a chance, I'll post a pic.  It's not super special looking, just a Hammond chasis that is nicely hammertone painted a light black.  The inside is a bit "kooky" looking, as I noticed the chasis rang a bit without wood on the sides. So I used numerous sections of vinyl damping sheet, and then finished up with some sound deading spray. So the inside of the chasis is a bit dark and textured looking (hardly like a commercial product), but now the chasis is pretty dead, and, hey, you can't see it on the outside, right?

 I built the classic with the upgraded trannie (370BX), Panasonic electrolytics, Riken Ohm resistors (big to work with!) in the critical points (with four Mills in one value I could not get in Rikens), Dale Vishay metal film resistors in non-critical areas.  Sonicaps (favorites of mine) in most critical sections (coupling, RIAA network, etc), a pair of Jantzen caps, etc.  
Some silver wire, Cardas rhodium RCA jacks, yadda yadda yadda.

I installed Lundahls inside, and under recomendation of another Cornet/Grounded Grid owner, wired it up for 20X (using a Denon 103R, pretty low output.)  The thing is, the preamp goes into a crossover amp for my Innersound Eros speakers, which has a 1 to 99 DB volume adjustment level.  Had I been running the preamp direct into an amplifier, then mabye the 20X step up would be good. However, I was amazed to find that the phonostage was louder than the SACD player (tip off number one.)  I was also amazed at the bass from the Cornet, but thought things sounded on the edge of distortion with loud percussion transients.  "Did I wire this thing up right?"  I wondered.  But the hint of distortion on louder transients clued me in that mabye there was too much gain. So some time later with the soldeing gun and jumpering the Lundahls down to 10X and bingo!, there it is.  Volume level just about that of the line level SACD player (not louder), gone is the hint of distortion.  Wow, sounding good, but breakin was in order.  

Now it sounds REAL GOOD.  What I have noticed is a) the sound has become more balanced, this thing has a good even frequency response b) that goofy but fun thing called soundstaging has taken it up a notch or two (if the recording has a large image, be it natural or studio trickery, the Cornet places it nice and big outside the edges of my electrostats. but it does not exaggerate things, only shows what is on the recording.)  

This thing KILLS my Audible Illusion Mod. 3 (with John Curl gold step up board.)  More detail, very impressive bass, large image when called for.  I will mention the bass again: while it may not have the 100% complete solid control of the bass that some well designed solid state units can have, it has very, very, very good bass control.  I find I'm missing nothing with rock/funk/reggae, etc, just noticed an ever so slight (very slight!) rounding of the edges on percussion transients, but I'm nitpicking.  I'm happy with the bit of tube euphony that comes with the unit, enough for midrange magic, but not "tubey" as some people think tubes sound (mushy bass, excessively warm liquid "syrupy" sound, rolled off, etc)  What I hear is an amazing pleasant yet pretty accurate midrange and that slight accentuation of ambience that tubes can do, that makes a recording come alive.

Oh, and it's quiet.  I can turn things up full bore and no tube rush.  Can't do that with the Aud. Ill!

The other thing is I still have not tube rolled much, so I may not even be 100% there.  Right now it's a Sylvania 5Y3, the recomended Sovtek 12AX7s (they sound great in this unit, may just settle), and have swapped back and fourth between an RCA clear top 12AU7 and a regular ol' JJ labs 12AU7.  I think I may prefer the JJ labs to the RCA cleartop, it sounds more alive.  Will try to dig up some interesting NOS 12AU7s in the near future, and maybe try a different rectifier (GZ34?)

So if you are thinking of building a Cornet, do so!  I have a very nice high mass turntable (Quattro, designed by Thom Mackris now of Galibier and Peter Clark of Redpoint, it's a killer table), and a very revealing speaker system (Innersound Eros with latest panels and crossover amp.)  Do I feel like I'm missing anything with the Cornet that I spent a few hundred bucks to build?  No!  Is the Cornet the ultimate phono stage?  Well, compared to some multithousand dollar units (or the Trumpet), probably not.  But it will stand close, and for the few bills I spent on it (and the wonderful nights of soldering, ha ha), it's one of the greatest audio bargains around.  Not a taste of highend, but true highend.  Jim, thanks much.  You don't know how happy I am that I built the Cornet, it has gone beyond my expectations.

[Eric H]

Congrats on your Cornet and thanks for the very nice, complete review.... I enjoyed reading it.  Yours construction is pretty much what I did for my Cornet 2 - Hammond chassis damped with dynamat-like stuff along with black hammertone paint.  I especially like your comparison to other more expensive units since I haven't done that in my system.  

These days I'm considering trying an MC cart and step-ups with my Cornet - any thoughts?  What model Lundahls do you have?  What do you think of them?

[markmaloof]

The Lundahls are 9206.  They fit perfectly in the chasis.  I was curious to try the Stevens and Billingtons, as they are supposed to be  a bit more transparent, but they are also something like four times the price, so maybe sometime in the future.  However, the Lundahls seem to have a nice synergistic effect with the Cornet, so I may just say "I'm done".  Plus, the Lundahls fit inside the chasis nice, which cuts down on the need for extra interconnects, and make a nice shorter signal path in and out of the step-up.  If you go with the 9206, I recomend buying the pc boards for them that Kevin sells, they make wiring the trannies (and mounting them) so much easier.

Well, for low output moving coils I have used Dynavector 20XL (pretty good), Ortofon Kontrapunt B (much better and more detailed, but it tossed any groove damage or mistracking in your face, and ultimately I could not live with it) a friend's borrowed Supex 900 (nice, I might buy it off him, not certain, have to try it out again) and currently a Denon 103R.  This is THE one out of everything I have mentioned (though I do have to compare it to the Supex), the best $250 I have spent in audio, a true bargain.  Tracks better than anything I have tried so far, plenty of detail, and it has a way with percussion that suits much of the music I listen to (while the Supex may be a bit more polite in this department.)  I would recomend the Denon with no reservations, and if you don't like it, you can dump it quick on Audiogon.  $250 from audiocubes in Japan.  Sure, there is better out there, and I would love a Transfiguration or other expensive cart some day (when I also upgrade my arm), but I don't feel like I'm missing a ton with the Denon at all.  Don't let the low price fool you!

[Rocket]

Hi,

How much did the cornet (with step up transformer) cost you to build?  I also use a denon 103 cartridge and purchased it for $150us.  I need a new phonostage.

Thanks for the review.

Regards

Rod

[analog97]

I use a Denon 103 also and think it has tremendous value.  Also interested in the performance of the Lundahls relative to the top-drawer S&B, so thanks for the feedback.  The pictures of the Lundahls on the web were confusing to me.  They look flat?  I thought there had to be circular windings inside.  I would appreciate your posting pictures of where/how the Lundahls were fit in the Cornet2 chassis as well as the experience of others with the Lundahls.    Thanks.

[hagtech]

The Lundahl's are indeed flat.  Actually, a box.  Well shielded and constructed.  Windings do not have to be in a circle.  Wire does not have to be round.  The internal core can be any shape.  Not sure what they have inside, maybe a rectangular core, maybe a rounded one with rectangular returns or shield.  The core has to be a loop.  A toroid is an obvious solution.  Then there is the standard "E" core used in the Hammond power trannys.  Windings around the center leg, flux returns in outer legs.  You can extend that concept to 360 degrees, hence a completely shielded core.  I use such in the HAGDAC output filters.  Easy with molded ferrite, probably impossible with laminations.

I'll be using the 9206's in the HagLab "phono one" machine.  Designed in the 1538XL into my microphone preamp and COMPRESSOR.  I like their design.  Not cheap, but for me they're good because of the PCB mounting, which is sort of my hallmark.

jh

[markmaloof]

Here are some Cornet photos, nothing fancy.  I have the Cornet sitting on black plexiglass on five large rubber balls, which in turn sit on a plexiglass top-plate inside a sandbox with 15 to 20lbs of sand.  Using a stephascope on the Cornet chasis while rapping on the Target stand, sandbox, etc, I detect barely any vibration (if any) in the Cornet chasis.  Perhaps a bit overkill, but why not (I use plexi and rubber balls in o-rings under all my source components.)

Here is a top view:  

another view from the front:

The side: note the screws in a square pattern near the front of the chasis.  This is where the Lundahls are mounted, on stand-offs.


Now the inside (sorry, the focus is a little off). Dig how that damping material and spray-on soundcoating make the inside of the chasis look crappy (but reduce its ringing greatly.)  Note the Lundahls, on their pc boards, sidemounted near the rca jacks.  Kevin's pc boards made mounting them very easy, there are corner holes for standoffs in place.  If one wants to skip the pc boards, the trannies could be mounted with doublesided tape.

Last but not least is the beast that supplys it with music.  It's a Quattro table that was a Redpoint design when Peter Clark and Thom Mackris (now of Galibier) were partners.  The platter is a prototype, 2 inches of PVC chambered with leadshot and oil on a 1 inch aluminum carrier (24 lbs), the base an MDF/aluminum top plate design filled with leadshot and oil (44 lbs), 8lb outboard motor pod (battery powered, and using 1/2 inch recording tape as a belt) and 6 lb record weight on the platter.  It's sitting on a 45lb aluminum slab (with tons of heatsinks I attached to it to stop ringing,) and sits in a 50lb sandbox I made.  A beautiful combo with the Cornet (though I do wish to upgrade the tricked-out Rega arm in the next year or two. The Rega is GREAT for it's price point, but better can be had someday when I have the funds to do so....)  The Denon 103R is astounding for the money (not the ultimate cartidge by any means, but you would have to spend close to a grand to better it by a substantial margin, I think.)

[markmaloof]

by the way, Jim....what is the deal with the mic pre you mentioned in your post response?

[hagtech]

what is the deal with the mic pre?

He he he.  Something I always wanted to do.  For serious recording studios.  Or anyone who likes to build half-kits.  Gonna look something like this:



jh

[markmaloof]

Ah, when is this going to be available?  While I have an 8 track analog set-up in my band space, I'm planning on recording my own art-damaged music in my apartment, will be getting either a Studer or Revox 2 track reel to reel (so I can record analog, and then dump into 24/96 digital and build up tracks bit by bit, then dump final mixdown back onto tape.  Would love to do it all analog, but don't have the room in the apartment for a big ol' 16 or 24 track 2 inch machine, and a very good 1/4 inch machine Studer/Revox will kick butt over my Tascam 8 track 1/2 inch.)

So I had been thinking about building one of Scott Hamton's (Hamptone.com) kits, but you sure know what you are doing, Jim, so your mic pre kit intrigues me (got a case hanging around that might work out fine.)

[hagtech]

I'm pretty far along.  Board layout almost done.  Just need to cram in another 4 to 6 hours.  Concept, design, schematics, mechanics all done.  Just gotta get this proto fired up.  Already built a breadboard of the sidechain stuff, so I am confident everything will work.  Just a matter of finding residual errors and tweaking in the component values.

Will work like an LA-2A but with more gain (enough for mic).  Opto compression, and with a solid state sidechain I get variable attack and decay.  All tube signal path, with gain stage and dc heaters adapted from CORNET architecture.  No feedback, so that makes this pre quite unique in the pro world.  The mechanics are something never done before.  

Available by summer.  Hopefully end of spring.

jh