The Bent Autoformer VC is excellent. Sixty-one 1dB steps, from -54dB to +7dB, all done via instrumentation-quality reed relays rated for billions of operations. The power they consume is used solely for the relay switching circuit. I love them in my preamp. You even get a balance control since each channel has it's own autoformer unit. The cool thing is that with a little surgery, you can restack the nickel laminations to get various amounts of primary inductance - stock they are stacked 3X3 for ~155H. That works fine with my preamp since I'm using the low Z mu-output of the plate CCS, but they can be restacked to 1X1 for ~190H if you like, or 6X6 for ~100H, etc.
They make having a remote control no detriment to the sonics, and there's nothing more ideal than adjusting the volume and balance from the comfort of your listening chair, from where you'll be...listening.
