[rajacat]

Has anybody tried one of these? Nice price. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110121057012&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

Raj

[shep]

very nice price indeed. The cheapest I have ever seen is one from Australia. Besides build quality (and wiper type), everything depends on the resistors. The most common for this application are Vishay, followed by Caddock and Shinko. The last is a rarity and probably the best sounding.

[acresm22]

Shep, how about Yaego metal film resistors? Are they any good? Where do they fit in the lineup?

[shep]

http://www.hificollective.co.uk/components/potentiometers.html
and http://www.diyfidelity.com.au
I've not heard of Yaego. I took a long sebatical from audio. I've only recently caught up on who what and where does passive steppers. I'm sure the list goes much further, as do the prices! The Aussie pot is on order for an amp project. If it's as good as it's price, it's a winner. Personnaly I prefer to order this from our Australian audio friends than some unknown Chinese source but for the price, if you want to try it, there's nothing to lose! The arguments for and against this type of vol. attenuator go back at least 30 years! Used correctly I love them. I had the choice betwen a tubed front end and this. I chose this because, well because it doesn't wear out or make me crazy over tube rolling (it's also a lot cheaper)

[gitarretyp]

Yageo resistors are available through digikey. Of their quality, i can't say much. However, their prices are comparable to xicon metal films from mouser --read, a few cents each.

[Builder Brad]

here is another option using Vishay resistors:

 http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Amplifier-Stepped-Attenuator-for-ALTEC-RCA-WE_W0QQitemZ110119926526QQihZ001QQcategoryZ73369QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I had the seller of the above item make up a special value attenuator (25k) using Holco resistors. It only took a couple of weeks from start to finish, and I am very happy with the results - plus the actual soldering was perfect.

[JoshK]

I think I read that yageo are actually ok, even though they are super cheap chinese made.  But I'd still probably spring a few bucks more for piece of mind. 

I have 3 ladder step attenuators built around the same switch.  I have heard mixed things about the switch.  Some reported the contacts degraded after a couple years use.  Don't know if they improved since, but the blue sealed switch is found quite commonly around.

[dado5]

Here is a dead clever AND cheap one (albeit with a learning curve for use).

http://glass-ware.stores.yahoo.net/aikampstepat.html