I was wrong about the price of the Rothwells...
I've bought affordable attenuators and I could not hear a difference.
"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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- 52 posts total
The Cary SLP-05 has a Schiit load of gain but so do a lot of other top tier preamps and it is not a bad thing. Easily adjustable by the two continuously variable gain controls on the front panel, one for each channel. Also acts as a balance trim control too. Every preamp I have used benefited from some form of gain adjustment to fine tune the final gain through the amp, the Cary no exception. No attenuators required. Easy to dial in without much effort. |
@avanti1960 again, I want to stress that I am not disagreeing or seeking an argument. Only seeking clarification on this subject. So if I use the left & right "input level" pots to control my volume, is that a better thing than using the big knob (labeled 'listening level") to accomplish my volume control? I wouldn't be simply robbing Peter to pay Paul? And to do this, what would you recommend? Start with the big knob at 12 o-clock with the left & right "input level" pots backed all the way off and then advance them judiciously?
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There are two issues here, does the volume pot have an optimal operation range (typically around half way between min and max), and does the way the volume pot operates at the moment give you enough fine adjustability to hit exactly the volume that you want to listen at. Experiment with the trim levels and see if yo can hear a difference. |
sorry if I misunderstood. the goal is the best sound possible for the preamp and amp system and let the volume control fall where it may. in my case I started with the gain controls at max level and listened. the sound was to edgy, like a phono preamp with too much gain, even at moderate volume levels. it sounded slightly coarse, like you did not want to turn it up at all even beginning with low to moderate volume. I then backed off the levels until the sound was smooth and lost the edginess- happened to be right about mid level. it isn't about where the volume control lands, the gain controls adjust for the best sound though the volume range. i started with them at the highest setting (1) so that I knew what too much gain sounded like and (2) backing off just enough to sweeten the sound and not too much to lose dynamics and drive. FYI with digital sources volume at 9:00 is just starting to be fun, with vinyl the volume likes to be at 10:00 to 11:00. adjust the gain for the best smoothest sound starting at the top level and the relative volume level will sort itself. |
- 52 posts total