Attenuators

[ejk]

Does anyone know if I hooked up some Harrison 3db attenuators is there any signal loss

[tmazz]

Isn't the purpose of a 3db attenuator to lower the signal level  by 3db?

I'm  not sure what you are asking?

If it is a well designed attenuator you should have a linear reduction of all frequencies by 3db. There should be no "loss" other than that. (but of course we all know that there can be sonic changes any time we insert anything at all in the signal path, but other than that , in theory, you should see nothing other than a linear reduction in gain.

[Emil]

I've tried the Harrison Fmods high pass filters to fliter out low frequencies to my amp. They did do  good job of that but at a cost. Frequencies that passed lost transparency and dynamics

[Response Audio]

If you are talking about loss of detail, it would depend on the input impedance of the amp. Unless perfectly match, you could experience a loss of detail and resolution.

[BobM]

I tried them once, long ago. Crap!

[ejk]

Tried a pair, doesn't sound like any detail was lost. Does what I need it to do which is reduce the gain so I can get more control on volume

[ejk]

I tried them once, long ago. Crap!

RAVE IN FLORIDA

[James Edward]

I respect the opinions given; I've not tried attenuators. What I like about this forum is the civility. Had the same question been posed on Audiogon, it would not have been answered in the same manner. See my Audiogon subwoofer setup question for contrast...   

[_Scotty_]

Strictly speaking from personal experience, YMMV, every time I inserted a passive component in a line level signal path I have been able to hear its impact sonically and it was never positive.
Sometimes I made the trade off as in the case of a inducing a low frequency roll off in the main system
to facilitate the addition of a subwoofer to the system.
  I used a single very high quality
capacitor between the preamp and the main amp and it hurt things like the edge transients and contributed to an overall dulling of the sound. I lived with it until I
changed to a full range loudspeaker that needed no subwoofer for 20hz extension.
There's always going to be a series of trade offs
when optimizing a stereo system.☹️
Scotty

[P.I.]

My best results for an in-line high-pass are obtained by paralleling 4 small value ( 3 x .015 Gen 1 Sonicaps + 1 x .001 Gen 2 Sonicaps ).

This is the place capacitor direction is best heard IME.  Getting the outer foil leads of the caps at the input of the filter is essential.  This arrangement provides the lowest noise for a capacitor bank.

Great connectors, great solder, internal wiring ( I use the capacitor lead wire for the whole shebang ) in well shielded boxes are a must, too.  I prefer to build these items with only 2 connectors needed - hardwired at the filter on both sides.  Low mass connectors ( ETI) sounds best.

OTOH - with music server type digital sources using a Steinberg VST plug-in mastering EQ that does everything in the digital domain is a damned good option.  Virtually ( pun, here ) seamless and transparent.

[steve]

Does anyone know if I hooked up some Harrison 3db attenuators is there any signal loss

Hi ejk,

Your are probably fortunate if you have dc coupling from the source output, so low frequency response
sould be good. In such a case, the main concern would be with high frequency response as the internal
resistor voltage divider and load capacitances would increase high frequency losses.

If your source has capacitive coupling, that is another matter. With such, the total resistance
has to be high enough to preserve the low frequencies, yet low enough ohmage as to preserve the highs.

Even further, the materials, terminations etc matter as well.

Unwanted losses and distortions almost always occurs, as Scotty and others mention. Great care
concerning the variables just mentioned and specialized listening techniques are needed to
minimize sonic degradation.

hope this helps ejk and others out there.

steve