Has anyone heard a passive attenuator from Electraprint?

franjy · « **on:** 29 Mar 2005, 08:46 pm »

Saw an article in Audio Xpress showing a simple transformer based preamp that aroused my interest.[/b]

Rashiki · « **Reply #1 on:** 31 Mar 2005, 05:12 pm »

I have one of the basic copper/nickel Electra-Print PVAs and I think it sounds fantastic. It's sitting between a SlimDevices SqueezeBox's analog outputs and a pair of Teac tripath amps (with some basic mods) configured as monoblocks. The Teacs are driving an old pair of cheap Merak speakers. The SqueezeBox is being driven with uncompressed PCM data. To my untrained ears, the PVA simply attenuates without adding or subtracting anything from the sound.

My plan is to eventually put together an all-battery system. I plan on adding a battery-powered DAC and modding the Teacs to work off batter power. I had built myself a simple passive attenuator, but wasn't happy with it, so I started looking at commercially available options. The Electra-Print PVA sounded interesting and Jack at Electa-Print was very good about responding to email, so I decided to try it. I'm happy with it so far, but I expect to really start appreciating it once I've had a chance to complete my all-battery plans.

For more info, check out the Electra-Print website:
http://www.electra-print.com/electraamp.html

-Rob

franjy · « **Reply #2 on:** 31 Mar 2005, 07:33 pm »

Is your transformer in a case? Is it grounded? How is it connected? Is it producing any hum or other noises? What are you using as a pot? What did you use before the Electroprint transformer? Thank you in advance for asking too many questions.

JoshK · « **Reply #3 on:** 31 Mar 2005, 08:02 pm »

To throughout more questions. I was a little confused looking at the website. Not enough info for me to tell what is going on. It looks from the picture that there is just one secondary on the tranny. So I am assuming this is a line transformer and that you still need to use a standard pot or attenuator with it for volume control. Am I right?

doggie · « **Reply #4 on:** 31 Mar 2005, 08:24 pm »

I am using a pre"amp" made from a pair of Sowter TVA's. It is the best sounding volume control I have found. It has a very natural presentation and seems to sound balanced even at low volume levels. I am running it into a modded Sonic Impact amp.

The preamp on the Electraprint looks like a pair of volume pots running into a pair of stepup transformers. This is not a TVA.

Rashiki · « **Reply #5 on:** 31 Mar 2005, 08:35 pm »

Here are my answers to all the questions asked so far:

Q. Is your transformer in a case?

A. Yes. The case looks exactly like the plain grey one at the bottom of the page. There's also an upgraded case which is the one that has a bit of a blue tint.

Q. Is it grounded?

A. I'm not sure what you mean. There is no connection to electrical ground, if that's what you're asking. There's no connection to a power supply at all -- it's completely passive.

Q. Is it producing hum or other noises?

A. Not that I can hear.

Q. What are you using as a pot?

A. It comes with a pot. I don't know which make/model it is, but Jack at Electra-Print could probably answer that. The knob on the left of the unit in the picture is the input selection switch. The knob on the right is the volume control.

Q. What did you use before the Electroprint?

A. I was using the little adjustment pot on the back of the Teac. Since I got the PVA, I modded the Teac and bypassed the adjustment pot. I also tried a home-made passive attenuator made from a $3 Radio Shack pot, but I wasn't happy with it.

Q. So I am assuming this is a line transformer and that you still need to use a standard pot or attenuator with it for volume control. Am I right?

A. No, you can buy the transformer by itself, but the PVA is as shown in the pictures at the bottom. I bought the "PVA Copper/Nickel - three inputs" model. It came in a plain grey case with an input select know and a volume control knob. The back looks just like the picture -- three sets of RCA jacks for input, two sets for output. I believe that both outputs are controlled by the volume control, but I haven't tested it, so I'm not sure.

-Rob