Chinese 23 stepped volume pot?

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Hay guys

I have a crazy low budget, and needed to replace the volume pot so grabbed on of these eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d?r
off epay, and am wondering if anyone else has used one the same?

It works, but there is an audible hum that is apparent at 12 o'clock and gets louder with further increase of rotation.

The diagram on the sale page is a little hard (for me anyway) to understand as far as hookup goes.

Yeah, some will say you get what you pay for, but I'm just looking for anyone that has any experience with these pots?

Cheers

[mr l]

hello,
I haven't tried those particular attenuators, hows the grounding arrangement? I bought a balanced attenuator from this guy, and I've had no problems.
Valab 23 Step Attenuator Potentiometer 50K Log Stereo | eBay

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Here is a pic that appears in the sale, I have arrows pointing to my hookup. So i have it as Green-ground, Blue-signal in and Brown-signal out.

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Strange thing is that on the first 10 steps there is no hum at all, but as soon as It's switched to that 11th one and there after a audible hum is present that rises in presence from step eleven onwards

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OK, I found something interesting, when putting a little inward pressure against the volume pot shaft at a certain angle...the hum/buzz goes away...

Got it!

It's one of the RCA plugs on one channel at the input

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Ah... got it sorted mostly.

The fly wires that come from the pot need to be right away from the resistor array of the pot, very sensitive. just a bit of buzz on the last three or four steps now, and I'll shield the fly leeds if need be to kill that last bit.

Pretty transparent pot now

[ArtG]

Originally Posted by mr l

hello,
I haven't tried those particular attenuators, hows the grounding arrangement? I bought a balanced attenuator from this guy, and I've had no problems.
Valab 23 Step Attenuator Potentiometer 50K Log Stereo | eBay

I received a 100K dual log taper attenuator from this company a couple weeks ago. It however, looks like the one pictured on eBay, using SMD resistors, rather than the one you show.
I built one years ago, using a Switchcraft 23 position 2 gang switch, but the last I checked, they are now over $70. I decided that for $30, with shipping, the Valab one was worth a try. It's a pretty good unit, with very accurate resistors and tracking, and it has a good feel. I always thought the Switchcraft was too stiff, to the point of being annoying. The Valab appears to be well made, and I tend to think it will hold up for some time--but that's a guess.

I did, however have a problem when I checked it out. The position of two resistors, next to each other, was transposed on the rear deck. I didn't get a response from the seller after 4 emails in three weeks, so I posted negative feedback for him on eBay. Then I received two emails from him saying that he had been in the hospital and couldn't reply to my inquiry. He then refunded my money and offered a free replacement! I course now I wish I hadn't posted the negative feedback! But, I changed the position of the two resistors, (not too easy with SMDs) and installed it in the preamp.

The only caution I now have, is that it's not for the novice builder. No instructions are included for attachment points, so you have consult the diagram on eBay. The lugs are small and close together, and one attachment lug has a resistor soldered on it, so some care and soldering skill is needed.
With a few minor changes, I think the seller would have a very good product! I'd probably buy another one.

[siliconray]

I don't understand if you have a crazy low budget why use the $40 step potetialmeter? a alps RX27 is only 1/3 of the price

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I have found this one to be a little bit more transparent than the usual wiper pots like an Alps.

I fixed the buzz issue by shielding the pot with a can 60mm by 45mm secured with a cap mounting clamp,

[vmed_cha_gr]

Hi
I bought this :


Valab 23 Step Attenuator Potentiometer 100K Stereo Log | eBay

Before installing it , i made measurements with a multimeter for its resistance values in different positions. I don't know if I'm lucky, the measurements were identical with both channels. Total was 99,7k (for 100k pot), different measurements at 9, 12, 15 o' clock were identical.
Took me about 20 minutes to install it in my pre-amplifier & then started auditioning some very good quality cd's. I can tell you that this attenuator is worth every $ i paid for it.
First of all there is no crosstalk between the two channels.
Bass lines are present even from low volume positions, sound-stage is huge & overall it performs better than the ALPS my pre had.
I don't really trust Chinese products but this thing is a bargain. Go for the smd one, i also have the other huge one with the resistors , the one with the smd resistors is more accurate with the measurements & more compact, the one without the smd's is more sensitive with ground issues & hum noise.
10/10 for this attenuator. Now lets see how long it's going to last.