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stepped attenuators

Stepped attenuators are new to me and I must say that I'm impressed. I recently acquired a new Burson PI-160 and it leaves the older unit (which I have) in the dust. Burson says that the signal is at its weakest when going through the volume control and tried and tossed out a remote in favor of the attenuator. I can see why. I have all the detail, dynamics, nuance, tone, sound stage, etc. at lower settings that I no longer have to crank it for things to get lively. Its like each setting is all that Burosn intended (hardwired, if you will) allowing all the signal to come through undistorted. I know there's more to this unit than the volume control but I feel it must have a huge influence on the sound quality.
How do you feel about them?
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Showing 3 responses by rgs92

rgs92
974 posts
 
Is there anyone out there that could reduce the gain on a preamp if the manufacturer will not do it?
rgs92
974 posts
 
It sure seems like a scary & risky prospect, but is it crazy to find a good technician (I guess somewhere in the U.S.) who could either replace the attenuator or reduce the gain in a high-end preamp? Or is it better just to sell the unit and move on?
rgs92
974 posts
 
Preamp: Apex Pinnacle (a combination preamp & headphone amp).
The Rothwells didn't sound too good to me.
The Goldenjacks are somewhat better, but still are not for me. They mush images together and take away some of the (very valuable) roundedness and palpability of images that I find with high end tube preamps. They just flatten things.
I had a similar thread here and I apologize for taking up the commenters' time if they tried to help me out before.

It seems that outboard attenuators in any form affect the purity, texture, and image density found in a high end preamp with high end ICs.
(At least that's what I am finding).
No free lunch.
I have no problem with stepped attenuators as long as there are enough steps.
Thanks for everyone's help.
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