goldpoint

[tuffy_puppy]

hi all, i'm just about ready to get a goldpoint mini-v attenuator for my sex 2.1 and need to know the proper value.  also,  who should be my seller?  i see some vendors on ebay.  who is known to be a good seller?  thanks,  don

[Jim R.]

Don,

100k is the value, and you should probably just buy direct from goldpoint --goldpt.com (I think).  Arn is a good guy to deal with.

-- Jim

[porcupunctis]

I've always purchased direct from the Goldpoint site.   I got a 100k for my 2.1 but it won't be assembled for a while.

[howardnair]

i have usually purchased from the ebay goldpointstore--same as the goldpoint web site--excellent and fast service--howie

[tuffy_puppy]

you great folks have my gratitude!  thank you!   don

[4krow]

Ya know Donny boy, 100k is the same value as in my AN amp,  heh heh sure , I'll wire it into your amp for you he heh....

[denti alligator]

In what way would this addition improve the amp?

[John Roman]

Hello,
Which attenuator were you planning on getting from Goldpoint? I recently installed the thin film (smd)  type in my extended foreplay 3, removing the sweetest whispers attenuators in the process. I have to say I have been just a little disappointed in the change in sound. I will qualify that by adding that my system did not get much use thereafter  due to a speaker build I'm still in the process of completing.  I'm unsure whether the dry tone I'm hearing is a direct issue with the attenuators or not. Looking back I may have chosen the custom mini V. Then sometimes I realize after the fact how well planned/ thought out Bottlehead products are. In some areas changes are not always upgrades IMHO. This is not meant to confuse, just my experience.
Regards,
John

[4krow]

I must say that if I were to install such a device, it would have to do with convenience of being able to find an exact position of the control and not so much about sound. It is possible that such devices do have somewhat of a character of their own, yet money could better spent elsewhere with larger results. As always, this is just my opinion, and each persons experience is unique to them.

[Jim R.]

Improvements?

Well, for one, you should get much better channel balance and tracking, and if you get the custom attenuator you can choose the resistor type and can opt for lower noise, more transparent resistors, and beyond that the hard gold contacts should, in theory, make a cleaner connection than a wiper against a resistive film.

The thin film resistors, I believe are made from a nickel-chromium resistive element -- neither of which is what I'd personally call idea for audio use, but on the other hand the thermal noise coefficient is pretty low for these.

When I do this again I'll most likely buy the mini-v and buy my own vishay CMF-55 series resistors -- they are low temp coefficient, high precision (.1%) and sound pretty neutral to me.  Or I may just go with the Kozmo discrete vishay type.  That's a a way off at this pint yet.  At this point I myself am still inclined to use a PEC pot.

HTH,

Jim

[Doc B.]

My experience has been that the Sweetest Whispers sound better than the Goldpoint with SMDs, or any other attenuator with SMDs like the DACT. If you upgrade to a Goldpoint in the S.E.X. I would suggest building the version of the Goldpoint that uses leaded resistors. That does sound batter than the stock pot, as good as the SW and of course fits in the S.E.X. amp.

While on the subject, if one wants a subtle but nice improvement to the Sweetest Whispers, replace the series element (the ones coming off the switch that are usually 33K but can be changed to higher values) with a tantalum resistor of similar value.

[saildoctor]

I recently replaced my FPIII sweetest whispers with some 24 position switches from Partsconnexion - their "Connex" house brand.  They only have 2 deck versions of those - so i bought 2 of them and one deck is unused in each.  For resistors I used the vishay CMF-55 that Jim mentioned above and they do sound very good and neutral to me too.  They're wired up sweetest whisper style and I used an online calculator to figure the values.  Total cost was around $45.  Of course a SEX kit would just need one double decker...  but still a lot of little resistors to solder.