[Zkidd]

I need some help from Modwright LS100 preamp owners! I have a Modwright LS100 that is about four weeks old, and is used with a Modwright KWA100SE. The cables are all Shunyata Deltas (v2) and all compenents are plugged into a Shunyata Delta power conditioner. My speakers are DALI Epicon2 speakers which are a 4 ohm 87 db speaker. That all said, I had been using a preamp that has 20db of gain with everything else as I described being the same and then I bought the Modwright for I am a lover of the 6SN7 plus the Modwright LS100 has less gain or so it is claimed.  Both preamps I have are single gain stage.

But, I cannot use the volume control on the LS100 beyond the 10 o'clock position before my ears bleed and the the wife and the hounds threaten grevious bodily injury if the volume does not change. So I hit the remote but by the time the dial stop spinning now things are too quiet and I have nothng. I cannot understand why the huge amount of volume with the volume control set at a relatively low setting compared to what I was getting with the other preamp that has more gain but also gives me more usage in that I am not deafened by the slighest volume change.

I was really looking for more control with the volume in the Modwright with the lesser db  / gain and yet I am in a worse position.

Any suggestions, tips, thoughts etc. would be welcomed! I did email Dan about a week ago but I have not heard back from him as of yet. I would even be willing to pay for a modification that would lessen the gain level such as perhaps an internal switch that would lower the gain, or just something in general to give me perhaps 6-8 db of gain.

Thank you again. I do love the sound of this preamp but I do need some more control where the volume is concerned so I can enjoy different  recordings and not go from "Huh? - what is that on the recording"? to "Stop! The neighbors are calling the police"!.

[Photon46]

Easiest and most commonly used solution to this issue:

http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/attenuators.html

Some people say they hear sonic degradation with these, others do not. I have used them in multiple setups from time to time and never heard any objectionable degradation.

[musicdre]

Easiest and most commonly used solution to this issue:

http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/attenuators.html

Some people say they hear sonic degradation with these, others do not. I have used them in multiple setups from time to time and never heard any objectionable degradation.

on the other hand, i tried these recently (on a threshold, not a modwright) and found that they seriously compressed dynamics.  could not live with them.  inexpensive to try tho.

[Craig B]

I don't have an answer, but just wanted to say I feel your pain.

It's easy for someone to say, what's the big deal? Gain's a good thing, right? So you hit your normal listening levels at 10 on the dial instead of 12 or 1. Just listen at 10 now.

In fact, I used to think the same thing until I got an amp that had enough gain that it happened to me. Yes, you hit the "normal" SPL at a lower setting on the dial, but as you (and I) learned, the immediate consequence of that is that your volume control loses a large degree of its utility. Even if "10" now gets you precisely the volume you want (which it sounds like it doesn't, for you), you can no longer make fine adjustments, especially if the control is stepped or has physical detents. You can't adjust one way or the other without going too far, sometimes even when turning the knob by hand instead of remote.

I wish you luck in your search for a solution. In my case, it was solved by a change in preamp. I didn't change because of that, but just as a general upgrade. I was fortunate it mated well with the high-gain amps. But then, they're all from the same company and were made to work together, so maybe luck didn't factor in it after all.

[Rusty Jefferson]

Well, assuming you didn't also change your source component (a new dac with higher output voltage, or your other phono stage had less gain than this one) or you didn't accidentally plug into the phono input ( it happens) the difference may be in the volume control as this preamp only has 11db of gain.  Some brands weight the increase in voltage at the lower end. I'm sure Dan will address it.

As a side note, I see it's a phase inverting preamp. Be sure to reverse a speaker or amplifier connection.

[Zkidd]

Hi and thank you all. I did try the Rothwell Attenuators and I got a lot of degradation in the signal; things got "soft" on the edges of the music in that treble "shine" such as cymbals and like were absent and piano notes were losing they percussive impacts as among other things.
Yes, the Modwright does invert and I allowed for that. I am not using balanced interconnects on anything nor do I even use a DAC but that said, output voltages from the sources are at 2.2V or less. Heck, I even had to adjust the input gain from the phonostage as I was getting too much gain when the signal from the phono preamp went to the LS100. I am using a .35 mV phono cartridge and I used to have the phono preamp set at 60 db of gain and now I am running 50db of gain for all of the same exact same equipment. I would not so darn baffled if it were not for the fact that I have owned two other preamps, both with 20db of gain and I had more flexibility with the volume control than I do now...

I am rather disillusioned as I was expecting to have more "play" with the volume control than I am now especially since this partnered with a Modwright amp...

[Zkidd]

I have a 30 day trial period on the LS100 and since I have not heard from Dan as to a possible fix, and I certainly do not want to pay this much for something I cannot use or want to use, plus taking a bath on a re-sale as to pricing, I have decided to return this. Too bad because I had such high hopes for this based on reviews and owning other Modwright products but this is just too much for me. Off to look for another preamp...ugh.

[Artp]

I have the same issue with my KWI-200 integrated. Give him a a call...

[Zkidd]

Between the dealer (Tweek Geek) contacting Dan at Modwright, and Dan replying to the dealer, it sounds to Dan that the padding resistors failed, or perhaps were not installed. When my preamp was being made Dan was having issues with the faceplate and some silk-screening so perhaps someone saw the preamp sitting there, thinking it was a faceplate issue and nothing more and then the plates came the preamp had the plate attached and it was shipped to me. Whatever the case, the LS100 will be shipped back on Friday and we shall see how this all turns out.  Perhaps a time for a design change? There is a nice volume control that is a stepped attenuator (48 steps) that is remote operated and also has an LED type display so one can see the volume setting in low light, and not have to rely on a dimple in a control knob (Khozmo). I would be willing to pay some extra $$ for a more precise system of volume. From the little bit I have read hear, it seems that I am not the only one who has had volume control issues.
All that aside, Dan has stepped up as has the dealer and we shall see how this all plays out. FYI to others who said to reach out to Dan, I did that but never heard back. That is very unusual I know and it was the very first thing I tried.

[Sailorboy]

I also have the same problem.  In my case the combination of KWA100SE power amp and the SWL 9.0 Anniversary Edition preamp caused my problem, with the volume control not able to go beyond 9 and sound bleeding through with the volume control at 0!  Fortunately I only use digital and my DAC has a good preamp, so the solution was to enable the preamp in the DAC to wind back the volume 40%, and there seems to be no degradation with the two preamps in the chain.  At the time Dan advised I could replace the resisters on the SWL volume control to pad the gain, but I chose not to do that as I wanted to keep the preamp standard.

[Zkidd]

My LS100 is back from Dan and here is what we discovered: the ALPS volume control seems to be having some either QC issues or coding issues for when the remote was used the volume control knob was spinning at about 2X what it is supposed to. So Dan took an older ALPS pot and installed that. That, plus Dan reducing the gain by 6db has solved the problem. I have had the ALPS remote volume control in other preamps (Rogue for instance) and never saw an ALPS pot move the volume control knob so much on just one "stab" of the volume control, either "+" or "-". Dan and I think that ALPS either changed something at the factory or there is a QC issue. Whatever the case, Dan did a very nice job of fixing the problem and now with the "older" ALPS pot and the reduction in gain the LS100 is very usable, and it is sounding very nice as well. My thanks to Mike at the Tweek Geek for all of his help, and of course, Dan at Modwright.
I would like to see perhaps in the future, a different volume pot used, perhaps the KHozmo attenuator, shunted or ladder type with the digital readout for us old folks who listen at night and in low light. Just a thought...

Thanks to all who replied. I appreciate the comments and information that was provided...

[gguy]

I have this same issue with my SWL 9.0 AE going into my KWA-150SE.  I’m already at ear splitting volume at 10 o’clock, regardless if I’m using the remote or manually adjusting.  So the fix is to send it in to lower the gain?