VAC doesn't reply to emails.

No, it doesn't scrap the faceplate and it rotates very smoothly as it should.

The noise come out of the speakers when you rotate the knob.

Yeah, it can happen as pots age. Years ago, I had a local tech work on a couple of my vintage amps and vividly remember him boldly spraying a healthy dose of (probably) dexoit into a couple pots. So that could possibly be done without sending the amp to VAC, though it looks like you’ll have to get past at least an outer canister.

Not sure what pot they used here, but it would have to have an integrated motor if it’s a remote model. These days, that usually means a motorized Alps RK27 at this price point, and even up to $10K or more. I HATE that pot; it’s always been notably worse sounding than alternatives like from TKD (they are more expensive).

If it were me, and I really liked the amp, I might ask VAC about bypassing the pot and using a Khozmo passive preamp upstream - though it’s no guarantee that’s a good option here (impedance matching, etc).

Yeah, it's a remote model, I'll just leave it alone for now. In a few years I may send it to VAC for service. In fact, I don't change the volume too often, so it's minor.

@inna  how do you like the Avatar and how long have you owned it?