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New stepped attenuator=happiness

Detailman

Detailman

Addicted to tweaking
I've been tinkering with passive and simple op-amp pre's.

Got a tip on a attentuator for cheap bucks from e-pray.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200457518737&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I was searching the sellers other stuff when I decided to also spring for this one.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200498751742&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Seller was cooperative about combining shipping so I thought why not.

The way the deal worked out I received the small pot first and was impressed for the cost of the item. Very nice sounding and an improvement for me.

The larger ones are built to order per impedance so it took about two weeks to receive.

I must say I'm impressed with the quality for the bucks.
Sound is great. Really well balanced and quick and detailed.

No affiliation but seller had great communication.

Just wanted to share as there are so many instances where thing don't live up to expectations but in this case it way surpassed my hopes.:banana::banana:
 
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Glad for ya! For that price you don't get much of anything nowadays! Did you build some kind of enclosure for them and can we see some pics?

az
 
I was looking at those ones myself for a passive pre I need to build....good to hear of positive experience.
 
audiozaz said:
Glad for ya! For that price you don't get much of anything nowadays! Did you build some kind of enclosure for them and can we see some pics?

az
Click to expand...

I've got an enclosure for the finished product but I'm waiting till I've got everything laid out to my liking before I put it all together.

Sort of like measure twice, cut once.

I can post pics when done.
 
I ordered one of the small ones after I saw your post - Thanks.
I plan to put it into an integrated that I have a cheap Alps carbon wiper type. Who knows, but for $15 I suppose I can't go wrong.
 
sebrof said:
I ordered one of the small ones after I saw your post - Thanks.
I plan to put it into an integrated that I have a cheap Alps carbon wiper type. Who knows, but for $15 I suppose I can't go wrong.
Click to expand...

That was my thinking originally.
Should be about the same size as the Alps but to my ears much better sounding and the steps make adjustments much smoother and more accurate.


Let us know how you like it.
 
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My volume control has three pins soldered to a circuit board. If I purchase the small one, how do I solder it to the circuit borad since it does not have three pins?
 
kwatch said:
My volume control has three pins soldered to a circuit board. If I purchase the small one, how do I solder it to the circuit borad since it does not have three pins?
Click to expand...

You could solder small wires from the pins of the attenuator to the board. At least that's how I would do it, just a couple pieces of standard wire, wired as it was, and it should work no problem.

That is a pretty cheap stepper pot:scratch2:...and I have thought about trying one out. Hmm, I may have to "invest" in one, for a upcoming project:yes:.
 
33&athird said:
You could solder small wires from the pins of the attenuator to the board. At least that's how I would do it, just a couple pieces of standard wire, wired as it was, and it should work no problem.

That is a pretty cheap stepper pot:scratch2:...and I have thought about trying one out. Hmm, I may have to "invest" in one, for a upcoming project:yes:.
Click to expand...

What types of wire?
 
33&athird said:
You could solder small wires from the pins of the attenuator to the board. At least that's how I would do it, just a couple pieces of standard wire, wired as it was, and it should work no problem.

That is a pretty cheap stepper pot:scratch2:...and I have thought about trying one out. Hmm, I may have to "invest" in one, for a upcoming project:yes:.
Click to expand...


i've been using the larger one in an op amp powered pre and it's great.

But I had an inkling to try the small cheap one in a completely passive config.
Just volume control, no shunt resistor, in and out only.

It is made for this setup. Crisp, clean and super energetic. Hard to believe for $10.

Just passing info.
 
kwatch said:
What types of wire?
Click to expand...

Standard hook-up wire, just strip a bit of the insulation off the ends, thread on the potentiometer leg, solder the bare wire to the terminal, and then connect the other end of the wire...like;

potentiometer.jpg


And the ends of the wire go where the potentiometer pins would go. Volume controls don't have a lot of current, so the wire gauge doesn't need to be to large. The wire size in the picture would be about right:yes:.

Detailman said:
i've been using the larger one in an op amp powered pre and it's great.

But I had an inkling to try the small cheap one in a completely passive config.
Just volume control, no shunt resistor, in and out only.

It is made for this setup. Crisp, clean and super energetic. Hard to believe for $10.

Just passing info.
Click to expand...

I'll definately look into it, the larger one especially:drool:. I was going to use it for a diy headphone amp, which I was going to put in a old data switch box, I think one of these would go great in it, and be a bit better off than a standard pot.

Out of curiousity, are the steps nice and smooth?, I don't like the steps in car audio now, but I think they are digital (not sure). I would certainly love to have the balance of a stepped setup, as most of my regular pots are slightly off (both my pioneers favor the left:scratch2:)
 
33&athird said:
Standard hook-up wire, just strip a bit of the insulation off the ends, thread on the potentiometer leg, solder the bare wire to the terminal, and then connect the other end of the wire...like;

potentiometer.jpg


And the ends of the wire go where the potentiometer pins would go. Volume controls don't have a lot of current, so the wire gauge doesn't need to be to large. The wire size in the picture would be about right:yes:.



I'll definately look into it, the larger one especially:drool:. I was going to use it for a diy headphone amp, which I was going to put in a old data switch box, I think one of these would go great in it, and be a bit better off than a standard pot.

Out of curiousity, are the steps nice and smooth?, I don't like the steps in car audio now, but I think they are digital (not sure). I would certainly love to have the balance of a stepped setup, as most of my regular pots are slightly off (both my pioneers favor the left:scratch2:)
Click to expand...

To me it seems the steps are smooth and real nice taper. Comes in handy when using inputs like phono, doesn't seem overdriven at all and gives real control.
 
OK, here's a noob question... How do you determine whether to get 10K, 25K, 50K, etc.??? I have a tube amp I rebuilt and would like to have something other than the Rat Shack pot I now use. Plus, I have a couple of chip amps on which I'd like to use one of these.
Thanks,
Mike
 
Whatever value is on the original schematic of the tube amp is what value you should get for it. Tube amps generally use higher value volume controls, I believe. Maybe 50k and up from there. Maybe as high as half to a full meg.
I have a stepped attenuator I built years ago. From an article in Audio. When I had access to all 1 percent value resistors and a dual rotary switch, I was able to make a duplicate, but it is not too small. I have in a box by itself to use for test purposes as just a signal attenuator.
 
Wazz said:
Whatever value is on the original schematic of the tube amp is what value you should get for it.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, I don't have the schematic. It's from an old (1964-ish) Packard Bell console stereo.

Wazz said:
Tube amps generally use higher value volume controls, I believe. Maybe 50k and up from there. Maybe as high as half to a full meg.
Click to expand...
Maybe I'll go with a 100K if I order some of these.

Thanks for the info. :thmbsp:
Mike
 
mjennens said:
Unfortunately, I don't have the schematic. It's from an old (1964-ish) Packard Bell console stereo.


Maybe I'll go with a 100K if I order some of these.

Thanks for the info. :thmbsp:
Mike
Click to expand...


I have JoLida 202, and it has 100k volume control.
 
mjennens said:
OK, here's a noob question... How do you determine whether to get 10K, 25K, 50K, etc.??? I have a tube amp I rebuilt and would like to have something other than the Rat Shack pot I now use. Plus, I have a couple of chip amps on which I'd like to use one of these.
Thanks,
Mike
Click to expand...

Mike - The value may be stamped on the body of the pot.
Also, if you measure resistance across the outer 2 pins on the pot, that's the value. You'll need to unsolder from the circuit board to get an accurate measurement.
If you look at most any schematic with a volume control, you'll see that the input signal comes in and goes through a resistor to ground. That's the value of the pot (those are the 2 outer pins). The input signal also get's tapped off the wiper and connects to the rest of the circuit (that's the center pin).
Hope this helps
 
Thanks sebrof. That does help. I'll have to pull out the old tuner/preamp that was part of the original system and remove the pot to check.
Thanks again,
Mike
 
33&athird said:
Standard hook-up wire, just strip a bit of the insulation off the ends, thread on the potentiometer leg, solder the bare wire to the terminal, and then connect the other end of the wire...like;

potentiometer.jpg


And the ends of the wire go where the potentiometer pins would go. Volume controls don't have a lot of current, so the wire gauge doesn't need to be to large. The wire size in the picture would be about right:yes:.
Click to expand...

Is 18 guage wire good for this job?
 
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