quaility pot??

[seavote]

i'll need some potentiometers for my Analag opto compressor build. i have some used old stock. some made in usa some not. some "feel" smooth, sturdy and well built. how can i determine pot quality(this is usually where cj would make the obligatory drug reference. insert your own at the beep) (Obligatory sex reference?) ... any way i ws wondering what i should look for in a pot and what specs were important. brands??
thanks

 

[cannikin]

I think the conductive plastic types are the smoothest as far as feel, its like turning air or as CJ would say "feeling a 15 year-olds breast".
PEC pots are nice quality, but not as smooth and but expensive." "College student or young professional breast"
Alpha pots well they are a haggard post child suckling 40 something breast......


:razz: :razz: :razz: :razz: :razz: :green:

 

[bcarso]

[quote author="cannikin"]I think the conductive plastic types are the smoothest as far as feel, its like turning air or as CJ would say "feeling a 15 year-olds breast".
PEC pots are nice quality, but not as smooth and but expensive." "College student or young professional breast"
Alpha pots well they are a haggard post child suckling 40 something breast......


:razz: :razz: :razz: :razz: :razz: :green:[/quote]

Maybe better if you used nipple-shaped knobs?

 

[tv]

thought he was looking for different type of quality time

 

[MartyMart]

Yeah , "Skunk" but go easy with it or you'll just "Veg-out" too quickly !!!

Back on track - Some commercial stuff that uses Bourns etc pots also have
a small "damper ring" made of soft rubber behind the control knob and up
against the nut/chassis.
Makes the "feel" very pro indeed, so I may get some of those to try out.
1/4 inch rubber grommets will do !

MM.

 

[mikep]

[quote author="seavote"]... any way i ws wondering what i should look for in a pot and what specs were important. brands??
thanks[/quote]

in my opinion, the #1 spec for pots in audio is durability, or long life. I admit I am biased because of alot of repair work, but look at it this way, if you are building something to last, the pots will usually die first. if you are building something big, like a console with a whole lot of pots and they get scratchy, major bummer. they might also need to be low noise depending on the application, "low dynamic noise", technically speaking. this usually means conductive plastic type. you MUST design to minimize DC across the pot regardless of type. DC from end to end will generally make a normal or slightly scratchy pot sound very scratchy. pull some current thru a wiper and you will also accelerate wear, perhaps very significantly depending on the particular pot and current. cap coupling with a cheap electrolytic can leak enough DC to cause problems IMO.

it may be obvious, but if you expect frequent user tweaking (cutoff frequency of a syth filter, preamp gain, compressor threshold, etc) use a good pot. if it is a less frequently used control you might not need the same part to get a similar feel and lifetime.

there isnt really a correlation between perfectly smooth feel and long service life. there are plenty cheap, short life parts with nice feel. some long life pots of note that arent silky smooth are the AB type-J or equivalent. and type RV4 etc.

if $20 seems like lot for a pot, look at:

http://www.betatronix.com/products.html

mike p