i've not tryed a stepped att. but another alternative is to do a shunt pot mod
here you put a single resistor (whatever your fav type is) in the signal path of about 90% of the value of your pot. you connect the pot between the signal and earth. so then you have no switch contacts in the signal path ! sound too good and simple to be true ? well, your max volume is reduced and source and input impedance are affected but wether these would be a problem would depend on your set up. i gather people have had very good results with this. maybe there's others out there with experience who'd like to comment ?
i haven't tried this yet but am currently building an AN pre amp and intend to try this out
regards
richard