Mainline complete and part of the family

[Adrian]

Completed my latest BH project. Adding the Mainline HP amp to my BH family required me to temporarily bench may Crack and S.E.X 2.1 due to available real estate.
This was a very enjoyable project.  I went real slow and spent about 1-2 hours a sitting over several days.
I kept the "black on black" scheme with the same ebony stain for the base.
I'm using my 3 output modded Submissive as my input selector and main volume control.
I set the Mainline controls to 0db and adjust the volume on the Submissive.  There is some minor loss in gain with this setup but I don't perceive any degradation of the audio signal.
This amp sounds fantastic; however, after a longer run down the road I might upgrade the para-feed caps to the ones I have in both my S.E.X amps.

[Paul Birkeland]

That's a nice looking setup!

Depending on your sources, having both the Mainline and Submissive attenuators feeding each other may present a bit of a low load. 

[ToneDeaf]

 Wow! That looks great. The dark stain, and the black on black looks very professional. Great work.

[adydula]

Congrats!

On your project...looks really nice and glad your enjoying it!!

Alex

[Adrian]

That's a nice looking setup!

Depending on your sources, having both the Mainline and Submissive attenuators feeding each other may present a bit of a low load.

I know about the potential loading issues with this series alignment of the attenuators but I need the Submissive to input to my Paramounts and I want to make it as simple as possible by not swapping interconnects between the Submissive and the Mainline.
I use an RP6 with a MC (for 0.3mv) through a Rothwell SUT to my EROS for vinyl and a Cambridge CD player.
Like I said I haven't perceived any sonic differences.
What changes might I expect other than a lower gain (perceived volume) from this arrangement?

[Paul Birkeland]

The combination will be a bit much for the Eros to drive.  This would likely manifest as some additional distortion.

I was about to author some nutty mod to the Submissive to switch out the attenuator depending on what you're doing, but there are two obvious solutions.

1.  Use the Mainline as a preamp.  I know, it sounds weird, but we have done it and it works nicely (not quite as nicely as a BeePre, but still a great preamp).  A 1/4" to RCA cable will let you listen to this in a quick and dirty fashion.

2.  The Mainline has a Submissive built into it, so you could add a set of outputs from the attenuator to a pair of RCA jacks to drive the Paramounts. 

[JamieMcC]

Plus one for using the Mainline as your pre amp,

I am using mine like that at the moment with Thorens TD125 ->Eros->Mainline-Power amp on one set of inputs and my dac/cd player (Oppo 205)-> Mainline->Power amp to the other. I just used an inexpensive 1/4" inch TRS to RCA connector found on ebay and have been pleased with this combination.

Edit ps your build looks great.

[Adrian]

The combination will be a bit much for the Eros to drive.  This would likely manifest as some additional distortion.

I was about to author some nutty mod to the Submissive to switch out the attenuator depending on what you're doing, but there are two obvious solutions.

1.  Use the Mainline as a preamp.  I know, it sounds weird, but we have done it and it works nicely (not quite as nicely as a BeePre, but still a great preamp).  A 1/4" to RCA cable will let you listen to this in a quick and dirty fashion.

2.  The Mainline has a Submissive built into it, so you could add a set of outputs from the attenuator to a pair of RCA jacks to drive the Paramounts.

I think your "nutty" mod to the submissive may be just what I can try to do.
Let me mull that over........

[Karl5150]

How'd I miss this. As above, very nice, the black overlay on the black plate is quite elegant.

[Adrian]

I think your "nutty" mod to the submissive may be just what I can try to do.
Let me mull that over........

I'm going to try a 4P2T mini toggle switch at the input to the attenuator to switch the attenuator in/out of the circuit.
Doing this will allow me to use the three inputs and three outputs of my Submissive.

I think I'll try the TRS to RCA connection to demo the Mainline as a pre amp as well.

EDIT:  After a closer inspection I think I will lift all inputs to the attenuator as I had initially planned through a 4P2T toggle BUT I will also lift all outputs from the attenuator and pass them through another 4P2T toggle.  This will completely bypass all of the attenuator.  This will positively eliminate any potential ground issues by having two separate ground circuits.  I have the two toggle switches and maybe I can rig a way to physically gang them together rather than have to switch two toggles.

[Adrian]

I have completed the installation of the switches that will bypass the attenuator of the Submissive.
I have probably gonzo-engineered this.

I used one 4PDT switch to completely isolate the inputs to the attenuator and another 4PDT switch to isolate the outputs of the attenuator.
I wanted to ensure that when the attenuator was bypassed that there was no remnants of the attenuator.  This may not have been necessary, but I went for it because that's how my simple mind works.

Everything works perfectly.  When selected, the attenuator is just as originally designed.  When bypassed, the attenuator is not in the circuit at all.

One thing that is very important that I must always be aware of is to not bypass the attenuator when sending the output to my Paramounts.  This would send a full-gain signal from the source to the amp .  There would be an instant max volume going to my speakers.  I am curious about the uncontrolled gain that would result but not enough to try it.

What I have left to do is engineer a way to gang the switches together.  I hope what I come up with is simple and elegant.

Here are some pictures.

[Adrian]

So, I made something that will gang together the two switches that enable me to bypass the attenuator.

Two 14mm wooden beads glued together fit perfectly and made the task simple and elegant.