Adding a Potentiometer

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a very simple way is...the middle pin of the common 3 terminal pots is where u have take the input to your amp..
2 pins remain....to one of them connect your amp and the input signals ground
To the one remaining pin..connect the signal from the input source.

Only one rule applies, the middle pin is the pin from which you have to take the signal to the amp..

The pot will work even if you exchange the other two pins ( 1 & 3 ) positions but it's direction will change from Clockwise to anticlockwise.
 

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u don't need too much power handling capacity , most pots are rated around 0.25W, generally a log taper is used.
Loudness increases, I mean dB is a logarithmic measure and human ears also perceive loudness change in logarithmic fashion ( in theory...).
A linear taper would work far too abruptly..a little turn of the knob would blast the hell out of you..
 
keep the pot resistance as low as all your sources are able to drive.
As a starter try comparing 10k to the specifications for minimum load resistance, of what you might want to connect to it.

If the power amp is also low in input impedance (Zin<20k) you have a problem that a pot alone is unlikely to solve.
 
How do I check this if I plan to use both Mp3 players, dvd players etc. with my amp? I haven't got access to in depth information about the players.


As I don't know how you deduce that 10K is fine could you elaborate (nooby in the other end ;) ).
I would have thought that i should take a 50K pot at that fits the RIN nom. value?
 
a 47k or 50k pot has a maximum output impedance of approximately 12k.
Feeding that source impedance into the RF filter that is part of the power amp and the additional capacitance of any interconnect cables will move the RF filter down into the audio range.
The high value pot becomes a variable treble filter.

For 50k input impedance do not use a pot higher than 20k and preferably less than or equal to 10k.

If I were using an unbuffered pot, I would go to 5k.
And make sure my sources could drive that 5k load by adding buffers to any source with an inadequate output stage.
 
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