2. amps-preamps
  3. 134408-96386

How to choose an attenuator

I have an Oppo Sonica DAC which has 4 Vrms through the balanced outputs and a Classe Amp2 (and a CAV-180 for that matter) which takes 1.4 Vrms maximum input without clipping. I was recommended to use 24dB attenuators to reduce voltage; but this seemed very high to me (based on online voltage to dB converters). Is there another criterion apart from the voltage?
Thanks in advance for any thoughts, as I am not very knowledgeable in this!
kislali

Showing 1 response by georgehifi

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Both your Amp2 and CAV180 have very high input impedances, perfectly suited for passive preamps (which a fixed attenuator is in a way) just that you can't adjust it.
 
Why not have it all, and have an adjustable one like the Schiit Sys, $49
http://www.schiit.com/products/sys

Cheers George
More to discover