I'm experimenting with using a passive volume control in my system. For now I'm using budget pots and resistors to determine what design and parts values work the best for my rig.
Last night I tried a 100K pot and a 47k resistor wired to the input of the pot in a shunt configuration. It sounded good but was very noisy.
My source is the output of a pair of transformers that are direct-coupled to the DAC in my CD player. My power amp is a tube amp with a 100K input impedance. Both components work fine with with little to no noise when used with my solid state preamp. IC lengths for input and output are less than 24".
Would lowering the input resistor value lower the noise? Or is the noise primarily caused by cable shielding issues?
Any other thoughts?
