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"Too much gain"? (Cary SLP05 question)

A few days or so ago, someone had revived an old Cary SLP 05 thread, and common to that discussion seemed to be the subject of too much gain. 

My first question is:  does compensating for too much gain by simply adjusting the volume knob knob down degrade the sonic quality?

My second (2 part) question relates to this quote from one of the replies in that thread:

 A quick note to Pass Labs and they suggested a pair of Rothwell 10db balanced attenuators into the amp’s inputs.

What exactly do balanced attenuators do to resolve this issue, and if placed between the preamp and the amp, would they degrade the signal path & therefore the sonic result out of the speakers?

I am a relatively new owner/operator of a SLP05 and it is in front of one of the earlier Cary V12s.  I did find those balanced attenuators on ebay for (I think I remember them being) $89 a pair, which I find totally doable.  I am lsitening in a (very) near field room right now, and it seem as if I do have a lot of gain.  Generally the big knob is on 9 o'clock plus or minus a little bit depending upon the source material I am listening to.  I am using the balanced ins and outs to & from my SLP05 and I have been given to understand that using RCAs would reduce the gain somewhat.  I do have some RCAs (I am presently using Kimber Silver Streak balanced interconnects) but my collection of spare RCAs is Kimber PBJ and Monsters. 

For $89 should I try putting a pair of those  of Rothwell 10db balanced attenuators into the balanced amp’s inputs?

 

immatthewj
52 responses Add your response
jmbumgarner01
64 posts
 

@immatthewj Definitely think you will be happy with your decision. I went through the same litany of issues running SLP-05 into Pass X250.8. The Rothwell’s have worked out great. I usually run main volume pot between 10 and 1 with small. Balancing L/R pots at 100% and system is dead silent and very dynamic.

@harpo75 Thanks for the clear explanation on balanced gain, pot issues etc. i run balanced from the Cary to the Pass and my analogue from the phono preamp to the Cary. I actually loved the extra balanced dB bump on the mc cartridge. I am currently running rca from my 2.0 v digital source as I have not been able to hear a difference and I like the reduced gain even at the 2.0 volts( still run main volume between 10-12 for digital) I will revisit this again but since cables are different that clouds the comparison and I want to stay away from lowering main volume below 9 o’clock. Enjoy, looks like you got some great experienced advice here.

avanti1960
1,406 posts
 

@immathewj

I have learned your issue the hard way having bought a power amp with 26db gain for my Cary SLP-05 (Pass Labs XA30.8).  Even when the Cary's gain is backed off to half (going any lower affects dynamics) there is too much gain in the system. 

I tried the 10db rothwell attenuators and did not care for the results.  

I also tried using the RCA outputs which drops the Cary gain from 24 db to 17db.  This definitely helped but I lost a lot of the 3-D huge soundstage when not using the XLR outs on the Cary, the balanced outs run through another set of tubes and the sound stage is much larger and the sound is ore dynamic.  

Ultimately an amplifier with 23 to 20 db gain works best- or an amp with adjustable gain like Parasound a21+ or JC5 which I run at about half gain.  

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