Life without a remote

11-09-08: Dgarretson
In addition to the good sound, there is something about moving through the detents of a high-quality manual stepped attenuator, like the gates in a Ferrari shifter.

I can't relate to shifting a Ferrari, but I agree with enjoying the feel of clicking through a high quality attenuator. I've found this true on First Sound, Atma-Sphere, and Lamm preamps (especially the First Sound and Atma-Sphere).

Man, you guys are scaring me. Loving the feel of that stepped attenuator???
Maybe you need to get out more. ;D

Cheers,
John

Just like I appreciate the solid click of the Campagnolo Record shifting mechanism on my road bike.

Does qualify for getting out?

Contrary to most of these posts, I had no problem in getting rid of the remote. Of course, I did like it, even loved it, but I found I was using it too often to make slight adjustments in volume in a single song rather than listening to the music. I would turn up soft passages, turn down loud passages, etc. etc., and found myself listening more to the volume sometimes than the song.

My friend had no problem without a remote on his older ARC preamp. So, when an opportunity developed to buy a component without a remote, I did it. And, it's worked out fine. Now, I set the volume and tend to leave it that way. If it needs adjustment every so often, I get up and do it. No big deal. It's more relaxing.

If you really want to go hard-core, try using two vintage mono preamps, and re-balancing every time you adjust the volume . . . now THAT's a drag.