Listening to the Cornet
I had fun cleaning up my Michell Gyrodeck that has essentially gone unused except for about 3 sessions in the past 10 years. With only about 5 hours on the Cornet, this is really too soon to give the Cornet its proper due. So consider these initial impressions.
As others have stated, the Cornet is silent with no hum or buzz present. The first few hours were one of patience, waiting for the music to start to meld together. Prior to that there was not really any integration to the highs, mids and bass, as though the players weren't quite on the same page.
What I did notice immediately was a greater sense of space, 3-D soundstage and much better highs than I'm used to. On the second day of listening, the system started to sound more coherent. Still the great soundstage, and by now the lows and mids were starting to flesh out better.
By last night, I put one of my favorite Albums one that no one has probably ever heard of. It's the first solo album by Russell Smith, who was the front man for the eclectic country rock group "The Amazing Rhythm Aces". Russell has a fantastic voice and I heard things on that album I've not heard in the same way before. There was a delicacy and air that I've never noticed in the dozens of times I've played the album. And this is on a mid-priced Grado cartridge that is now 14 years old.
To put things in perspective, my other preamp is a Music Reference RM5 Mk II with RCA 6922 tubes from Holland. This preamp was designed for vinyl playback and had a very good reputation in it's day. My current system is the Basie DIY preamp which the Cornet is connected to. Even after only 5 hours, the Cornet is an all around better performer.
I'll do a better review later and add some of my experiences with tube rolling. I may go through a cartridge change prior to that however.
