[Pharmaboy]

Thanks Pharmaboy. 128 is an insanely great number of steps. I had real trouble with the DACT 23 stepper.

Yes, I've experienced that, too. I had a Burson Soloist--one of the big amp/preamp models, not the cheaper one w/same name (confusing). Anyway, this amp/preamp had a stepped pot that had maybe 23 steps, total. Way too few steps, leaving just 2-3 to control effective volume IMS. It annoyed me so much that I went to considerable trouble to replace the stepped pot with an equivalent non-stepped one, which made it so much better.

My Lake People G109-A has a stepped pot with 43 or 47 steps (forget which). Great amp, but even that occasionally will feel like too few steps.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Thanks. I got mine used and it is stepped but doesn't seem to have 128 steps. Mine seems to have 40 steps. Any ideas what did I get?

No idea. The smaller Violectric amps use stepped pots that have either 43 or 47 steps. But as far as I know, the V281 is either non-stepped pot or 128 step/relay controlled pot.

 

[Mediahound]

No idea. The smaller Violectric amps use stepped pots that have either 43 or 47 steps. But as far as I know, the V281 is either non-stepped pot or 128 step/relay controlled pot.

I guess i have this one. Looks like it's an upgrade from the standard one, but not quite the 128 stepped one. Maybe they did a soft change to the default one at some point.

"
The volume control was changed to a 41 detent from Alps which is only made on demand. We like the detent feeling whilst turning because it has something to do with precision and eases repositioning to a specific level. Also the 41 detent matches the layout on the frontpanel. Every two steps a mark is hit. Please note that this is NOT a stepped volume control but still analog with infinite resolution. The new knob is an original Violectric design and manufactured only for us. It is solid aluminium as before but sightly bigger (25 to 23,5 mm) and higher (20 to 16 mm) thus using more material. It is glas blasted and the anodising quality is much better as it was before”.

"

from: https://www.headfonia.com/violectric-v200-the-german-solid-state/

 

[Pharmaboy]

I guess i have this one. Looks like it's an upgrade from the standard one, but not quite the 128 stepped one:

"
The volume control was changed to a 41 detent from Alps which is only made on demand. We like the detent feeling whilst turning because it has something to do with precision and eases repositioning to a specific level. Also the 41 detent matches the layout on the frontpanel. Every two steps a mark is hit. Please note that this is NOT a stepped volume control but still analog with infinite resolution. The new knob is an original Violectric design and manufactured only for us. It is solid aluminium as before but sightly bigger (25 to 23,5 mm) and higher (20 to 16 mm) thus using more material. It is glas blasted and the anodising quality is much better as it was before”.

"

from: https://www.headfonia.com/violectric-v200-the-german-solid-state/

Oh, that link leads to a V200, not a V281. A lot of people here have the V200 and love it; it's single-ended only. The V281 is 2-3X larger than the V200 and is balanced as well as SE.

 

[Mediahound]

Oh, that link leads to a V200, not a V281. A lot of people here have the V200 and love it; it's single-ended only. The V281 is 2-3X larger than the V200 and is balanced as well as SE.

Right. Maybe they did a soft change on the V281at some point.

 

[Pharmaboy]

So you have the V281, not the V200? And it has that big dial, but w/only 41 steps (that aren't even steps)? That's pretty confusing.

But if 41 steps (or whatever they really are) aren't enough, then it seems to me that you have 2 options:

1. Work with Violectric to get a non-stepped version of this Alps pot--which you could almost certainly swap out yourself. You would need 1.5mm and 2.5mm hex wrenches, if memory serves. The only reason you'd have to go through Violectric is to make sure that the new pot has the necessary impedance rating (pots come in a wide range of ratings).
2. Or if you're flush, pay Violectric to install the 128 step relay-controlled pot. Actually, that's probably user installable, as well.

I know this because my V281's relay-controlled pot developed problems, so Violectric send me an identical replacement and I swapped them out. It was a little hair-raising (I'm not exactly adept in electronics), but definitely do-able.

 

[Mediahound]

So you have the V281, not the V200? And it has that big dial, but w/only 41 steps (that aren't even steps)? That's pretty confusing.

But if 41 steps (or whatever they really are) aren't enough, then it seems to me that you have 2 options:

1. Work with Violectric to get a non-stepped version of this Alps pot--which you could almost certainly swap out yourself. You would need 1.5mm and 2.5mm hex wrenches, if memory serves. The only reason you'd have to go through Violectric is to make sure that the new pot has the necessary impedance rating (pots come in a wide range of ratings).
2. Or if you're flush, pay Violectric to install the 128 step relay-controlled pot. Actually, that's probably user installable, as well.

I know this because my V281's relay-controlled pot developed problems, so Violectric send me an identical replacement and I swapped them out. It was a little hair-raising (I'm not exactly adept in electronics), but definitely do-able.

Yeah, I have a v281. I think probably at one point they had the 41 step one they were using, or it was in for repair at one point and they replaced it with that one, something like that.

At any rate, it sounds like an upgrade from the smooth one, so I'm not concerned. It's still Alps.

 

[jerick70]

I wanted to put my 2 cents in about the relay volume control. I noticed a huge difference in fidelity after doing the upgrade. Very much worth the price of admission. I've changed the volume controls back and forth a few times to verify and there is definitely a large difference. I was using Audeze LCD-3s with 2018 drivers to test from the XLR output.

I did the swap of the volume control myself. It was very strait forward. The most difficult part was drilling the hole larger on the face plate. Oh and lining up the volume knob so it registers the correct volume setting can be a chore. Everything else is unplugging ribbon cables and unscrewing the old volume control. Then replacing the new volume control in reverse order. Pretty simple in my eyes.

 

[Mediahound]

The most difficult part was drilling the hole larger on the face plate.

I'd be scared doing that myself.

 

[jerick70]

I'd be scared doing that myself.

It's not as difficult as it sounds. If you use a stepped drill bit it's easy peasy.

Another option is Violectric will do it for you for free. You have to ship your V281 in though. I'm a little possessive of my audio gear so shipping it in was a no go for me.

 

[Mediahound]

It's not as difficult as it sounds. If you use a stepped drill bit it's easy peasy.

Another option is Violectric will do it for you for free. You have to ship your V281 in though. I'm a little possessive of my audio gear so shipping it in was a no go for me.

Back to Germany? Or to their usa distributor?

 

[Pharmaboy]

Back to Germany? Or to their usa distributor?

Pretty sure it would go to Violectric USA--a very nice/helpful fellow named Arthur (last name escapes me). I bought my Lake People G109-A from him a couple years back; and 2-3 months ago he was the one who helped me swap out the defective stepped relay pot in my V281.

I'll give you his contact info if you like.

 

[jerick70]

Back to Germany? Or to their usa distributor?

Yes Arthur at Violectric USA is the one that would do the upgrade for you. Excellent to work with. He gave me the instructions on the upgrade when I did my V281.

 

[rgs9200m]

OK, I'm going to try the V281 with the relay volume. Thanks.

 

[sahmen]

Personally, when I sent my v281 in to get the remote volume control, I asked for the normal smooth volume control, because it never occurred to me that a simple volume control could make a difference in sq. Now that I have learnt my lesson and know better, I would like to have the superior volume control, but I am feeling foolish to do a "double dipping" on the volume control, since I can neither sell the older remote/control nor trade it in to get the better one at a reduced cost...

So either way, I am feeling foolish and, worse, trying to console myself sometimes that I am not losing much SQ by using the standard non-relay remote/volume control, but who am I kidding? This labor of self-consolation is not working! The bottomline is I do love the V281, and I hate to think that I might be keeping it from performing to the best of its abilities by using a substandard remote volume control... So what is there to do? This situation just sucks!