Tag Archives: volume

The Folly of Going to 11

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In my last post I discussed what it means to make an amplifier go to 11. But in spite of the issues involved, many amp builders simply can’t help themselves. Even before the first connection is made they start craving more power. However, the truth of the mater is that increasing amplifier power is almost always a fool’s errand. And even the rated power outputs of most commercial amplifiers have nothing to do with listening, and everything to do with marketing.

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These Go To “11”

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The year was 1984. The spoof “rockumentary” titled “This Is Spinal Tap” was just released to theaters and it was then that this immortal phrase entered the modern lexicon. I’m referring, of course, to that classic line “These go to 11”.

In the intervening 40 plus years, a million and one jokes have been made about things that go to 11; including amplifiers. As amp builders we would like to know what it takes to make our amp projects go to 11. Unfortunately, the answer is more complicated than you might think.

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About that Volume Control – Part II

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This topic is just the gift that keeps on giving. I first introduced the 4S preamp with the volume control on the output almost 12 years ago. And yet there still seems to be a tremendous number of misconceptions about the concept and performance ramifications of volume controls on the output instead of the input. This time the misunderstandings surround an output buffer cathode follower.

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About that Volume Control

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Since I first introduced the concept for the “Universal Preamp” over ten years ago on the DIYAudioProjects forum, there has been almost constant discussion of my decision to place the volume control on the output of the preamp. I have been asked questions about it numerous times over the years. I have also had some “spirited discussions” with some who vehemently disagree with that design decision. Well, I thought it was high time to explain that decision once and for all, and to discuss exactly what this configuration means for preamp performance and output impedance.

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