Khozmo Attenuators

[sbelyo]

Has anyone used a Khozmo Attenuator?  They look extremely well built.  I wonder how it sounds compared to a goldpoint or a dact

[kevin gilmore]

they have assembly issues. if you take them apart and resolder all the resistors and

then carefully adjust the wipers, they should last quite a while. they are shunt

devices with only 2 resistors in the circuit at any time, and do sound good.

they do however as default have a common ground, which you may wish to defeat.

[sbelyo]

Thanks, good to know.  They're on sale at pcx and I thought I might give one a try but i don't really feel like resoldering all those joints

[kevin gilmore]

I got one courtesy of hennyo and it took me about 2 hours to make it perfect.

(not his fault) (balanced quad)

[TMoney]

I have also had problems with Khozmos. One totally failed which they replaced, but now the replacement is acting up.

[RiStaR]

they have assembly issues. if you take them apart and resolder all the resistors and

then carefully adjust the wipers, they should last quite a while. they are shunt

devices with only 2 resistors in the circuit at any time, and do sound good.

they do however as default have a common ground, which you may wish to defeat.

 

Hi Kevin,

 

Hopefully this isn't too elementary, but I haven't been able to find possible reasons online. I've just recently soldered my own shunt attenuator and I actually wired it all to a common ground - can you share reasons why it may be necessary to defeat it? Is it to do with noise/interference?

 

Best,

[kevin gilmore]

well if you are doing balanced and the inputs are separated by a distance you

might want to separate the grounds into left and right. that kind of thing.

[RiStaR]

well if you are doing balanced and the inputs are separated by a distance you

might want to separate the grounds into left and right. that kind of thing.

 

Got it and thanks for clarifying

[kevin gilmore]

seeing how they are built, if I had the time, I could design and build one

that would never ever fail. Would have pure silver contacts et all.

Would probably take 2 hours per section to assemble. Plus silly amounts

of time to cast the silver pieces.

[RiStaR]

seeing how they are built, if I had the time, I could design and build one

that would never ever fail. Would have pure silver contacts et all.

Would probably take 2 hours per section to assemble. Plus silly amounts

of time to cast the silver pieces.

 

Kevin, if you do this and leave your signature on it, I'm sure many (including me) on this forum would buy one

 

Just out of curiosity, have you ever tried LDRs? Or do you think a digital/shunt attenuator are the best you've heard?

[kevin gilmore]

you can't get a ldr to track right. no matter how hard you try.

even with multiple elements and extra feedback. plus the

issues with low level non-linear behavior.

[sbelyo]

seeing how they are built, if I had the time, I could design and build one

that would never ever fail. Would have pure silver contacts et all.

Would probably take 2 hours per section to assemble. Plus silly amounts

of time to cast the silver pieces.

Now yer talkin

[sbelyo]

I have also had problems with Khozmos. One totally failed which they replaced, but now the replacement is acting up.

Hmmm....  sounds like I'll continue with my original plan of using a goldpoint

[kevin gilmore]

the goldpoints are not enough steps, and are not 2 resistor shunts.

same thing with the dact.

 

that is if you want to be completely anal about it.

[eggil]

Mine never worked. Poor workmanship. Too lazy to fix it, but I may try

Edited July 12, 2013 by eggil

[n_maher]

It's sad that such a critical part of the audio chain is the bane of the DIY'ers existence.  There are next to no good, affordable options once you move past using the RK27.  At that point it's almost an RK50 or bust situation.

[Pars]

^ Well the TKDs are better than the RK27s, but yeah, once you go beyond the sub-$100 pots, you are in for some spending

[kevin gilmore]

The penny & giles pots are great too. also rk50 pricing these days.

 

The $5k JC parasound preamp uses a rk27. pretty sad.

 

my 8 bit digital step attenuator seems more rational.

Edited July 12, 2013 by kevin gilmore

[fordgtlover]

HiFi Collective in the UK sells the Tocos Cosmos pot from Japan.

http://www.hificollective.co.uk/catalog/tocos-cosmos-rv24-stereo-potentiometer-p-9218.html

 

Other than the HiFi Collective reviews on their page, I can't find any other comments about these pots. While it doesn't appear to b a high end option, it may offer an alternative to the RK27. I've picked one up to try on my KSA-5 Krell Klone build.

 

They can be had much cheaper from the ebay.

[livewire]

Meh, I don't see a Tocos quad pot. Wazzup wid dat?

[luvdunhill]

Real men use shunt pots?

[RiStaR]

Real men use shunt pots?

 

Either that or aspiring "warp speed" engineers?

 

[spritzer]

That TOCO's just looks like a cheap ceramic pot so color me skeptical. 

 

Real men use shunt pots?

 

That's what Craig says, he even says only stupid people who don't know what they are doing use 4 gang's... 

[fordgtlover]

That TOCO's just looks like a cheap ceramic pot so color me skeptical.

That's what Craig says, he even says only stupid people who don't know what they are doing use 4 gang's... 

A Japanese part bought from a Chinese seller on ebay, how could ya go wrong? For $15, I'll give it a go. If it's not at least as good as an RK27, I'll bin it and go to plan b.

Edited July 13, 2013 by fordgtlover