Totally agree. Those small Alps pots are terrible in terms of longevity. I replace them all the time in consumer level gear as they fracture, separate and get torn off the boards. Often the aluminium rivets in the corners split the plastic. I sincerely hope there is a nut and washer under that little knob.
The balanced headphone jack should have countersunk screws that match the other screws as a bare minimum.
The 6.35mm PCB mount headphone socket appears to eschew any type of physical mounting other than the PCB solder joints and perhaps some plastic spigots through the board? It's designed to utilize a nut to hold it to a metal sub chassis, behind the front panel- is there one? Bear in mind, those sockets get a hammering and dry joints will happen without adequately secured sockets. I know, I fix them all the time.
The PCB mount toggles are relying 100% on the solder joints for mechanical support (un-threaded collars and no nuts) and will fracture down the track. The single solder pin 'anchor' point at the front of those switches is manifestly inadequate IMO, the number of them I see loose in PCBs on modern gear- especially PbFree, makes me angry.
All these criticisms are justified. It is marketed and reviewed here as a USD$1249 retail product, let's not forget that.
Absolutely agree with this post, it shows technical experience on prehistoric mechanical potentiometers, but not only that...
I refuse to buy “any” gear that uses them. It’s a kick in the guts especially for high end with the mega dollars to go with it regardless of performance becuase using a prehistoric mechanical potentiometer will be the weakest link!
In today’s electronics there’s many ways to get around prehistoric components that exhibit wear and tear from day one! a lesson learnt over 30yrs of DIY. Even volume control chips such as Cirrus 3310 or the BB PGA 2310 will wiped the floor on any mechanical volume pots. That include all Alps, Allen Bradley, TKD and the like. Whether they’d be carbon or plastic film, they will all degrade from the initial physical turn regardless of what people claim.
I built 2 identical Preamp 9mths apart. The 2nd destroyed the 1st on SQ after initial turn on. All components are the same. Replacing the volume potentiometer on the 1st Preamp brought the SQ up to matched the 2nd Preamp. I spent the next 30yrs playing with different types of potentiometers. Even bought a NAD M51 and used that to control volume on a power amplifier. Today anyone who design preamps without considering digital control volume chips are not even in the race. Today I use a Preamp that uses a BB PGA 2310 and will never look back! The advantages are all there, last the life of the product with perfect balance throughout the entire volume range, everytime!
Even Elector Magazine had a project to replace all mechanical volume pots in the mid 80s in studio recording consoles.