:yes: :thumbsup:

Stellar combo with that VR you are sportin'...

-M

Plink, welcome aboard! :wave:

Hi,

And how does it sound compared to the previous version ? :music:

I am surprised the interior wiring/layout isn't "cleaner" given the external artistry.

Freestone,

Having built a few tube amps (guitar and audio) I can tell you that I see a lot of artistry and thought into the wiring of the Cortese.

What you are seeing is point-to-point wiring which beats using circuit boards. The arrangement of components in "free space" as opposed to a more 2-dimensional layout allows for spacing the various components and crossing the wires at ideal angles. "Neater" wiring often involves bundling several wires together in parallel with can lead to cross-talk.

Bottom line, the layout I see is one that's optimized for sound and not necessarily for looks. I should also add that this kind of point-to-point wiring is considerably more time-consuming and difficult that soldering items on a board.

In other words, I see as much internal artistry as external (and sonic) artistry at work.

Alberto

Alberto, good to see you again. Please comment more often. :)

Thank you Randy. I still check AA daily my friend, and I always jump in when I can contribute something useful.

The only downside to my McIntosh + Shindo + Tannoy set up is that I've stopped shopping for new gear so I don't have much to say that I haven't already said :D. [Un]fortunately, I don't see this situation changing because I have zero desire to make any changes to my system. I got lucky hitting the 100% right combination for my tastes (something I thought would never happen) so I am "stuck" - in a good way :D.

Alberto

What a great "problem" to have. Congrats!!