An Electric Brunswick Cortez?

[Garret]

Hello,

A friend of mine stumbled upon this machine recently, which appears to be an electric Brunswick Cortez. Does anyone have any information on this model? Do they sound good?

I really shouldn't pursue this, but would love to have a bit more information before deciding to pass it along or not.

Best,

Garret

[bigshot]

That doesn't look like a Brunswick reproducer, but I have never seen an electric Cortez, so I don't know. Is it acoustic except for the turntable?

[marcapra]

It's not a reproducer, it's a pickup, and yes it's a Brunswick pickup, and yes it's a Cortez electric phonograph. Brunswick was well known for its electric Panatropes and this is one of them with the RCA stovepipe amplifier. I once owned both an acoustic Panatrope P-9 and an electronic Panatrope P-9 with that same amp. I'd like to see what the horn looks like. The horn looks very distorted from the back!

[Garret]

Does anyone know how one of these machines sound when restored? Did it have a model number?

Garret

[FellowCollector]

Does anyone know how one of these machines sound when restored? Did it have a model number?

I can't speak for how this particular Cortez would sound with the electric pickup but I can tell you that the Brunswick Cortez with its original acoustic reproducer produces lovely sound. Listen to mine here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_mFmSsDopM and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svqhU9TEnAs. Mine is completely unrestored and still sounds fantastic. I would think that the one being considered here would sound great when restored properly.

And, yes, "MODEL CORTEZ" appears on the circular ID plate on all Cortez models that I've seen.

Doug

[Uncle Vanya]

This is not a Cortez, it is a P-14, which shares the Cortez'cabinet. It uses a simple amplifier, a Baldwin balanced armature driver and a moulded horn. These machines are very scarce. They turn up far less frequently than the Cortez. They color the sound much like an Electrola 8-60 in electric mode. Interesting. Can be impressive, but not to everyone's taste.

[Garret]

This is not a Cortez, it is a P-14, which shares the Cortez'cabinet. It uses a simple amplifier, a Baldwin balanced armature driver and a moulded horn. These machines are very scarce. They turn up far less frequently than the Cortez. They color the sound much like an Electrola 8-60 in electric mode. Interesting. Can be impressive, but not to everyone's taste.

Always the expert. Thank you, Bob!

Garret

[Skihawx]

That P-14 amplifier looks nothing like the P-14 I had or what is shown in the service literature.
The original P-14 did not have a UV-876 ballast tube. Mine had neither the big ballast tube or the transformer mounted on the top.
I wonder if this is factory or modified after.

[bigshot]

It's not a reproducer, it's a pickup, and yes it's a Brunswick pickup, and yes it's a Cortez electric phonograph. Brunswick was well known for its electric Panatropes and this is one of them with the RCA stovepipe amplifier. I once owned both an acoustic Panatrope P-9 and an electronic Panatrope P-9 with that same amp. I'd like to see what the horn looks like. The horn looks very distorted from the back!

You have better eyes than I do. That picture is too tiny to see much.

[Skihawx]

Looking at it again it looks like there is a much newer 5 pin tube down on the left side.
This would not have been used in the original design. It might not even be a UV-876 under the cooling stack.