[penance]

and im well happy, im going to impliment the constant current mod and replace some caps with better quality but for now heres some pics





For my first proper project im very happy, and the sound is wonderfull. I had a slight hum at first but with some advice from Jim i managed to track it down to a system ground loop.
I have some copper on order so as i can make a better case, it will be the same design but with copper and a nicer wood used for the cheeks.

[hagtech]

Just received this very kind testimonial in the mail...

Cornet RIAA valve pre-amplifier half kit.

As soon as I opened the envelope, and took out the printed circuit board, I could see that this was to be no ordinary project.  The board is superb – one of the best I have ever seen – and clearly a great deal of thought has gone into the layout and design.

I have many hundreds of LP’s and vinyl test pressings, having worked professionally as a recording engineer for the past 30 years.

My intention was to transfer and preserve some of these recordings to CD for my own archive and listening pleasure.   The problem was that I was unable to find an RIAA pre-amplifier to do them justice. I have tried a great number of transistorized pre-amps, and have also built three or four valve designs, including the vintage circuits published by RCA in the US and by Mullard in Great Britain.


I built the Cornet kit in a standard aluminium box with the valves and power transformer mounted on the top. I had a set of Mullard (England) NOS valves which had been used about 100 hrs, and decided to try them in this pre-amplifier. The audio quality of the Cornet surpassed my expectations.  Excellent definition, precise controlled dynamics, a much fuller, cleaner low end than I had expected, and crisp distortion-free highs.  After several days of listening, I took the unit to my workshop. On the bench it actually surpassed the published specifications in all but one parameter – gain. And that was within 1dB.  The noise level, which is often a problem in valve stages, with hiss and hum sometimes audible in quiet passages, is very low indeed, with a signal to noise ratio of 75dB.  I measured a noise floor of only 120µV using the A-weighted curve.  This is very good indeed.

An excellent pre-amplifier – highly recommended.

Iain M Churches.
10.10.2003

I couldn't be more pleased.

jh

[penance]

Congrats mate,
all he said is spot on, i reckon mine is just about burnt in now.
One hell of a listening session last night, it just gets better

Best upgrade for my vinyl system for years, cant wait to get my DIY deck done, something to do justice for the Cornet