I would really like some control over volume. I have a digital to analog converter and a harman kardon HK-770. I have handy, A project box with 2 rca out, 2 rca in and a dual 100k pot. How can I wire this pot to give e some attenuation without compressing to much?
I know this is a very fundamental question. Why is a resistor in series prior to potentiometer closer to the source? It would almost seem that a fixed resitance in series would reduce the maximum current from the source.
100k is too high, use 10k. Signal to the top, ground to the bottom, and wiper to the power amp input, just like the ESP site shows. No series resistor.
Voila!!! What a difference using passive attenuation compared to a preamp or reducing volume with software!
Definitely going to head toward LDRs. I was reading about it last night. I do quite a bit of audio recording and music production but was converted to an audiophile a few years ago. Very difficult to find pro audio and recording gear that is transparent without taking out a mortgage. I am so greatful to everyone on this site for making it possible to have and incredible sounding setup that cost me very little.
Definitely going to head toward LDRs. I was reading about it last night. I do quite a bit of audio recording and music production but was converted to an audiophile a few years ago. Very difficult to find pro audio and recording gear that is transparent without taking out a mortgage. I am so greatful to everyone on this site for making it possible to have and incredible sounding setup that cost me very little.
Argon,
I recommend going towards the Silonex that you have been reading about. I have not listened to any others admittedly but the reason why is that none of the others go down as low in resistance. We can get 40 to 50 as a minimum resistance with Silonex but other brands it is hard to get under 400 and an average min seems to be spec'd at around 1500. All fine for your series resistor in your LDR attenuator but you definitely want lower than that in your shunt. Frankly you want lower than 40-50 for a near muted volume but its not possible. If you go your own route and build your own you might consider paralleling a few LDRs for shunt. Make sure that you use matched pairs and that if one matched pair is lets say LDR A and B and then you have another matched pair X and Y then put A and X on one side for shunt and B and Y on the other so that the channels stay well balanced. This will allow you to get 20-25Ohms which will be a whisper. If you have speakers that are not really sensitive, like 85-89dB or so then the 40-50 probably wont bug you. With my 96db speakers its still a bit louder than I would want at min volume but not loud enough for my wife to complain and just at about background music level.
I can help you as much as you like even if you arent buying matched LDRs from me. I get a kick out of getting people into them. The increase in music quality... its just amazing and so easy to achieve!
Uriah
I recommend going towards the Silonex that you have been reading about. I have not listened to any others admittedly but the reason why is that none of the others go down as low in resistance. We can get 40 to 50 as a minimum resistance with Silonex but other brands it is hard to get under 400 and an average min seems to be spec'd at around 1500. All fine for your series resistor in your LDR attenuator but you definitely want lower than that in your shunt. Frankly you want lower than 40-50 for a near muted volume but its not possible. If you go your own route and build your own you might consider paralleling a few LDRs for shunt. Make sure that you use matched pairs and that if one matched pair is lets say LDR A and B and then you have another matched pair X and Y then put A and X on one side for shunt and B and Y on the other so that the channels stay well balanced. This will allow you to get 20-25Ohms which will be a whisper. If you have speakers that are not really sensitive, like 85-89dB or so then the 40-50 probably wont bug you. With my 96db speakers its still a bit louder than I would want at min volume but not loud enough for my wife to complain and just at about background music level.
I can help you as much as you like even if you arent buying matched LDRs from me. I get a kick out of getting people into them. The increase in music quality... its just amazing and so easy to achieve!
Uriah
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