It's alive!

[Chris]

Oh Man! ... that is a beauty!!... I cannot wait to get myself one... is that Koa wood on the side cheeks?

[Doc B.]

This is getting OT, but I just found out that dht4me has opened a new gallery with two other hugely talented photographers in the Palazzo in Las Vegas. It looks incredible:



http://www.natural-wonders-gallery.com/#/Welcome/

[Chris]

it sure does... LOVE the tropical fish and the horses!...

[Frihed89]

230/240VAC/50 Hz?

Dual volume controls?

[Paul Birkeland]

230/240VAC/50 Hz?

Dual volume controls?

Yes, we do have 240V iron that will handle 50 or 60 Hz available.

The stock circuit has a volume and balance control, and there will be an upgrade option that is a coarse and fine stepped attenuator. 

-PB

[Frihed89]

But NOT left and right channel volume?

[Paul Birkeland]

But NOT left and right channel volume?

No, but there is a way in the upgrade to trim each channel if you wanted.

You could also buy a pair of mono 24 step attenuators and use those if the independent volume controls are a big priority.

In my own experience, I find that two controls with lots of steps can get a bit annoying, as getting both controls on the same stop gets increasingly difficult.

[4krow]

Actually, that is a good point. The last Ceegar box I made had 66 steps for each channel! The pointer knobs helped. I built it as a buffer amp and so you could find the volume you wanted, and send it to the integrated amp to get the right amount of 'dial' for the master volume. In my latest iteration of this project, I have chosen a stereo volume control with stepped attenuators for L/R channels. This way only 36 steps, and easier by way of the stereo(master) volume.

[Paul Birkeland]

But NOT left and right channel volume?

You know, there is a way with the stepped attenuator to have a coarse stereo attenuator and dual mono fine controls.

To make this happen, you would need to be a little handy with fabrication, and you'd have to drill new holes for and move the input selector elsewhere.

I did get this upgrade attenuator installed today, and Doc B. was floored by the results, as was I.  I haven't heard a volume control make this kind of difference, ever!

[Jim R.]

PB,

Is this the same one that's in my pre?

Just a little confused about all the various attenuator options that have been talked about here over the past several months.

-- Jim

[Doc B.]

Yeah the new attenuator is da bomb. Even better than the slightly different prototype that we cooked up a few months ago. The bass is so punchy that we decided to shoot the system to see if the speakers I had tuned by ear were balanced right. Happy to say they were spot on. Nice to have these guys with math degrees working for Bottlehead, who are willing to do all the tedious number crunching for a complex device like this fine/coarse control. PB was a little freaked that the expensive new switches were noisy when he first ran them. A tiny spritz of Deoxit made them perfectly silent. We will probably spritz them and bag them for the kits so they arrive in perfect condition. We should have a kit price soon, probably around $250 or so.

[mp9]

But NOT left and right channel volume?

No, but there is a way in the upgrade to trim each channel if you wanted.

You could also buy a pair of mono 24 step attenuators and use those if the independent volume controls are a big priority.

In my own experience, I find that two controls with lots of steps can get a bit annoying, as getting both controls on the same stop gets increasingly difficult.

what K, i.e., 25K, 50K, 100K or other? Also will the BH attenuator upgrade be available to ship along with the first run of the Bee?

[Paul Birkeland]

what K, i.e., 25K, 50K, 100K or other? Also will the BH attenuator upgrade be available to ship along with the first run of the Bee?

50K or 100K would be OK.

We still need to create the manual for the attenuator upgrade, and there may not be any time for this until the first week of February, and the BeePre kits should have begun to ship at that point. 

As with all other kits, we recommend building them stock first, then installing the upgrades later.

-PB