10k 20k 50k and more

[4krow]

 While assembling yet another kit out there in hi-fi building land, there was call for a potentiometer value of 10k. Never have heard of such a low value before. I remember someone stating that the value may be different (much higher) for old tube equipment, like 250k. How are these decided on in general?
 In this case, I used a 20k pot instead of a 10k pot, and then padded it down 8db further because there was too much volume at a low setting of the pot. Of course, I found that different headphones for this amp to vary quite a bit in where the pot was set for normal listening.

[Paul Birkeland]

Mouser stocks potentiometer from 0.5 ohms to  10,000,000 ohms.  10K isn't really that low and may be needed in some equipment to properly drive the device(s) after the pot. 

[Paul Joppa]

Just a note about volume control pots here. Be sure you have a logarithmic taper, not a linear taper - this gives you a wider range of volume settings. Most pots sold as "volume controls" will have the log taper, but most sold as just potentiometers are linear taper.

I only mention it because the original post did not say, and it's not uncommon to mistake one for the other.

[4krow]

Good advice gents, thanks. There are a few things to look at when shop for these controls. The cheaper ones are pretty crappy when it comes to lower volume settings and channel balance. I tend to buy the plastic track types rather than the carbon track type unless it is a well known brand. Lastly, there is a certain 'feel' to some of the better controls, which is minor, but appreciated by me just the same.