[kelly]

It's not that I don't think Alps knows what they're doing...

If they say it's better, it probably is, but I wish someone would post some slightly technical explanation for how the thing works and why it's supposed to be better than a stepped attenuator.

I wish Nik's little Italian engineer posted on Head-Fi.

 

[wasifazim]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly It's not that I don't think Alps knows what they're doing... If they say it's better, it probably is, but I wish someone would post some slightly technical explanation for how the thing works and why it's supposed to be better than a stepped attenuator. I wish Nik's little Italian engineer posted on Head-Fi.

It's an extraordinarily well-built potentiometer, but it's still a conventional pot...without having listened to it, I'm not sure that a high-quality stepped attenuator would be worse.

- Wasif.

 

[Nik]

Really this pot is something like a rare object, not only for dimension or look: fantastic, heavy construction, but I’d tell especially for sound performance. I admit that listening with speakers you don’t need a so hi quality of pot, but with headphone you can to appreciate any little thing. For example, if you try to listen the pot at the lowest volume, generally in the first “step” you listen a channel more than the other, and generally the left is more present then the right… try… even with the RK-40 I experimented this, but not with the RK-50, is simply perfect: the lowest volume you can perceive is perfectly balanced. The general aspect of the sound is a bigger space around you, more little details and purity. My designer was not so enthusiast for the stepped attenuators, I never heard a stepped attenuator, but I’m sure that the ALPS RK-50 is the best potentiometer in the world, and you can to listen that it is!

Nicola