Hi guys, I have been communicating with Kevin and my upgrade is underway. The result will be an as-new Erato II with the new style faceplate shown on their website. I am still debating whether to have the attenuator module installed. When I asked Kevin about the differences between playing the Erato II through the attenuator module and through his Model Three Signature preamp (which I own) he said,
There should be no discernible difference between the two configurations you describe, it (the attenuator module) has nearly identical characteristics as the Model Three Signature.He went on to say,
I will pass along that some individuals have expressed that they like the attenuator module even better than the Model Three Signature. This may be because of the fewer number of interconnects (just one pair to the amplifier) it may be because the module is so low in cost. I myself find them very similar, too similar to make a call. Certainly the feature set of the Model Three Signature is much greater than the attenuator module, but for a really simple system, it (the attenuator module) is nearly a perfect device.Since I already own the Three Signature, it seems I would not need the attenuator, but I am curious about whether it would sound as good, or better, than the preamp, and since my only source will be the player, it really would be a simple solution for me - player to amps to speakers. Another consideration is that even with the attenuator installed, I would still have the option to instead use the unattenuated outputs to drive an external preamp like my Lamm LL2 Deluxe, which I find to be sonically excellent.