changing volume pot

[charger]

Hi to everyone

so I am going to consider to change volume pot of the stock Q with this one

http://www.shop.audiokit.it/OsWay/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=288659&osCsid=e7981b3d5c43d81282f0b1b17c36f166

is it the right value? 

Once I will get it I will ask you how to place it 

thank you

 

[Grainger49]

J'ne parle Italiano!  I think that is right, my French is very rusty.  But three years of Latin in the 60s doesn't hurt.  I can read most of the page.

Nice of them to remove the fourth lug, it just confuses us.  I have used this type of Alps and it is a smooth sounding pot. I don't remember the pot value for the Quickie, but 100k or 50k seems to work with any Bottlehead product.

 

[charger]

ok thank you , shall I just remove the old pot and  solder the wires in the same position as in the stock Q pot? 

 

[Grainger49]

  .  .  .  nd  solder the wires in the same position as in the stock Q pot? 

Well, maybe.  First turn the pot fully CCW, down.  See which lug the center lug is shorted to.  This is the ground lug, the center is almost always the wiper, input to the tube, and the other one is the one that gets the input from the input switch.

I'm just making sure you only have to do this once.

 

[charger]

mmmm it's not so clear to me becouse of my poor english

 

[Grainger49]

Ok, when you get it, turn the volume pot all the way down, looking at the shaft that is counter clockwise.  Measure from the center pin of the new Alps pot to one then the other of the pins.  The one that is shorted, zero ohms to the center lug, is the ground.  That is like the right lug (as seen on page 22 of the manual) grounded to the input RCA plugs outer connector. 

If you and I are right in assuming the center lug will be the "wiper" those lugs go to terminal 1 and 5 like on page 23, second picture, of the manual.

Then that third lug goes to the selector switch's center terminals, one to the left side one to the right side.

Does this make better sense?

 

[charger]

ok when I will have the pot I will study better what you are saying , thank you

 

[jimiclow]

Here it is:

 

[charger]

OH thank you, but can't understand what means wiper, if i put it in online translate it says those things on the car glasses for the rain " tergicristallo" in Italian . Can you explain better ? thank you

and another question , changin the pot can you hear an audible improvement ?

 

[Grainger49]

The wiper is the volume you select.  It is the part that moves when you turn the volume up and down.  It becomes the input to the amplifying stage.

 

[charger]

ok so , from the wiper which wire starts ? where it goes in the tube pin? 

 

[jimiclow]

The wiper is the output and goes to the tube pin.

 

[Grainger49]

I'm looking at the manual and the schematic.  Each wiper goes to pin 3 of the respective tube.  But, they travel through terminals 1 (right channel) and 5(left channel).  That is what I said in Reply #5 above.  That is seen on page 23 of the manual the first picture on the left of the page shows it clearly.

The input as shown in the picture above (thanks Jim!) goes to the selector switch.  That is the black wire and red wire from the selector switch to the pot shown on page 23, second picture down on the right.

The grounds, bare wires, go to the respective RCA jack outer conductor.  The left channel (on the right when upside down) is shown in the last picture on page 22.  The right channel is shown in the last picture on page 23.

 

[charger]

what would happen to the Q if I make a mistake soldering wires going to the wiper , to the inputs instead ?

 

[Grainger49]

If I understand your question the answer is you would have no volume control.  It would run wide open.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

No wires move. Remove the old pot, install the new pot, reattach things the way they were...

 

[charger]

wow!! this is good !! thank you  i am just waiting for an ALPS RK27  , when it will be on place i will say if something has changed in the sound

 

[charger]

so finally i did it , what a great improvement!! more dynamic more balance less distortion, now what's the next upgrade?

 

[corndog71]

so finally i did it , what a great improvement!! more dynamic more balance less distortion, now what's the next upgrade?

2.2uF output caps.  Consider Clarity Cap MR series, Mundorf, Obligatto, Russian PIO, V-Cap, etc.  Read up on people's impressions of each brand and see if it may compliment the rest of your system.

 

[lth1]

IMHO the best two upgrades for the Quickie are; Khozmo Stereo Stepped Attenuator (even get to choose the resistor type and brand), and second a pair of 2.2uf Rike Audio S-Cap Aluminum foil, PIO (or if one is just slumming then a pair of MCap Supreme Silver/Oil).