Brunswick Cortez

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CarlosV
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by CarlosV »

JerryVan wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:38 pm
The Cortez has a sound unique to it which differs from a Credenza & Viva Tonal. Some prefer it. The would-be seller here is not the only one to choose the Cortez over the competition. To each their own... :)
I can appreciate each in their own unique way, but if I could only keep one, it would be the Credenza. As for EMG/Expert, I'm guessing not many on this side of the pond have had the pleasure of interacting with one face-to-face. I do not doubt their performance however.
Having the Cortez in the same room as the HMV 202 and the Victor VV 8-35, I limit the use of the Cortez to acoustic records, as it is clearly limited in the reproduction of the low end of the spectrum in comparison with the re-entrants when playing electrically recorded music. The Cortez has also an important design flaw: a hard connection between soundbox and tonearm, with no damping rubber ring. This flaw adds stress and wear to the record (in the feedback of spurious vibrations from the soundbox back to the record groove) and in the transmission of extraneous noise through the system, that is filtered out in the systems that have such rubber damper. From the esthetics standpoint, I like it very much, it looks nicer than the others.

gunnarthefeisty
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by gunnarthefeisty »

CarlosV wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:03 am
epigramophone wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 4:42 am So the seller thinks that it is "the best sounding acoustic phonograph anyone ever produced."
The Brunswick Cortez is a very fine internal horn machine, but nothing beats an EMG or an Expert.
Indeed! Even staying in the US production, the Victor orthophonics (Credenza and the like) and the Columbia Viva Tonal 810 are better designed acoustically than the Cortez. The large-horned EMGs and Experts are in a different league from all of these - but the re-entrant HMV202 comes close.
I would heavily disagree. I've heard a properly restored Credenza vs an unrestored Hampton- smaller than the Cortez. The smaller Hampton equalled the Credenza in clarity and volume, perhaps even more so in terms of clarity. I would bet that a Cortez would be a heck of a lot better.

gunnarthefeisty
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by gunnarthefeisty »

however, bass is better on the credenza.

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

My Panatrope 15-8 is not a large machine but plays better with acoustical recordings than a Credenza; it's a better general-purpose system. The Victor Credenza is great for bass but please, folks, quit talking the Panatropes up before people jettison their Victrolas & snap up all the Brunswicks.

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Inigo
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by Inigo »

Something to be noted with different sizes of horns. Big horns give a better bass, but mid range and treble get somewhat lost... Smaller horns produce a better midrange and treble. Perhaps the best acoustic system would need derivations from the sound pipe to two or three different sizes of horns.
My perception about this has been collected from my long experience with perfectly restored sound systems of the hmv194 (second size reentrant) and the 127 (the largest tabletop). Both using the same 5a soundbox. Although doc opinions say that the loss of treble on the bigger ones is due to the re-entrant folded horn, where treble suffers the killing reflections more than the bass notes. The differences are subtle anyway, except in the bass, where the big ones are the winners. The hmv127 smaller horn is curved exponential, but not folded.
Inigo

gunnarthefeisty
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by gunnarthefeisty »

VanEpsFan1914 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:54 pm My Panatrope 15-8 is not a large machine but plays better with acoustical recordings than a Credenza; it's a better general-purpose system. The Victor Credenza is great for bass but please, folks, quit talking the Panatropes up before people jettison their Victrolas & snap up all the Brunswicks.
Haha I will try. I hope to find another Hampton- sold mine because the cabinet had been butchered.

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

gunnarthefeisty wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:31 pm
VanEpsFan1914 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:54 pm My Panatrope 15-8 is not a large machine but plays better with acoustical recordings than a Credenza; it's a better general-purpose system. The Victor Credenza is great for bass but please, folks, quit talking the Panatropes up before people jettison their Victrolas & snap up all the Brunswicks.
Haha I will try. I hope to find another Hampton- sold mine because the cabinet had been butchered.
Good luck finding another Hampton; you've had some good luck finding machines so far & you've had some fun adventures. There has to be a fresh one popping up here & there. I still am of the opinion that you really cannot find a bad Panatrope style.

One Victrola which I'm very fond of would be the Consolette. They have a more Panatrope-style horn in them, not a huge folded one--and they really do great with all kinds of records. I'd probably end up getting a Consolette one of these days.

gunnarthefeisty
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by gunnarthefeisty »

VanEpsFan1914 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:56 pm
gunnarthefeisty wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:31 pm
VanEpsFan1914 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:54 pm My Panatrope 15-8 is not a large machine but plays better with acoustical recordings than a Credenza; it's a better general-purpose system. The Victor Credenza is great for bass but please, folks, quit talking the Panatropes up before people jettison their Victrolas & snap up all the Brunswicks.
Haha I will try. I hope to find another Hampton- sold mine because the cabinet had been butchered.
Good luck finding another Hampton; you've had some good luck finding machines so far & you've had some fun adventures. There has to be a fresh one popping up here & there. I still am of the opinion that you really cannot find a bad Panatrope style.

One Victrola which I'm very fond of would be the Consolette. They have a more Panatrope-style horn in them, not a huge folded one--and they really do great with all kinds of records. I'd probably end up getting a Consolette one of these days.
I've had INTERESTING luck. I may be able to find a decent machine at sinfully low prices, but there's ALWAYS something wrong with it. VV-35 with no handle, Hampton with no legs, Vic 3 with worn finish & a bolted together spring, Fireside with a bad case.

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

gunnarthefeisty wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:17 pm
I've had INTERESTING luck. I may be able to find a decent machine at sinfully low prices, but there's ALWAYS something wrong with it. VV-35 with no handle, Hampton with no legs, Vic 3 with worn finish & a bolted together spring, Fireside with a bad case.
[/quote]

These aren't all bad. A VV-35 is like anything else portable from back then; the handles get knocked off. The Fireside case would be no problem if you had the trick of refinishing figured out. And if you gave me 2 hours maximum with that Victor 3, you'd never know that it had a worn finish to begin with. I know how to blend stuff.
The hobby's great, but this stuff is pushing 100-120 years old at this point, and yeah finding anything from back then in good shape is harder & harder.

gunnarthefeisty
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Re: Brunswick Cortez

Post by gunnarthefeisty »

VanEpsFan1914 wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:25 pm
gunnarthefeisty wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:17 pm
I've had INTERESTING luck. I may be able to find a decent machine at sinfully low prices, but there's ALWAYS something wrong with it. VV-35 with no handle, Hampton with no legs, Vic 3 with worn finish & a bolted together spring, Fireside with a bad case.
These aren't all bad. A VV-35 is like anything else portable from back then; the handles get knocked off. The Fireside case would be no problem if you had the trick of refinishing figured out. And if you gave me 2 hours maximum with that Victor 3, you'd never know that it had a worn finish to begin with. I know how to blend stuff.
The hobby's great, but this stuff is pushing 100-120 years old at this point, and yeah finding anything from back then in good shape is harder & harder.
[/quote]
shoot, any advice on blending with the Vic 3? I really don't want to refinish, but worst comes to worst I can touch it up with shellac

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