Perusing Stepped attenuators

[danilo]

Looking at these:
 http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2P-24-Step-Attenuator-Volume-Control-Pot-Log-A-100K-Mono-Potentiometer-Ladder-/261002144670?pt=US_Amplifier_Parts_Components&hash=item3cc4f0ab9e
 Good? Bad? or indifferent? And what K is req'd for my ancient 4play..which has Sweet whispers.. but I would like a wee bit finer control.
 Also don't want to mess up what is /has been working fine either.

[Shappers]

Hello,

I bought one of those a few weeks ago and was very dissapointed with the action of them, they had very stiff hard steps and they felt like they would fall apart in two weeks.

However, today I just received some of these.

Same price but the quality is much higher and they have a lovely smooth action with soft detents. Someone on here recommended them as sounding good too. 

Steve

[howardnair]

the foreplay uses i believe 15k in the sweet whispers attenuators-i myself would advise the goldpoint attenuators
http://www.goldpt.com/prices.html

[Paul Birkeland]

How ancient is your Foreplay?

If it's on a 6" x 10" chassis, anything between a 50K and 250K attenuator will work, you'd preferably want two mono controls, but if the stereo controls are cheap enough, no biggie.

If you have the Foreplay III on the larger chassis, there is plenty of info about attenuator options.

[danilo]

Yes, mine is in the 6" x !0" chassis.  Seems an adequate amount of room in there. and I do prefer the two knobs layout.. the separation has proven useful.
  Still don't remember what K they are, will have to dig up my notes for that info I suspect.
 Ohh (embarassingly) I'm unsure as to what '2 pole' means in real life.
 I want 2 individual attenuators, What Identification/description should I be looking for.. Mono ?
 As I remember the sweet whispers were surprisingly Clunky as well.. when new. Turning them was much more of a 'clack' than 'click' and in fact required some seriously fiddly work with the springs and detents.
 to make their action acceptable/feel like they were not going to snap something in use.
 However I take your point... Chinee 'stuff' is often (usually?) of abysmal quality.  Their Cheap prices keep reeling us in tho :-)
I've also heard horror stories on those cheap SMD Stepped atts as well. More than a few had shorted resistors oem and their build quality is not confidence inspiring either..
 Possibly I should try/take a chance on the ones I linked to and do the Sweet Whispers 'surgery' on those as well?

[Paul Birkeland]

The stock attenuators in the Foreplay I and Foreplay II were 100K, so two 100K mono switches would be what to look for.

There is no harm in getting a 50K if you find something you like that's only available in that value.

[4krow]

I have tried numerous pots and stepped atenns. The quality is all over the place. Of course, the Gold Point was the stopping point, mechanically speaking. I also have used a PEC pot, and really like it's sound and mechanical performance.

[danilo]

Thank you for the informations..   It helps a lot.
Had no idea what a PEC was. Now I do :-).
Certainly cheap enough at ~10$ @.
 Although I'm quite fond of the sweetest whispers (attenuators) positive volume steps.. which automatically sets identical levels.
Something which certainly would be a wee bit more elusive/difficult with a continuous pot.