Passive Khozmo
Hey,
I have had one of these models in the Dual Mono design, two volume knobs and one knob in the middle for selection of two inputs. I also have a B1 preamp from Nelson Pass and I like both of them very much. They are both very similar in depth of soundstage and simplicity of use on the inside. Both have pcb boards, i have not built one with just p2p wiring yet. I have continue to use my Khozmo with a Decware Taboo and my iPhone with Frugal Horns.. love it. Simiple set up and nice sound. When dealing with him from Poland, he was always right on top of emails and communications with fedex info. No issues from my end. I actually have an extra one if you want it. Let me know. The only upgrade you could do to this, a bet would make little noticeable difference, is to add better RCA's to it. Let me know if you need anything else answered. jon.parkhurst@mac.com
see link below
Gear in the Basement!
Hey,
I have had one of these models in the Dual Mono design, two volume knobs and one knob in the middle for selection of two inputs. I also have a B1 preamp from Nelson Pass and I like both of them very much. They are both very similar in depth of soundstage and simplicity of use on the inside. Both have pcb boards, i have not built one with just p2p wiring yet. I have continue to use my Khozmo with a Decware Taboo and my iPhone with Frugal Horns.. love it. Simiple set up and nice sound. When dealing with him from Poland, he was always right on top of emails and communications with fedex info. No issues from my end. I actually have an extra one if you want it. Let me know. The only upgrade you could do to this, a bet would make little noticeable difference, is to add better RCA's to it. Let me know if you need anything else answered. jon.parkhurst@mac.com
see link below
Gear in the Basement!
here's my feedback...
ALPS Blue -> not worth the trouble, VERY expensive compared to sound they make, these should be banned from being sold….
TKD -> nice upgrade compared to ALPS, I use TKD 2CP-601 series as "cheap" (around $40 for stereo type) upgrade pots that give most bang for the buck. The finish, precision and quality of this miniature potentiometer is outstanding. They come in motorised control option as well
DACT -> I was never really satisfied with series attenuators from DACT... nice, detailed sound, but the unnatural coloration was always putting me of. Definitely NOT worth the money -> vastly overpriced at around $250.
Khozmo shunt types, with surface mount resistors -> by far THE superior attenuator, absolutely no coloration, outstanding transients & very reasonable cost. Go with Khozmo if there's space to fit them. For around AU$150 -> absolute, incredible barging. Some don’t like the stiffness. Many don’t like the fact that you need to really crank them a lot to achieve reasonable levels… what 20-30 degrees is for “standard” pots, is almost 180 deg. on Kozhmo’s.
Boky
I heard the Khozmo guy is unreliable and hard to communicate with .
Product is ok but you can buy e bay units from china for much less
I compared the khozmo to a $ 12 china unit with SMT res. in it sound exactly same .
Amps : Levinson Ref. 20.5 pre . custom made tube . cd . Acustic Arts
Most of these units are overpriced and a big rip off .
my 2cents that is all but I wanted to see for myself .
Product is ok but you can buy e bay units from china for much less
I compared the khozmo to a $ 12 china unit with SMT res. in it sound exactly same .
Amps : Levinson Ref. 20.5 pre . custom made tube . cd . Acustic Arts
Most of these units are overpriced and a big rip off .
my 2cents that is all but I wanted to see for myself .
I never had a problem!
In fact, I engaged in quite an interesting conversation with Khozmo, related to his choice of shunt type over a true ladder type...
These attenuators will reveal what the audio system is truly capable of. If it is high-end system with correct interconnect, speaker and power cables, the attenuator will shine and present the recording like you're in the studio at the take...
If the system is mediocre -> well, it will show the weaknesses, and sound uninspiring, BUT it will still pass the signal in untouched manner, the only imprint on the sound quality is in fact the hook-up wiring characteristics. The original multi-litz hook-up wiring that comes with the pot has to be replaced, of course.
The hollow aluminium cylinders need to be damped with resonance deadening material -> this is my only remark about this attenuator.
Boky
In fact, I engaged in quite an interesting conversation with Khozmo, related to his choice of shunt type over a true ladder type...
These attenuators will reveal what the audio system is truly capable of. If it is high-end system with correct interconnect, speaker and power cables, the attenuator will shine and present the recording like you're in the studio at the take...
If the system is mediocre -> well, it will show the weaknesses, and sound uninspiring, BUT it will still pass the signal in untouched manner, the only imprint on the sound quality is in fact the hook-up wiring characteristics. The original multi-litz hook-up wiring that comes with the pot has to be replaced, of course.
The hollow aluminium cylinders need to be damped with resonance deadening material -> this is my only remark about this attenuator.
Boky
yeah well that just shows the consistency isnt good. there have been a string of bad reports on headfi related to the lack of a proper make before break mech, meaning that there can and are moments of bad contact, which in the wrong amp can cause acrid blue smoke, but at the minimum cause transients.
there was also some close up shots of one that illustrated the problem. without proper operation i'm afraid the rest is hyperbole
there was also some close up shots of one that illustrated the problem. without proper operation i'm afraid the rest is hyperbole
i bought a bunch of attenuators from them, at least 8 or 9, i think. never had an issue, all sounded awesome , much prefer them to the tkd and dact, still a step below the mighty rk50 though. i guess i'm just lucky then.. the build quality is actually not consistent on the smd ones, looks like they just cnc-ed basing on the the number of orders.. i got 2 or 3 different ones on different orders.
I still may give one a go, but just for the look and feel and just a mono one, I was considering it just for tactile control of the ESS volume control.
yeah its the inconsistency that worries me and the photos posted over at headfi, the guys from over at headcase dont seem impressed either and thats before the issues with the seller, who does not seem at all responsive to issues when people have contacted him to return for refund or replacement.
they look great and some reports, such as yours are very positive, but there are question marks
the other option i'm looking at for the digi control is the elma E50, which is an endless stepped encoder with integrated push-button for menu selection options. I dont believe any analogue control at any price competes with digital control these days provided your gain structure is set up right. the only thing missing is nice tactile control and good feel, which is why i'm looking at these to get the best of both worlds. the E50 will need a bit of work to integrate the encoding but its doable and I used a mixing desk that has them a few weeks ago; it feels superb and should last indefinitely
yeah its the inconsistency that worries me and the photos posted over at headfi, the guys from over at headcase dont seem impressed either and thats before the issues with the seller, who does not seem at all responsive to issues when people have contacted him to return for refund or replacement.
they look great and some reports, such as yours are very positive, but there are question marks
the other option i'm looking at for the digi control is the elma E50, which is an endless stepped encoder with integrated push-button for menu selection options. I dont believe any analogue control at any price competes with digital control these days provided your gain structure is set up right. the only thing missing is nice tactile control and good feel, which is why i'm looking at these to get the best of both worlds. the E50 will need a bit of work to integrate the encoding but its doable and I used a mixing desk that has them a few weeks ago; it feels superb and should last indefinitely
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sarcasm? seems so, apologies if not...
erm citation please? what are you talking about? what about the time domain? i'm afraid you'll need to give some idea of how you think it has an effect on time domain error instead of just throwing the words out there.
dacs that have inbuilt 40bit volume control and more as part of the conversion process, or also before in floating point software control, are before any time domain issues have meaning, i'm not talking about using an additional digital volume control, just using parts of digital filters the signal already passes through to control volume.
i'm afraid you, like many it seems, have not moved forward with digital volume control since a decade ago. provided you use a 24bit or higher dac and a 32bit or higher volume control, the ONLY issue that you can come up against is if you have to severely attenuate, but thats no fun with analogue control either.
the advantages are many, perfect channel matching, no matter if its at the beginning of the rage or not, simultaneous control of as many channels as you want, cheap, easily automated, easily remote controlled, no distortion, no wear, presets etc etc
erm citation please? what are you talking about? what about the time domain? i'm afraid you'll need to give some idea of how you think it has an effect on time domain error instead of just throwing the words out there.
dacs that have inbuilt 40bit volume control and more as part of the conversion process, or also before in floating point software control, are before any time domain issues have meaning, i'm not talking about using an additional digital volume control, just using parts of digital filters the signal already passes through to control volume.
i'm afraid you, like many it seems, have not moved forward with digital volume control since a decade ago. provided you use a 24bit or higher dac and a 32bit or higher volume control, the ONLY issue that you can come up against is if you have to severely attenuate, but thats no fun with analogue control either.
the advantages are many, perfect channel matching, no matter if its at the beginning of the rage or not, simultaneous control of as many channels as you want, cheap, easily automated, easily remote controlled, no distortion, no wear, presets etc etc
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it is the same across the whole range, due to the single-point wiper contact... but the clicking noise does not give me (or my customers) any grief...
I have obtained great result with Khozmo shunt types used with pure silver ribbons as a hook-up wire. The wiper pressure and the contact angles can be adjusted as well to minimise clicking effect and contact resistance.
Boky
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I bought the Khozmo (100K stereo) a couple of years ago, for my DIY 300B SET (very occasional use), very good, but a few months ago started with clicks between steps, and a few days later, in the first steps the volume was up 100% .
I contacted more than three months ago with Arek Kallas and told me it was a problem in a batch of silver, he said he changed without inconvenience, that the next day he sent.
Since that communication did not know anything more of Arek Kallas or replacement Khozmo.
I knew nothing more than Arek Kallas , I send many emails, but I have my amp useless.
Regards
I bought the Khozmo (100K stereo) a couple of years ago, for my DIY 300B SET (very occasional use), very good, but a few months ago started with clicks between steps, and a few days later, in the first steps the volume was up 100% .
I contacted more than three months ago with Arek Kallas and told me it was a problem in a batch of silver, he said he changed without inconvenience, that the next day he sent.
Since that communication did not know anything more of Arek Kallas or replacement Khozmo.
I knew nothing more than Arek Kallas , I send many emails, but I have my amp useless.
Regards
Check the photos I attached above. It is very easy to adjust the viper position, and the amount of pressure. Did you open the attenuator?
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