How manysteps on your stepped attenuator do you regularly use ?

[Fretless]

Still using my P50sa from 8 o'clock (quietish) to 12 0'clock (loud in a small room).

[CN211276]

I use all the steps between around 10 o'clock and 3 o'clock, depending on how loud I want the music and if no one else is in the house. The listening area is quite small. The DAC output is set at 2v.

Much the same, but I prefer to control the volume from my phone and only go towards 3 o'clock when loud with a lowish level stream. When watching tv, after loud music, it is reduced to 10-11 o'clock depending on the level of the channel/programme.

[savvypaul]

About 11 o'clock with vinyl. I don't listen at high volumes.

[CN211276]

I use all the steps between around 10 o'clock and 3 o'clock, depending on how loud I want the music and if no one else is in the house. The listening area is quite small. The DAC output is set at 2v.

Much the same, but I prefer to control the volume from my phone and only go towards 3 o'clock when loud with a lowish level stream. When watching tv, after loud music, it is reduced to 10-11 o'clock depending on the level of the channel/programme.

Just occured to me that I must have been playing it LOUD three years ago if I had the output voltage set to 2v. This was before I had the Mscaler which reduced the level by around 1v.

[Alfi]

Smallest decent resistors I have are some Dale RN55C which somebody on PFM gave me back in 2008 to mod the resistor ladder in my Naim phono stage. I never got round to doing it. Still got the Naim Stageline so I can do a shoot out with my NVA phono stage (soon to be Phono3 clone hopefully). I don't remember the Stageline being very good so the NVA should smash it.

Anyway those 15R resistors will be the tried out just to see how low value the first step resistor need to be. On a standard 10K 24 step attenuator the ideal first step resistor is 0R, second step is 2R7, third step is 5R6, fourth step is 11R and fifth step is 22R. Reistors often don't come in the exact ideal value so you just pick the nearest standard value. Well, 15R is roughly the same volume as step four so maybe ok for the first resistor. If not I willput two in parallel for 7R5 and try that.

I have various resistors to try and find the loudest setting. Step 16 on a 23 way SA uses a 2K4 resistor so my Welwyn RC55y 2K21 will be roughly the same. I will see how loud that is with various Cd's and vinyl and see if it is about right. I have other RC55y resistors like 1K, 1K2, 1K3, 1K4 so will try those as well. Step 14 on a 24 way SA is ideally 1K1 and step 15 is 1K6 so the values I have won't be far off those.

When I have those minimum and maximum values (plus 0 ohms for silence) I can start to pick resistors for the 21 resistors steps in between and space them out for an equal dB change between steps. You can't do it exactly because the ideal values of resistor sometimes don't exist so you pick the nearest. With it being a log scale you can't just put equal difference in ohms between each resistor.

I only intend to do this once and so will buy the best parts I think can be justified so don't be surprised if I end up spending hundreds on this. It will be the only SA I buy and build so might as well get it right first time. Sounds bonkers though when my 5.25" speaker drivers cost between £10 and £12 each The closest I can get to the transparency of no switches (like I have now) the better so spending some money is justified I think - that's what I have convinced myself anyway

[Alfi]

Between 9 & 12, depending on mood and source.

Alfi