Foreplay II excessive gain- amp pairing

choff · 3680

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Offline Paul Joppa

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Reply #15 on: November 30, 2022, 03:30:36 PM
On the 4 ohm tap, the gain should be 3dB lower.

Paul Joppa


Offline choff

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Reply #16 on: November 30, 2022, 03:45:58 PM
Interesting. I had been running on the Dynaco 4ohm because I thought it made the bass tighter. I went with 8ohm for some reason on the new amp. Maybe I should give that a try first? Perhaps that makes the 15db a better choice?



Offline choff

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Reply #17 on: December 01, 2022, 06:30:59 AM
Bit the bullet and went with the 20db.  Martin at Rothwell got back to me and that was his recommendation, so between all the help here and his feedback it seems like I may be much closer if not arrived at a solution. I’ll report once they arrive.  Thanks again Paul’s!!!
« Last Edit: December 01, 2022, 01:05:40 PM by choff »



Offline choff

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Reply #18 on: December 31, 2022, 04:19:21 AM
Finally received the 20db Rothwells. Sound good, canceled all the noise, but unfortunately also too  much attenuation.  Find myself fully maxing the pots on the Foreplay.  I also picked up a pair of Harrison 12db as shipping from UK for Rothwell’s was taking extra long due to a postal strike.  The 12dbs are near perfect. Still a very small amount of hum hiss on cd setting and a noticeable amount on higher volume with the phono, but nothing noticeable when playing music and it gets plenty loud enough.

So now contemplating either the 10 or 15db Rothwells as the long term solution as I believe those are the better attenuators..  I feel caught in between these two options. At 10db I would likely get more noise, but slightly better gain, which would be ok.  At 15db, less noise but also less gain than the 12db.  I tried switching to 4ohm tap thinking that would approximate the 15db with the current 12db Harrison’s, but I really don’t notice any difference between 4 and 8ohms on playback?  Should be 3db reduction …..correct?  Maybe this experiment is not accurate reflection of a 15db attenuator. Noise floor seemed be unchanged as well.

Any further thoughts would be appreciated before I select one or the other variation of Rothwell’s.  Thanks. Carl




Offline 2wo

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Reply #19 on: December 31, 2022, 06:17:47 PM
I would think that if you still have more gain than you need,  then try the 15's and cash in on the lower noise. If not go for the 10's. If it weren't that the replacements are supposed to be better, I wouldn't bother...John
« Last Edit: December 31, 2022, 06:21:27 PM by 2wo »

John Scanlon