Is preamp remote volume a deal breaker for you?


I've been looking for a quality active tube preamp with remote volume control. Most high quality tube preamps that are reasonably priced (ie, under $4000) do not come with remote volume. Those that do use the cheap motorized Alps pot (I've had bad experience with Alps), probably because it's cheap and widely available. I've seen some very expensive preamps us this pot, unfortunately. The two very high quality preamps I've read about are the SAS Labs 11A, Don Allens preamp, and Atma-sphere M3, but the designers refuses to implement remote because they believe the sound will suffer. Atma-sphere uses a huge hand assembled remote volume only for there expensive MP1. A preamp without remote is a deal breaker for me. How about you?
dracule1

Showing 2 responses by realremo

A remote was a deal-killer for me when I was on the hunt for a pre-amp. I had to have one. My listening sessions are 2-3 hours long and I am behind a laptop for the duration. I don't want to get up constantly to adjust volume and change CDs.
I also was not anywhere near the price point of the above mentioned units. In my range (below $1400), I think most pre-amps have remotes.
I have a friend that runs GAS gear and he really misses having a remote. He connects to the variable outputs of his Sony ES changer because of this. For more critical listening, he goes through the GAS pre-amp. He's told me his next pre-amp will have a remote.