Compare Standard and Custom Stepped Attenuators Features of Goldpoint Mini-V Stepped Attenuators:     (Mini-V is pronounced: "Mini Vee") - Exceptional sonic clarity.  Smooth, "precise feeling" turning torque. High quality, Swiss made switch components. Mono, Stereo, Quad, and 6 channel versions available. Hookup is simple: 3 wires per channel connect to solder eyelets. Precision 0.1% resistors are used on our standard Mini-V series type stepped attenuators. 24 position, "make-before-break" thick hard-gold contacts on PC boards for minimum switch bounce. -

Mini-V (standard) Mini-V Custom

Stereo Mini-V 0.1% thin film SMD resistors are already installed - Stereo Mini-V Custom blank - no resistors installed Mini-V Standard: These are the best sounding  24-position volume controls available. They come with pre-installed high quality SMD resistors. (Low noise, laser trimmed, 0.1% nichrome resistors). The sound quality is transparent, which is what you actually want in a volume control. The readily available (audio taper) values we offer are: 5K, 10K, 20K, 25K, 50K, 100K, and 250K. (We also offer a precision volume control replacement for the McIntosh C20.) Mini-V Custom: Make any value or any taper stepped attenuator you want to anytime you want to. Make your own resistor lists, use one of our pre-determined audio taper lists, or make a linear taper stepped attenuator.  also see: 1) Resistor Lists and How To Make Linear Tapers 2) Attenuator Types: Series, Ladder, and Shunt Click here or on a photo above for dimensions -

Goldpoint stepped attenuators sound better than potentiometers, (even very expensive ones). This has been the consensus of audiophiles for many years. But unlike common potentiometers (or other stepped attenuator brands), our stepped attenuators provide very clear sound and precise signal level matching. The surface mounted resistors used on the standard Goldpoint Mini-Vs are 0.1% Nichrome THIN film with a thermal noise specification (TCR) of 25 PPM or 50 PPM. These are the best sounding resistors I have ever used (or ever heard). They have an essentially transparent sonic signature. This makes them better than Vishay S102, IRC RC55, or even Caddock MK32 resistor types, in our opinion, because they are not adding or subtracting any sound qualities to or from your musical signals - just precisely accurate level control. Because of their precision, the standard Mini-Vs are also the best choice for recording studio and other Balanced Input applications. This precision means perfect channel-to-channel signal level tracking, so many audiophiles with regular (single-ended) stereo applications can skip the use of balance controls all together.  I highly recommend that you use our standard Mini-Vs unless you really need to build a custom value stepped attenuator with some other overall resistance value. For that situation you can use our Mini-V Custom (MVC) switches.  Goldpoint Level Controls used to offer Ladder and Shunt type stepped attenuators too. The fact is that with the very low noise, 0.1%, thin film resistors we are now using, we believe that there is no real advantage to Ladders and Shunts - and so have ceased offering them. The Mini-Vs sound that good! You get a more reliable level control - at a lower cost! Goldpoint stepped attenuators, with their make-before-break, "low bounce", hard-gold switch contacts, do not create "clicks" or "pops" during use. (The Ladder and Shunt type attenuators of the past sometimes did.) They add only one switch contact per channel to the signal path. They make great potentiometer upgrades, are easy to install, and will last a lifetime under normal use.

-A few notes on stepped attenuators. Stepped attenuators offer distinct sonic advantages over common potentiometers. This is due to their use of discrete resistors and the purest method of signal attenuation: resistor voltage dividers. Discrete resistors typically have better low noise characteristics than the carbon or cermet resistor elements used in potentiometers. The total measured resistance for each position of a stepped attenuator remains constant throughout years of use. This is because the wearing (rubbing) parts in stepped attenuators are low resistance switch contacts, not resistive elements with wipers sliding on them as in potentiometers. Potentiometers can add clicks, pops, and static sounds due to wear. Stereo potentiometers used as volume controls often produce different volume levels for each channel, and the amount of  mismatch can vary as the potentiometer is turned up or down. The channel-to-channel tracking specification for stereo potentiometers, even very expensive ones, is typically 5% to 20%. With stepped attenuators you can easily achieve stereo signal levels matched to within one half of one percent (0.5%). With stepped attenuators, the signal level has been pre-determined for each step, so front panel calibration markings can represent actual signal levels. -

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