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Remote control kits

Annoying??? Mosquitos are annoying. Had I know that clicks and pop were the "Norm" I would have made my life saner and used a rheostat. Pops are embarrassing.......!
I made this $600 tube amp / SS amp and other than the clicks and static it works great.............? Hard to be proud of your DIY work when it sounds like CRAP!

I know I left my hammer around here somewhere......
What to replace the attenuator with is the only question now.

Mikkel, you have been a great guy to buy from and work with. Don't take it personal. We LIKE you!
Too bad the "Pops" can't be fixed..... sad......

Ron

Ron I actually mounted this attenuator to my pre

I lost the useful remote control, but have volume zero and no irritating clickclickclick!!!
 

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Ron I actually mounted this attenuator to my pre

I lost the useful remote control, but have volume zero and no irritating clickclickclick!!!

Piero 7,

That is one beautiful attenuator! WOW. My friend Steve Eddy has talked with you about this volume control unit on a different thread. Steve's a good guy, and is helping me with my F5 problems.

I'm so jealous. I still got clicks..................very disappointed that this problem was NOT disclosed in any information......until now!

I'd gladly loose the remote control if I could loose the clicks at the same time.

Ron
 
It is easy to damp the clicks with some popular damping-sheet or loads of hot-glue...
Do you really change the volume all the time while listening to music?

Arne K


Huh?

The "clicks" are sounds that come through the speaker because there is DC input from the "remote volume kit".

No, I don't change the volume all the time when listening to music. Sheesh.
If you built a $600 preamp and it makes "clicks" when changing the volume you would not be very proud of your work or want to share it with others, thereby making it a POS.

You obviously have not used this "remote kit"
Ron
 
I have one, still un-mounted... -and mis-understood the click-issue...
I fail to see that DC can "leak" from the kit to signal...BUT it is a known fact that any attenuator can make "pops" IF there is DC on the signal (from source).

Arne K

P.S. If you think $ 10 000 equipment are any better...tnhik agian...
 
It is easy to damp the clicks with some popular damping-sheet or loads of hot-glue...
Do you really change the volume all the time while listening to music?

Arne K

are you kidding??? 😱 Spent lot of money to reduce hum and now I'll hear click click everytime I loud volume???

Tell me, have you ever seen an attenuator that can not reach volume zero? :dead:
 
I too have purchased a RelVol 1C and finally implemented it into my solid state preamp. I have the annoying clicks and with no DC offset at all. Hell, I even put DC blocking caps at the inputs and outputs to just the attenuator, nothing changed. Also, I do not have full mute on the attenuator, which is the lesser of the two problems.

I bought this hoping it would perform but it has not. It's something to experiment with but it's not for serious use. I sure wish I would've known this before dropping a dollar!

Stepped attenuators built on high quality switches with silver contacts are the absolute best solution IME.
 
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One thing I don't understand is the output impedance on the volume control. Why would you want to load the volume control/source down with the 1:1 ratio of output to input impedance?

I have a preamp with a 24K input Z, pretty much perfect for a 10K pot. Now, with this attenuator module I'm supposed to match the 24K input Z with 24K output resistors? Why?

I have taken out the output resistors and all is fine. Why wouldn't you want the usual 10:1 ratio with regard to I/O Z?
 
One thing I don't understand is the output impedance on the volume control. Why would you want to load the volume control/source down with the 1:1 ratio of output to input impedance?
Because you don't get the correct attenuation with an incorrect load. Feed a constant input signal to the input and measure the output voltage. You will not get 1dB steps without the correct load, and you wont get a constant input impedance either.

I have a preamp with a 24K input Z, pretty much perfect for a 10K pot. Now, with this attenuator module I'm supposed to match the 24K input Z with 24K output resistors? Why?
No, if you have a 10k attenuator, you will need 17k load resistors (there is a formula in the manual).

I have taken out the output resistors and all is fine. Why wouldn't you want the usual 10:1 ratio with regard to I/O Z?
Because attenuators of this type are designed for a specific load. Each stage of the attenuator needs to be loaded correctly. With a 10k attenuator and a 24k load it will work (with the errors mentioned above). With a 10k attenuator and a 1M load for instance, it wouldn't work at all.

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen
 
My clicks and pops through the speaker, while not damaging are pretty severe. I've checked and double checked for problems, solder joints/bridges etc..., with the board and have found nothing.

Sorry to hear that. I have never experienced severe noises with these attenuators. In some circuits they are quiet, and with others I get a bit of noise. But the goal of the design was to get the best sound quality possible, and they do sound better than pots and PGA-chip attenuators to me.

I don't really get the problem - do you adjust the volume all the time while you're listening to music? I set the volume and leave it, changing it if I put on a louder CD/record for instance.

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen
 
Sorry to hear that. I have never experienced severe noises with these attenuators. In some circuits they are quiet, and with others I get a bit of noise. But the goal of the design was to get the best sound quality possible, and they do sound better than pots and PGA-chip attenuators to me.

I don't really get the problem - do you adjust the volume all the time while you're listening to music? I set the volume and leave it, changing it if I put on a louder CD/record for instance.

Best regards,

Mikkel C. Simonsen

Well, it does sound good and it is quiet while listening. However, pops and clicks that are audible regardless of volume setting are inexcusable! Hell if I wanted that I could use a stepped attenuator with 5 mV of DC on it!

You don't really get the problem????! Neither do I! I'll try and explain, I paid for a functional relay driven attenuator. What I have is unusable and possibly damaging to my loudspeakers. Should I turn my amp off everytime I change the volume?

Where in your literature, website or sales pitch do you mention
In some circuits they are quiet, and with others I get a bit of noise.
I must have missed that!

I don't get it. I'm not going to beat you up on it but come on, you don't really get the problem???? That's weak customer service!