Description
We felt that an “ultimate” attenuator needed to be done to a higher standard and we felt that it would be reasonable to make the kit similar in price to the other high end attenuators on the market. So we got very high quality rotary switches and PB put his math degree to work coming up with a very useful thirty-six 1.5dB steps, yielding a total -52.5db of attenuation. Yes, you read that right, 36 steps. We accomplish this with two six position switches, one a stereo coarse control with 9db steps and the other a stereo fine control with 1.5 db steps. Simply set the coarse control in the general range you want to listen and then use the fine control to get the level perfect.
The switches are populated with Vishay Dale metal film resistors, a resistor that has remained a favorite of ours over the years for attentuator use. Coarse and fine stereo level switches replace the stock carbon pot volume and balance controls in the Smash. They mount on a custom aluminum sub-chassis, and we provide a neat overlay for the top of the chassis, with attenuation settings, input selector setting and a cool vintage look.
