Noble potentiometers

[slowpogo]

What are some opinions of these? The Alps Blue seems to be the de facto standard pot for DIY stuff, but I have seen these a few places also. They are roughly the same cost, a few $ more. Do they basically have the same performance or is one better, or different?

I think I'd like to try one in any case, but are they available in 50k anywhere besides Percy Audio? He hasn't answered my last two order emails.

 

[stixx]

slowpogo,

I have used a Noble 100k in my C3G tube headphone amp and am very satisfied with it. While I cannot compare it directly to an Alps (since I don't have an exact matching amp with an Alps in it...) it sounds very good with excellent resolution. It's probably on older, detented one (the feel of turning it is a pleasure as well...) that I got on Ebay a few years back.


Quote:

I think I'd like to try one in any case, but are they available in 50k anywhere besides Percy Audio? He hasn't answered my last two order emails.

Don't know any other place...
As for Michael Percy not answering mails...the man seems to be really busy.
I cancelled an order this summer because there was no response and a few weeks later he came back and apologized for not being able to respond earlier. Well, it was too late anyway...got a TKD pot from partsconnexion.

 

[amb]

I've used the Noble AP25 pot in a few projects and they are abuot the same quality level as the Alps RK27. In fact the pin-out dimensions are identical, except the Noble has a longer body, so it would protrude more toward the front. It requires a bit more effort to turn than the Alps, but nonetheless feels nice (Mine were the non-detented version).

One of my Nobles on a preamp I built some years ago became very scratchy and cannot be fixed with contact cleaner. Also, another one has unusually bad channel tracking, but I have had no problems with the others.

The Nobles are not as popular amongst DIYers because they are not as widely available.

 

[amphead]

If you can go with Alps RK27. I have been extremely happy with the one I got from Amb. He ships fast too!

 

[Pars]

If you are looking for something better, the TKD CP2500/2511 (Percy or Partsconnexion) is considerably better than the Alps. Of course, its also more expensive. You could also hunt down an Alps RK40 or RK50, but I've never used either of these (one of them is known as the Alps Black Beauty, the RK40 IIRC). Then there is Penny and Giles...