Have I purchased the right potentiometer?

[espire]

I'm on the road to building my first CMoy, and I picked up a Nexxtech "Mini Volume Control" potentiometer from The Source (Radioshack). However, before opening it, I wanted to make sure that it's actually stereo, which it makes no mention of. Since it's specifically for volume, I figured it's likely to be stereo. Without further adue, the details on the packaging:

Part no. 2710215
Mini Volume Control
10K with audio taper SPDT switch - Unipolar switch with two directions
10k, .05W Potentiometer

On the back of the potentiometer are three pins, and on the side are three more. Is a total of six pins enough, or is this "volume control" mono only?

 

[fran]

Usually stereo pots have 6 pins and mono only 3. So it would seem that you have a stereo one. Normally one row of pins is for one channel and the other row for the second. If you put a DMM on them you can test for continuity to make sure the 2 sets of pins aren't connected internally.

Its most likely a stereo pot, but just the way you describe the second set of pins as being out of line with the others make me wonder.

look up audio pot on wikipedia for more.

 

[n_maher]

It seems unlikely to be a stereo pot. My best guess is that the three pins on the bottom are the audio portion and the three on the side are the switch. If you have a DMM you could do a simple continuity check to determine which of the pins the switch controls. But honestly I'm not sure there's much of a point as this test will likely just show that it is indeed a mono pot since it would take all 6 pins to be stereo.

 

[espire]

If all 6 pins would need to be audio for it to be a stereo pot, then this definitely isn't one, since it has the switch. I don't mind, since I haven't opened it and can return it yet.

Does Radioshack sell any stereo pots good for headphone amps?

If not, what is a good source to get them from?

 

[Pars]

Quote:

Originally Posted by espire /img/forum/go_quote.gif If all 6 pins would need to be audio for it to be a stereo pot, then this definitely isn't one, since it has the switch. I don't mind, since I haven't opened it and can return it yet. Does Radioshack sell any stereo pots good for headphone amps? If not, what is a good source to get them from?

No, you won't find anything suitable at Radioshack (at least the US one). The best pot to use is the Alps RK097, available from either Tangent or amb. The pot you reference isn't available from the US ratshack, so maybe the source does have something. You need audio taper stereo, so 6 pins min; with a switch 8 pin min. The Alps pots referenced are nice because they a) track pretty well, b) are small, and c) have a switch, saving you the trouble of using a toggle.