Khozmo 48 position stepped attenuators

[Steve Dunlap]

Originally Posted by SY

Very reasonable prices, seemingly well-engineered, therefore they have to be terrible.

Where do you see the prices?

[SY]

See the post above- they may have been taken down. A stereo unit was like $100.

[Peter Daniel]

I did a quick survey on a Polish forum and it doesn't seem like people are familiar with that product, maybe it's something completely new.

It's also being sold here: http://allegro.pl/item714176976_pasy...e_symasym.html

[piero7]

I've written to them and they told me it will be available in the next two weeks

[Nrik]

subscribe.

Did anyone ask them if they make linear?

[Steve Eddy]

Originally Posted by Nrik

Did anyone ask them if they make linear?

They do customs for a bit extra, but don't recall the pricing for customs other than custom quad which was $199 I believe.

Why linear? For something other than volume control?

se

[Nrik]

Yep - balance and eq

[KBK]

Just got my first unit, I'm gonna see how she sounds. Looks pretty good so far!

I do not suggest taking the unit apart unless you are excellent at aligning mechanicals in quadruplicate alignment. There is very little room for error. The first time/attempt at re-assembly would be quite the task for the average Joe, methinks. I cannot imagine the quad ladder unit assembly headache.

In case you are wondering, there is obviously an insulator for the wiper to isolate it from the shaft and lock system. You can't quite see it from the given internal picture.

[bear]

wow!

I can not imagine what it takes to assemble those things!!
Whew!

I have some concerns about the wiper assembly and the thickness of the traces... but it is a magnificant effort no matter what...

What was the price for this beast?

How many DB per step - and are these "pots"?? (tapped string of resistors)

(I note the Dale resistors... I presume those are 1/4 watt??)

_-_-bear

[KBK]

They were about $189 each delivered to N-A, from Poland. My biz partner has ordered two of the surface units, and I grabbed one of the dale resistor types. They appear to be 1/8th watt, according to the website.

The thing about attenuators is that they are like isolated resistive loaded '3-d' field spaces with respect to their action and innards. Due to this, mechanical loading and mechanical control (or any other aspects) of the elements is critical as they can do get into motor effects from vibrational input. This is why people say that the knob of a volume pot can make such a sonic difference. It changes the mechanical damping of critical components. it's almost like a case of when microphone cables are overtly sensitive to mechanical noise input becoming signal. Actually, it's exactly that.

Music isn't steady state, so there are microseconds of the transient structure of the signal passing though them (volume pots) that momentarily have near infinite impedance (due to sharp delta)...so microphony rears it's head and becomes a notable problem.

With two seconds of thinking attached to that, then it becomes clear that this happens in all equipment in all areas all the time. Not just the volume pot. But the volume pot is a near special case, as it is an electrically isolated variable system. Like some loose cannon of a connected but isolated high impedance transistor noise function. Under maximum load variation, no less. With a critical circuit on either side. Think of it as a variable spring hooked up between two spring like structures. And you are attempting to get variable levels of signal modulation through all three..by varying the middle one. You'd better have a really well built middle one and it had better be under excellent control.

I'm glad to say that this unit is mechanically stable and quiet. Which, as you can read above, is critical to getting superior sonics. However, I have not tried the unit yet to check on it's electrical considerations and I many never report on that aspect, I may leave it up to the inquisitive to investigate.


Whatever the situation may turn out to be, it's a great looking unit. I wholeheartedly support the design and sale of these units, which is why I have one. We need this stuff to be out there and being developed.