Do inline attenuators work?

Music First now do a pair of transformer attenuators - supposed to be sound degradation free - haven't tried them - was going to but the preamp I wanted to try them with has gone - but have heard good things - I think Noteworthy Audio has them. A possibe alternative to resistors?
 
I plugged the inline attenuators straight into the electronic crossover and it still didn't sound any good unfortunately.
 
There seem to be a fair few sets of Rothwell Attenuators coming up for sale, but let me throw mine into the ring as well - £12 inclusive of postage if anyone wants them. Considerably less than they cost, but considerably more than they're worth - can't say fairer than that!
 
COOLGUY said:
P.S.
http://www.audiosynthesis.co.uk/passion.htm
An inline attenuator seems to be in fact a passive preamp built into an interconnect.
This article has a good summary of the preconditions of a passive pre working well.
So I assume, if in somebodys system these conditions are not met, the attenuator will not serve well.
Click to expand...


Good post . Very informative. Passives are not for everyone. If the shoe fits though give one a try. Have fun trying.
There are a lot of the Rothwells for sale on the used market. wonder why ? Works for some and not others.
Opinions are just that, opinions. Try one its the only way to KNOW.


charles
 
The ones I tried absolutely stifled the dynamic - they were supposed to be completely transparent too.
 
Surprised at the positive comments re Rothwell attenuators. Gain was to high from my Wadia into an MF A5 pwr using its volume control. Tried them and they certainly worked re gain but destroyed the sound. Hifi to mid-fi in a stroke. Traded the MF.
 
These negative effects ,were they heard after the attenuators were run in ? If a quick try and poor result was found maybe running in would be needed . The output of a cd player or phono stage is low enough to require quite a few hours of use before the resistor would be fully run in. I met Andrew Rothwell a very long time ago(16 years) and found him to be a very clever and sensibile designer , IMHO. And also a fun guy . Voltage between pre and power might be a bit higher so require a bit less run in than a source component.

A few years ago ,when trying out the Pathos Classic one (MK 2 early one) . I had overload problems with the XLR inputs ,Pathos changed the design by putting high quality attenuators on the input(internally) made a huge difference and did not negatively alter the sound .

Regards D Louth
 

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