Today, I installed the Mourquiet stepped attenuator upgrade into my Stereomour II. If anybody is intimidated by all the resistors which need to be soldered, do not despair - it's not so hard. The instructions and accompanying photos are very clear as usual for Bottlehead kits. I finished the project in about 5 hours, and it worked first time out. Double checking did reveal a couple of mistakes. I guess I inadvertently mashed a couple of the steps together. I haven't given it a critical listen yet, but first impressions are good. I think the bass is better - not deeper, but better resolved, more focused if that means anything. My wife is not an audiophile but she has good ears. She said it sounds "crisper".
One thing I'll mention in case it's important to someone: It cannot be turned all the way down. It will go down pretty quiet, but not all the way. If you need to mute it, you could just turn the source selector to an unused position. I'll trade that for cleaner sound any day.
A couple of things with the manual:
1. The parts list includes two five-lug terminal strips and a two-lug terminal strip and that's what is in the kit, but the instructions call for one five-lug and one three-lug terminal strip. I substituted a five-lug strip for the called for three-lug strip, and labeled the three middle lugs as Q1, Q2, and Q3. That worked just fine. The two-lug strip went unused.
2. The third step on page 21 calls for a resistor to be attached from terminal strip lug Q1-l to terminal 12 of the coarse rotary switch. I believe this should have been terminal 6 of the coarse rotary switch. That's where I attached it and it seems to work properly.
The Mourquiet is well worth the time and expense. I guess next time I catch the bug, I'll have to start rolling in new capacitors or tubes.
Thanks to all the Bottlehead crew for the great musical enjoyment!
Jay L.
