I'm having the same problem with a new addition. Volume hoovers around 9-10 o'clock. My turntable level is fine, it's the digital source that needs to be tamed. I ordered Rothwell attenuators and hopefully they will help without effecting sound quality.
"Too much gain"? (Cary SLP05 question)
A few days or so ago, someone had revived an old Cary SLP 05 thread, and common to that discussion seemed to be the subject of too much gain.
My first question is: does compensating for too much gain by simply adjusting the volume knob knob down degrade the sonic quality?
My second (2 part) question relates to this quote from one of the replies in that thread:
A quick note to Pass Labs and they suggested a pair of Rothwell 10db balanced attenuators into the amp’s inputs.
What exactly do balanced attenuators do to resolve this issue, and if placed between the preamp and the amp, would they degrade the signal path & therefore the sonic result out of the speakers?
I am a relatively new owner/operator of a SLP05 and it is in front of one of the earlier Cary V12s. I did find those balanced attenuators on ebay for (I think I remember them being) $89 a pair, which I find totally doable. I am lsitening in a (very) near field room right now, and it seem as if I do have a lot of gain. Generally the big knob is on 9 o'clock plus or minus a little bit depending upon the source material I am listening to. I am using the balanced ins and outs to & from my SLP05 and I have been given to understand that using RCAs would reduce the gain somewhat. I do have some RCAs (I am presently using Kimber Silver Streak balanced interconnects) but my collection of spare RCAs is Kimber PBJ and Monsters.
For $89 should I try putting a pair of those of Rothwell 10db balanced attenuators into the balanced amp’s inputs?
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@voodoolounge this is strictly a question, not a question looking for an argument. Why is a lot of gain necessarily bad? Does having more "real estate" (as I have hear it referred to) to utilize on the volume knob improve the sonic quality? |
This is where volume control quality comes into play. Cheaper potentiometers will often be poorly matched between Left / Right channels especially at lower volume levels. The ubiquitous Alps RK27 is OK but maybe not great here, at least when you get up to the level of that Cary (I don’t know what the Cary uses, but there’s a good chance it’s this). This is why the insane Alps RK50 goes for such a premium. If you open it up the Alps RK27 is easily recognizable by its sandwich of 2 or 4 navy blue plastic "gangs" (they used to call this part "Blue Velvet") and a metal can motor & controller at the end (optional for remote volume control). The RK50 is a huge beautiful cylindrical brass beast (it won’t be this) and requires an external motor rig with belt drive to be remote controlled. On the flip side a good stepped attenuator is utterly transparent sounding and well matched at all levels, but the steps themselves are too big on the lower end of its scale so it can be impossible to find the "right" volume when you have too much gain. Digital volume controls give good matching and good granularity, but some will claim they don’t sound as good as the other 2 types. Besides channel matching, the other problem with high gain preamps is that your music signal will be riding closer to the noise floor anytime you’re not utilizing most of its gain. So you’re much more likely to hear a hissss noise floor. The suggested attenuators will help BOTH your channel matching and signal to noise ratio. |
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