Preamp Deal of the Century

Hi,
I'm hoping someone can help with a question regarding the output for the Cortese. I need to use a bypass for home theater. I know that Mitch offers an HT bypass, but I have a chance to get a Cortese on Audiogon, but it doesn't have a bypass, only a tape loop. Does anyone know if, in fact, these are one and the same?
thanks,
Michael

Good question.
I have a Cortese. It finally arrived last week. This pre is amazing. Worth the wait.
My question is the reverse: Can the HT bypass be used as an output to a reel to reel?
I am using balanced IC's to my amps. Balanced and unbalanced outputs can not be used at the same time with the Cortese.

The HT bypass is used to "pass" an external processor or other source directly to the output of the Cortese. The signal goes through untouched. The HT bypass is not an output of any kind. If you want an output to a reel to reel, use the tape monitor loop by plugging the input of the reel to reel into the "REC" unbalanced outputs (see diagram in the owner's manual). That's better than using the unbalanced outputs of the Cortese (actually you can't if you're using the balanced outputs already)because the reel to reel would be getting a full signal from the Cortese, unaffected by the volume settings.
As far as the other question from Michael Smith, that would depend if the signal that you want to pass through has already gone through a gain stage. If it's coming from the front channel outputs of a standalone DVD player, it's cleaner than if the signal is coming from the front outputs of a processor with volume control because the signal is will pass through 2 gain stages, but it's still doable...just not as clean as a true HT bypass which ensures that the signal will only pass through 1 gain stage and you would not have to set the volume for the front speakers both on the HT Processor and on the Cortese. Hope that helps.

Been following this thread from NY for a while and finally got my Cortese strictly based on your recommendations. I'm using SONY SCD1>Cortese>H20 Signatures>Aerial Acoustics 10T's. All this stuff is fantastic imo but the Cortese was the ice cream on the cake. It's realy everything you guys said it would be and then some! So I thank you all for sharing!

Need some help though. I had the Cortese being powered by a PS Audio Power Plant set at Sine Wave @117Volts/60Hz, and the Cortese worked perfect for 3 days. When I increased the voltage to 120V (as specified on the back of the Cortese), the fuse blew on the Cortese Power Supply an hour later...not sure if there's a connection or not. The rest of my equipment has been fed by the P600 power plant for the last 4 years with no problem. The Cortese uses ceramic 4 Amp slow blow fuses and a spare was not provided with the Cortese. Tried replacement glass fuses (same specs), but they keep blowing after 1 second and a faint buzzing sound. The Cortese is plugged directly into the wall socket now but it just refuses to work. I've contacted Mick but no answer so far...will try to get ceramic fuses tomorrow but I cannot tell whether the power plant understates the actual voltage that's being produced. Any one had a similar experience with blown fuses for any reason, and what was the solution? Do you know if maybe the ceramic and glass fuses are that different? The unit had already cooled down, so heat could not have been a problem when the last glass fuse blew. I'm not sure why 120 or 125 Volts or whatever voltage was output into the Cortese would be a problem. I would think that it has overload protection.

Sonics1 - I just had an email from Mick, he was traveling and said it might be a couple days before he could check email again. But I expect you will hear from him soon. It might also be worthwhile to contact PS Audio to see if others have had any problems when adjusting voltage. Good luck.