The sound of Pots! Continued.

Tweakers' Asylum

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

I posted here about a month or so ago about replacing my tube phono preamp's ALPS black beauty with Cermet pots and got a very pleasant performance upgrade. It was a revelation in many ways.
The sound took on a fluid and silky texture. Less grain and glare in the soundfield plus a really good balance from top to bottom. From a sonic perspective, the sound was like sitting 1/2 way back in the hall, maybe 2/3 back and this is not the sound I prefer. I like row 15 dead center.
Steve Eddie mentioned that he liked the PEC Carbon Pots. I put these in place today. Again I hear a tremendous difference in the sound.
Still no grain or glare like the ALPS Black Beauty. The vocals came right up front with this Pot. So it is spotlighting the performers better. Very stong and detailed bass is here for rock and roll fanatics. Highs are good but not overly expressive. This can be a good thing if you like to crank it up like I do!
I miss the really quiet background of the Cermet. I also miss how 3 diminsional they sounded.
The PEC is a vocalist's best friend. It is like a warm spot light that keeps your attention focused on the performer. I really love what the PEC does for vocalists. It gets them dead on to where they are mixed by most sound studios.
Tomorrow I will spin some more classical and some jazz and see if the PEC's will play nice with the other children.
I am really blown away by how different Pots can filter the sound of your equipment so dramatically.
I wonder if there is a best Pot. I know some like Noble. I should try some of these. TKD makes a good Pot or so I hear. So far the Cermet is awesome but a bit too far removed from the overall sound that I enjoy most. The ALPS were strident and grainy. The PEC's are somewhat in between but missing some of the 3D soundstage that I enjoy the most. They put singers right up front. Maybe they will break in a little over time???? Probably not.
So now it is back to testing Pots. I am sure there are some great models out there. And some of the stepped attenuators with resistors are probably pretty good sounding too!

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Topic - The sound of Pots! Continued. - tubesforever 21:58:56 11/02/05 (6)

Re: The sound of Pots! ...beware of fakes - PeAK 04:34:33 11/05/05 (1)

This would be fun.... - tubesforever 14:39:18 11/06/05 (0)

Re: The sound of Pots! Continued. - Tuckers 02:53:55 11/05/05 (0)

Re: The sound of Pots! Continued. - Pars 12:10:30 11/03/05 (0)

Re: The sound of Pots! Continued. - fmak 08:37:48 11/03/05 (0)

Re: The sound of Pots! - bare 08:04:05 11/03/05 (0)

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