Tweakers' Asylum

Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

Use this form to submit comments directly to the Asylum moderators for this forum. We're particularly interested in truly outstanding posts that might be added to our FAQs.
You may also use this form to provide feedback or to call attention to messages that may be in violation of our content rules.

You must login to use this feature.

Inmate Login

By default, logging in will set a session cookie that disappears when you close your browser. Clicking on the 'Remember my Moniker & Password' below will cause a permanent 'Login Cookie' to be set.

Moniker/Username: The Name that you picked or by default, your email. Forgot Moniker?	Examples "Rapper", "Bob W", "joe@aol.com".
Password:	Forgot Password?
	Remember my Moniker & Password ( What's this?)

If you don't have an Asylum Account, you can create one by clicking Here.

Our privacy policy can be reviewed by clicking Here.

Inmate Comments

From:
Your Email:
Subject:

Message Comments

Original Message

Attenuator interconnects between preamp and amp. Good idea? Bad idea?

Posted by ronnieferrell on April 5, 2002 at 14:02:24:
Please forgive me in advance for my "not-so-technical" terminology. I am learning as I go.
Is the following a good idea, bad idea or am I asking for trouble?
I would like more control over the volume control of my active preamp. Right now I have a total of 4 dented settings (one of them being no volume at all) on my preamp that I can use before it blows me out of the room. The volume control has at least 24 notches and I can only use 4 of them. I know a passive preamp would work beautifully in my setup because my cd player has a variable line out. If I hook it directly into my power amp, I can hit the halfway point on the cd variable control before it is too loud. BUT I cannot afford a good passive preamp at this time and the variable out on my CD player sounds like crap.
Can I build an attenuator into the input RCA plug of the interconnect between my preamp and amp? If so which impedance do I work around, the output impedance of the preamp or the input impedance of the amp? I do not grasp the relationship here yet but I am trying... Is using set values from a 50K ladder attenuator to drop the volume a little a good starting point? I realize If it is possible that I will have to do some trial and error to get the fixed level I am looking for. I am just not certain on what total ohms value between the 2 resistors I should be working with or if this is even a good idea to try.
Am I looking for trouble since I am trying to attenuate the output of an active preamp into a power amp? Will I have any roll-off?
Any input would be much appreciated,
Thanks,
Ronnie Ferrell