Understanding stepped attenuator choices

[dobbykins]

Hi mcandmar,

Sorry that I didn't notice this before today, but I just wanted to give a quick message.  I'm glad to hear you went with the (non-assembled version of) the same attenuator I went with.  A couple things stood out to me when I installed this.  First, the detail was noticeably improved.  And second, on closer listening, the channel balance is better throughout the volume range.  I'm sure, if you don't have it installed yet, you'll be very happy with it.  I would not be surprised if a nice (expensive) attenuator was compared, that this would show some deficiencies, but for the price, I think it's hard to beat.  Maybe one day I'll be able to do a no-holds-barred amp, but for now, I'm happy to be able to use mid-level upgrades to gauge the importance of each component in the design.

Also, as you say, I'd definitely suggest getting the assembled version.  It's just not worth my time to solder in 90 resistors to save $10 or so.

Best of luck!

 

[mcandmar]

Here's a question for Doc.B, have you considered making a BeeQuiet stepped attenuator upgrade for the Crack/S.E.X. amp?

I'm looking at the upgrade kit for the BeePre (shown below) and wondering if it would fit, looks like it could easily be condensed width wise by an inch or two, then all that's needed is a small top plate to cover the original volume pot hole and make it pretty.

Just a thought..

 

[kgoss]

You can get that attenuator by using the submissive in front of the amp with the amp's volume at 100% or by replacing the amp's volume pot with a resistor.

 

[Doc B]

Ken gets the gold star here. The Submissive is a pretty neat all purpose attenuator that sounds better than an awful lot of other controls out there. You can use it in all sorts of situations where you need a better attenuator or where you don't have one and you need some attenuation. As an example we have been experimenting with an active stepup preamp for moving coil cartridges that ended up with more gain than we could use so PB put a Submissive between the step up and our Eros phono pre to keep the signal from clipping the Eros. 

 

[mcandmar]

Quick question, is there any advantage or disadvantage to using a 75k attenuator vs the stock 100k?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Quick question, is there any advantage or disadvantage to using a 75k attenuator vs the stock 100k?

For the majority of situations, these will be roughly equivalent.

 

[mcandmar]

Thanks Paul, just wanted to check that before i changed it in case it messed with the the amps operation in any way.  My source will only be DAC's so i assume the load difference wont matter to them.