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Great experience with audio society and local tech

I'm in the process of having an amp upgraded with new caps, etc. But perhaps the best thing that's come out of this so far is getting to know my local tech a bit. I spent a wonderful two hours with him yesterday; parts and amps everywhere, tubes of many varieties, rebuilt and one of a kind gear, and stories of personal, audio-related interactions with great designers — Kara of deHavilland, Fritz of Fritz speakers, Earl Geddes, Dan Modwright, Duke LeJeune, and many more. We talked amps, subwoofers, caps, speakers, subs, room acoustics, and more. 

I'd not have known about this great guy if I had not joined my local audio society. Personal contact and conversation has provided me with a path beyond conversations about brand names (unavoidably) idiosyncratic listenening reportage. Many of you know this already, so I'm sharing this for newer folks. Work the grapevine, find the grapes.

128x128hilde45
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,623 posts
 

Hilde:

 

Read in another thread that you had the TDK volume pot installed in your QS preamp.

 

Once things settle in please add your opinion of such.

 

Mainly curious if it sounds better @ lower volume levels (meaning that the soundstage does not get significantly smaller @ reasonably lower levels).

 

This odd feat is what I heard with the more complex volume pot(s) I mentioned earlier, and even to some extent with my cheap Bottlehead resistor loaded 12 step pot.

 

The TDK is considerably more affordable than the 50-100 "stepped" pots I considered and it also looks to be easier to install space wise.

 

DeKay

hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,986 posts
 

@dekay I need to do more listening, but here was the change related to the ALPS pot to the TDK pot, via the tech -- related to balance: "the new volume control tracks better, before there was about 0.4dB of channel imbalance, now it's < 0.2 at most spots."

mrdecibel
3,065 posts
 

I am pretty certain the pots are TKD, not TDK, as I have used the brand in the past, which are excellent. Enjoy !

hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,986 posts
 

My mistake! Thanks!

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