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stepped attenuators

Stepped attenuators are new to me and I must say that I'm impressed. I recently acquired a new Burson PI-160 and it leaves the older unit (which I have) in the dust. Burson says that the signal is at its weakest when going through the volume control and tried and tossed out a remote in favor of the attenuator. I can see why. I have all the detail, dynamics, nuance, tone, sound stage, etc. at lower settings that I no longer have to crank it for things to get lively. Its like each setting is all that Burosn intended (hardwired, if you will) allowing all the signal to come through undistorted. I know there's more to this unit than the volume control but I feel it must have a huge influence on the sound quality.
How do you feel about them?
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t_bone
1,182 posts
 
Rcprince,
What attenuators did you install in your JP80? Did it make a big difference?
rcprince
3,070 posts
 
T_bone--I didn't install anything, the stock Jadis volume controls on these units (as opposed to the JPL, for example) are in essence stepped attenuators. I believe they operate using different resistors for each step.
t_bone
1,182 posts
 
I wonder if they changed over time. My JP80 is ancient (s/n 008), has a single volume pot and a balance knob, neither of which are stepped.
face
516 posts
 
Rgs92, which preamp?
rcprince
3,070 posts
 
T_bone--that really is an early one! They did change over time, not only did they become stepped attenuators, but they also replaced the balance control by using a separate attenuator for each channel, which is a better way of doing balance between channels in my view. I recall visiting Victor Goldstein when he was still the US importer of Jadis, and he showed me the version of the attenuators they used in the JP80 after the one I got, they were actually set up so you could turn both of them with just one knob (you could operate them separately by pulling out one of the knobs). It was a very large and elaborate assembly. You might check with Jadis to see if they have someone in Japan (I think that's where you live, if I recall) who could replace your volume/balance control with a current one, though the price was not cheap even when Victor was showing it to me.
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