[Everingham.Curtis]

I'm building a Cmoy amp as introduction to DIY audio. I bought a potentiometer from radioshack that includes SPDT power (when turned all the way counterclockwise, it clicks "off"). If anyone is familiar with setting these up, I have a few questions i would greatly appreciate any help with.

here is a link to the part im asking about:
10K-Ohm Audio Control Potentiometer with SPST Switch - RadioShack.com
this part number matches the one on my packaging, but i was a little confused over the site saying SPST switch, and my packaging saying SPDT.

Another question i have is do potentiometers with power switches have seperate pins for the audio input/output/ground and for the power? or do they just have connections for the two audio channels?

if they are supposed to have seperate connections for the power switch function, then would having 6 total pins mean that this is a potentiometer for mono circuits?

attached a picture for help describing - theres the three pins sticking out of the bottom, and then 3 pins total on the back.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[MisterX]

Quote:

Another question i have is do potentiometers with power switches have seperate pins for the audio input/output/ground and for the power?

Yes, running the power and audio though the same terminals is not the best idea.

Quote:

if they are supposed to have seperate connections for the power switch function, then would having 6 total pins mean that this is a potentiometer for mono circuits?

Yes, it's a mono pot.

This is the pot you want if you want to stick with radio shack parts----->

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062359

 

[Juaquin]

Yes, it's only a mono pot. Radioshack only makes one double pot (100K Dual-Ganged Stereo Volume Control - RadioShack.com) - I tried one when I was building my first Cmoy (was excited and didn't want to wait for my ALPS pot since everything else was assembled). I found that the channels are way off from each other - I wouldn't recommend using it.

If you don't want to wait for a good pot by mail, I'd suggest just hookin everything directly up and using the volume control on your source for now - you'll get better results than with the mismatched pot.

 

[sugrhigh]

Just go for the Alps in my opinion. Used them on over 50 amps I've built for myself and friends. They help save battery and unlike the pot Juaquin references, I've never experienced a lagging channel.

Good luck with your build

 

[Everingham.Curtis]

Thanks for all the advice, it is very helpful. for now, i decided to stick with radioshack, just because I've already ordered my parts and dont want to pay shipping for one part. the next time im ordering parts, ill throw in an extra pot and switch this one out.
one last question i had is that this radioshack pot doesnt have the power switch function. If i didnt want to put a power switch onto the panel, could i get away with just unplugging the battery?

thanks again for all the help

 

[JMikesell]

So I already had that 100k pot from another project. Was able to put a resistor on one of the channels to balance it out. My question is this, this is a 100k, the schematic calls for 10k, how will it affect the performance?