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Does anyone know of a finished passive based on a TKD pot?
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You can get TKD stereo 100k pot for $100 at Parts Connection or other DIY stores. Pretty easy to build it up or just take it to your local guitar center and pay them to put it in a box, add a switch (for 2-3 sources) and install some RCAs on the back.
By the way, Bascom H. King talks about his preference for a passive preamp in the section on PS audio's new preamp.
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Those are not TKD. They're made in Poland by Khozmo. Darn fine passive attenuators. 48 stepped attenuators, very well made. They will outperform a TKD easily.
Dan Santoni
You're right. These are not TKD; however, I'm not so sure that they would outperform the TKD unless you've made a direct comparison. The reason I'm afer a TKD passive is that the TKD has outperformed anything else I've tried, the last being a pair of Slagle autoformers widely considered to be the last word in transparent attenuation.
Nt
I've read good things about both. What do you feel the TKD does better? Thanks.
I had the Slagles in a passive that had a selector switch that became noisy. I replaced the passive with an old TKD volume pot I had previously used and was very surprised with the improvement in detail, frequency extension and dynamic contrast. I still think the Slagles are very good and the improvement may be down to a lucky match of the TKD with my sources and amplifier with respect to impedances etc, but I do think the alleged superiority of stepped attenuators, autoformers and all the rest of the miracle attenuators is really overstated and the sq of a good traditional volume pot can be quite extraordinary.
You are comparing a transformer (autoformer) volume attenuator to a resistor-based volume attenuator. Sort of apples to oranges except that they both attenuate volume. I believe TKD made both resistor-based attenuators as well as potentiometers, which are a different device and generally thought to be inferior sonically to a discrete resistor based control. Do you know whether yours is a potentiometer or resistor based control?
For the resistor volume attenuator, the switch itself, whether TKD, Khozmo or other types is basically a means to make contact with discrete resistors. The biggest sonic difference will be the type of resistors used. The other thing that may have a smaller effect on the sound is the quality of construction and materials used in the contacts (e.g., silver or gold plating over a base metal). Otherwise, what makes one attenuator better than another are the ergonomics (how it feels when used) and durability.
My preamp has a Shallco switch with Audio Note Tantalum Resistors and sonically it beats both Goldpoint and Endler switches I also have here, although the comparison is not fair since the Shallco is part of a no-gain buffered preamp and the others are simply volume attenuators. I owned a Tom Evans Vibe that used a DACT attenuator (which uses SMDs same as the Goldpoint) and that preamp sounded outstanding, although not as good as my current preamp. The easiest thing might be to try a Goldpoint attenuator or find somewhere to buy the TKD attenuator, not the potentiometer.
Below is a link to a site showing many types of volume controls.
nt
Do they even make ladder attenuators?
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