Lundahl Sound VC2361 6-Channel Volume Control Review

[Soniclife]

There doesn’t appear to be any indicator which channel you are attenuating or the level?
Keith

All of them at once I'm guessing, and the knob has a small indicator for volume.

 

[Sangthip]

Remote looks like the one i had to an old Apple TV Gen 2.

 

[artburda]

Because what to vote depends on its price.

If the price is an important part of your vote, just wait until a price has been communicated. Or vote based on performance and correct it afterwards if you feel the need to.

 

[Sylvanus]

Most products like this are being discontinued. (The few that existed to begin with.)
There is no longer a valid use case. Most likely collecting dust or being sold by audiophiles who have them.

MSB had a similar unit many years ago.

SOLD!!!: MSB MVC-1 Eight Channel Volume Control ---- SOLD!!!

This is the version with the unbalanced RCA connections, 8 in/8 out. Comes with remote and power supply. Attenuation: -70 DB TO +10 DB in 1 DB steps, each channel can be adjusted separately for trim and lots of other options. 120 db signal-to-noise, Purely analog, no ADC/DAC Link to manual...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[SoundsGood2Me]

I don't see anything about that in the spec sheet. Speaking of that, here are the specs:

View attachment 378165

Does anyone mind explaining to me how you only need 64dB of attenuation when the State of the Art AHB2 power amp can output ~130dB S/N? And CD is 96? Also I have a few issues wondering about who needs this as almost every multichannel audio product also has a volume control. I understand if it's a digital volume control and you don't want to truncate bits, but most 5.1 systems I've seen are consumer grade at best. And surely this fine product will cost $thousand$ to make the 1000 that will be sold?

PS - kudos to Benchmark and their affordably priced perfectly measuring products! Awesome to see parts of my system are truly Benchmark pinnacle products.

PPS - Pic not related, have a 1970s 100w Motorola 30MHz base station transmitter that a genius millionaire bought for pennies at auction and turned them into a regional paging network surrounding the Great Lakes, eventually ammassing ~35 Tower sites that he sold at 78 for $35M and another $2M for the paging network. He bought a seaplane and a house on a nice lake in WI, hard work is a thing.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I guess if you have a multichannel Dac without a master volume control, and as long as it's only six channels, this could be your ticket????

 

[AaronJ]

Does anyone mind explaining to me how you only need 64dB of attenuation when the State of the Art AHB2 power amp can output ~130dB S/N? And CD is 96? Also I have a few issues wondering about who needs this as almost every multichannel audio product also has a volume control. I understand if it's a digital volume control and you don't want to truncate bits, but most 5.1 systems I've seen are consumer grade at best. And surely this fine product will cost $thousand$ to make the 1000 that will be sold?

PS - kudos to Benchmark and their affordably priced perfectly measuring products! Awesome to see parts of my system are truly Benchmark pinnacle products.

PPS - Pic not related, have a 1970s 100w Motorola 30MHz base station transmitter that a genius millionaire bought for pennies at auction and turned them into a regional paging network surrounding the Great Lakes, eventually ammassing ~35 Tower sites that he sold at 78 for $35M and another $2M for the paging network. He bought a seaplane and a house on a nice lake in WI, hard work is a thing.

I think this raises the question, do we have any need for 130db S/N gear when 64db of attenuation nearly reduces a signal to inaudibility at the listening position?

 

[pseudoid]

With 6 balanced channels, there will be 12 sets of 6 groups of switched precision resistors, possibly 36 relays and the remote receiver, likely an analogue pot, read by an A/D line on the micro and a whole bunch of relay drivers.

I agree that the price has to be around $2k+.

Most products like this are being discontinued. (The few that existed to begin with.)

I am trying to figure out what the use-case for this balanced 6-channel VolumeControl (VC) could be; even if not for consumer applications.
A single 'Master' VC seems to be limiting its usability, even in a 5.1 multi-channel setup. Since the resistive VC appears to be controlling the gain of each channel independently (but ganged), they could have easily provided independent channel gain-control knobs.

FOSI has a new product (#PH05 @$60) that is a single-ended (3.5mm TRS/stereo) 5-channel active VC, with independent gain control for each of the 5 (stereo) channels and a 'Master' VC. FOSI states they may introduce a balanced version in the future (if/when?).

 

[Sokel]

That's a part of system consisting of a DSP x-over,this volume control and a power supply as I posted earlier.
If I got it right the above is part of a speaker which is about to launch in October.

So,it's not a standalone product but I guess it could be usable in an active 3-way project if someone wants to do analog attenuation (digitally controlled obviously,I expect some pretty decent motorized pot inside to settle levels )

 

[Ralf Stocker]

To be honest, the concept of this device is not entirely clear to me. The weak point is the low and variable input impedance and the very high output impedance.

 

[Blumlein 88]

To be honest, the concept of this device is not entirely clear to me. The weak point is the low and variable input impedance and the very high output impedance.

To be fair other than a few settings near 0 db it isn't a low input impedance device. Over much of its range it must be rather high input impedance.

 

[amirm]

Cost is US $1,100 plus shipping.

 

[amirm]

Remote looks like the one i had to an old Apple TV Gen 2.

Pretty sure that is correct. I have reviewed a few other devices that came with one.

 

[Ralf Stocker]

To be fair other than a few settings near 0 db it isn't a low input impedance device. Over much of its range it must be rather high input impedance.

I listen to music 99% of the time at, say, -40db. Actually, never at 0db. My speakers don't like that.

 

[theREALdotnet]

Does anyone mind explaining to me how you only need 64dB of attenuation when the State of the Art AHB2 power amp can output ~130dB S/N?

Only 64dB attenuation? That’s a lot. If you’ve attenuated -64dB and still feel the music is too loud you should reconsider the gain structure of your playback system.

 

[Ralf Stocker]

Only 64dB attenuation? That’s a lot. If you’ve attenuated -64dB and still feel the music is too loud you should reconsider the gain structure of your playback system.

-64dB is not enough. Especially if you have a 20dB gain stage and a 10V studio level at the input. You can still hear the music in the headphones. -80dB should be sufficient.

 

[Blumlein 88]

-64dB is not enough. Especially if you have a 20dB gain stage and a 10V studio level at the input. You can still hear the music in the headphones. -80dB should be sufficient.

But are you going to listen at -64 db or lower? If not and you are looking for silence then mute the signal source.

 

[georgehifi]

But are you going to listen at -64 db or lower? If not and you are looking for silence then mute the signal source.

The big problem is with this.
This is a passive preamp with no gain and therefore going to be used at or near full up for loud listening level, and if the speakers are low efficiency it may not even get loud enough from some.
Being at near full up, it's input impedance is only around 6kohm. As I said before if the source is capacitor coupled output like tubes are and some solid state, with many only having a .47uf cap, then it will roll off the bass way too early and be -3dB already at 50hz!!

Cheers George

 

[Blumlein 88]

The big problem is with this.
This is a passive preamp with no gain and therefore going to be used at or near full up for loud listening level, and if the speakers are low efficiency it may not even get loud enough from some.
Being at near full up, it's input impedance is only around 6kohm. As I said before if the source is capacitor coupled output like tubes are and some solid state, with many only having a .47uf cap, then it will roll off the bass way too early and be -3dB already at 50hz!!

Cheers George

Yeah, simple solution. Don't use tube units with cap coupled output. Problem solved. Heck, actually there is no reason to use such things. Get into the 21st century dudes.

 

[DWPress]

MSB had a similar unit many years ago.

SOLD!!!: MSB MVC-1 Eight Channel Volume Control ---- SOLD!!!

This is the version with the unbalanced RCA connections, 8 in/8 out. Comes with remote and power supply. Attenuation: -70 DB TO +10 DB in 1 DB steps, each channel can be adjusted separately for trim and lots of other options. 120 db signal-to-noise, Purely analog, no ADC/DAC Link to manual...

www.audiosciencereview.com

That was my listing. I used it downstream of a miniDSP 4x10 because I hated the miniDSP volume control and had unbalanced amps in use back then. Awesome unit, I hope the buyer is still enjoying it.