I'm talking about these
http://www.hlabs.com/technical/crossovers/ down at the bottom half of the page.
I bought a -6 db pair of attenuators a couple years back...I can't remember why at the time. Today, I happened to read a bit about the Rothwell -10db attenuators sold on Audiogon and elsewhere for $59.99:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?accstwek&1171809225If you read thru it you'll read what they do...but, do they?
I hooked up my -6db pair today between DAC and preamp. It made finding a volume level far easier and it was the most enjoyable 8+ hours of CD playing I've ever experienced. Seriously, while toiling away at work things here in my home office/listening room, CD playback is tedious. FM is fine, but CD is hard to take. I end up the day, invariably, playing vinyl.
Not today. The FMods made my listening experience altogether better. It made CD seem, GASP, like analog
It took a bit of the dynamics out (my perception), but my CDP/DAC was never lacking for dynamics. Too much dynamics were far more the problem - always. It added back a measure of liquidity that never existed before.
Perhaps my preamp shouldn't overload with a 2MV input; but it, apparently, does (maybe some of your manufacturers and knowledgeable DIY-types can tell me why that is?) The tuner outputs only 600mV and sounds great. The turntable outputs 5 mV or so before it reaches the 40db gain of the phono stage internal to my preamp and also sounds swell
Incidentally, not all inline attenuators are the same. I bought mine from Parts Express...at the same time I bought Parts Express brand -3 db attenuators for less than half the price. Well, one hums noticably and the other imparts a grainy sound. They are unplated and very lightweight vs. the more substantial heft and gold plating of the FMods. Do yourself a favor - if you want to try it, try only the
FMods:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=266-242If you find any CD volume to be too loud, if you find any good volume level to listen at with CD...you may be a good candidate to enjoy the FMods. At
$25.90 per pair - they are half the cost of the Rothwell's.
I have tried Dakiom's and Monster Cable (wire type) wire adaptors for different reason in the past...and they both imparted a grainy texture to the music. TheFMods are different - they add nothing but potential good to the playback so far as I am concerned.
I bought a -12db and -3db pair tonite from Parts Express and will do some more experimenting
For my particular situation, the improvement in my enjoyment was massive. Finally, I can bear CD playback in my own system.
