The Goldpoint ones are much more expensive, and even at similar price levels you can only get the series/shunt versions.
I don't see anything special about Gold Point. Those are Elmas switches with custom boards at double the price. You'll be much better off buying from Elma.
Here is a picture of the Elma switch that I received today, the stereo ladder attenuator. It is a high quality unit with gold switching contacts, and high quality pcbs for easily assembly.
I will get one of the series units in the mail next week, which costs about $25 less.
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Brian
I will get one of the series units in the mail next week, which costs about $25 less.
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Brian
Attachments
They look sweet 
My guess is that the there would be more interest in the GB for the 4 deck because the non-GC crowd will want some, whereas the lower cost 2 deck would appeal to the GC guys more. Maybe the Aleph guys will want the 4 deck for a series, balanced attenuator? But hey, that's up to you in the end.
Anyways, most of all, enjoy the wedding! Cheers!
My guess is that the there would be more interest in the GB for the 4 deck because the non-GC crowd will want some, whereas the lower cost 2 deck would appeal to the GC guys more. Maybe the Aleph guys will want the 4 deck for a series, balanced attenuator? But hey, that's up to you in the end.
Anyways, most of all, enjoy the wedding! Cheers!
BrianGT -
Thanks for the pictures! They indeed look very nice. 🙂
I am wondering though, are the PCB boards easily disassembleable/assemblable? Does the unit come assembled, or do we need to put it together?
I am wondering because if the PCBs are fixed, I think it's going to be rather difficult getting the resistors in there...
Thanks for the pictures! They indeed look very nice. 🙂
I am wondering though, are the PCB boards easily disassembleable/assemblable? Does the unit come assembled, or do we need to put it together?
I am wondering because if the PCBs are fixed, I think it's going to be rather difficult getting the resistors in there...
BrianGT said:
Elma switches are quite easy to modify. You can buy two 4 decks units and use just one mechanism stacking 8 decks. Obviously you need to replace the standard shaft with a longer one. The shaft is simply "snaped in" and it's easy to extract. The new longer shaft might be a brass bar 6 (W) x 2 (H) mm.
I've done this mod several times as I bought many Elma surplus switches (brand new, sealed in the original 10 pcs boxes) featuring3 decks and they become 2 decks or 4 decks.
What is the overall feeling about which switch to get? I am looking at 2 switches, the Elma ladder attenuator, and the Elma series attenuator. The series model will be about $25 less for the attenuator and less for the kit, since there are less resistors required.
It seems like the series model should be fine, since it will simply act like an accurate potentiometer. What are the advantages of the ladder solution?
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Brian
It seems like the series model should be fine, since it will simply act like an accurate potentiometer. What are the advantages of the ladder solution?
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Brian
Not that it will matter a whole lot, but the ladder type will most likely have better channel matching, even if the resistors are matched the sum of the differences can turn out to be a bit greater than what would result in a ladder attenuator.
But then, will anyone be able to hear the difference?
But then, will anyone be able to hear the difference?
BrianGT said:
Less resistors and solder joints in series. How important it is, I don't know.
But I would be inclined towards series attenuator with good SMD resistors. But even than, it's hard to predict if it will sound better than a quality pot. I'm not that much concerned with tracking accuracy.
Variac said:
This is also true for the series attenuator.
It is different for fixed series/variable shunt type, but I wouldn't consider this as such a big issue. 90% of attenuators usage is over a certain, limited setting, that doesn't change that often. Only on some occasions you probably choose to listen at much lower level (or really loud), so if the parameters of an attenuator are optimised for that, most frequently used setting, series/shunt should be as good as ladder.
The Ladder please...
I prefer the ladder arrangement. Unless you are buying multiple switches--3 or 4 or more--and considering the price that I would have to pay for the series attenuator anyway, I would be willing to pay more for and be more inclined to have the ladder attenuator.
Thanks,
I prefer the ladder arrangement. Unless you are buying multiple switches--3 or 4 or more--and considering the price that I would have to pay for the series attenuator anyway, I would be willing to pay more for and be more inclined to have the ladder attenuator.
Thanks,
Peter Daniel said:
For me, and maybe some others as well, this will be a "splurge" purchase, and so I will likely build it in to a separate case so it can move from amp to amp as I upgrade. I may very well at some point put it in my one best amp one day to reduce interconnects, but not right away. So optimizing for the 90% usage setting will not apply in a situation like that.
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