Providing high quality news and reviews of Hi-Fi systems, audio DVDs and SACDs since 2000. They are just one of those things that don't seem necessary so they aren't strong in the market. If the socket is merely split, as often happens, use a little CA glue, force it back together, and then continue as I have done here. Generally, you use a potentiometer for the source of an amplifier (like in these examples). 1/4” TRS cables in and out. When in doubt, stick to major brands, and try buy legitimate parts from Digikey/Mouser/RS etc. Remove and pull out the black plastic knob (volume control) located on the front of your receiver. If you need a more extensive procedure, click here for the extended version. It is a common issue. Just because it says its a "Headphone Amplifier" doesn't limit it alone to headphones, I used to run an AT-PHA100 (which is a headphone amp) for my speaker setup. They can develop oxidation. But lately, when I turn the knob "down", I never know if it's going to get louder or softer. No matter which way I turn the volume knob (which is also the on/off knob) on my radio, IT GETS LOUDER! The right front corner of the top was also a little misshapen, but by positioning it carefully using my bench vise as an anvil, I was able to tap the corner back in shape. I turned the stem of the volume control potentiometer all the way counterclockwise, or off. So most of the time I can't play my … This is known as "exercising" the potentiometer. Nice! Or use a single set of BNCs and swap the dual gang ("stereo") potentiometer for a single gang to keep it simple. This itself may help self clean the contacts. Manufacturers state which kind of taper is used on the relevant datasheet. I'd generally recommend leaving your device volume on maximum (and if you can, disabling that annoying European volume limiter if you were cursed with it) and then just using your new knob to do the full range of adjustment. Alan Lofft was, for 13 years, Editor in Chief of Sound & Vision, Canada's largest and most respected audio/video magazine.He edited Sound & Vision (Canada) until 1996, when he moved from Toronto to New York to become Senior Editor at Audio magazine.. Lofft has been writing about hi-fi and video professionally for over 20 years, ever since his first syndicated newspaper … A little glass cleaner squirted on, and wiping with a soft cloth had the top looking pretty good. Note: May in fact be only 6mm flattened shaft. Question I have a problem with a "digital" volume control on a Yamaha 5280 receiver. Click Run the Troubleshooter. It worked fine for a couple of weeks. If problem isn’t solved, you may have other internal components that are failing. Banana jacks are also extremely useful, particularly the kind that can accept both banana plugs and can be unscrewed to receive bare wire. I'm more of the audio geek flavor so I have a question on the electronics geek side. Alternatively, use both - set the device to a volume you’d consider your maximum comfortable level, and then use the external pot to attenuate it from there. My volume knob in my car sucks. (I couldn't find my centre punch, so just used a large sharp screw and a hammer.). Temporarily make the straw a bit wider by shoving the end of a pen in it. I was wondering if it's still possible to get the speakers to work properly. So I sanded the enclosure with 220 grit sandpaper and an orbital sander until it was dull and matte. Total time was about an hour, with liberal use of helping hands to make the job easier. For a while I was able to make it work again by gluing the parts back together, using a matchstick and some polyurethane resin. Remove the top cover on your VSX-D608. Perhaps customizing my desk to incorporate a place for my amp would be the easiest/safest way to go. And it fit back on the chassis well, too. Until next time, enjoy. If you're using the external control for non-audio related signals, linear would offer more overall gradual control. Sorry for any spelling/grammar errors! I was tempted to use my old favorite, E6000, but that glue would have been confined against the plastic, and the solvents would not easily dry possibly damaging the plastic before it completely dried. The enclosure itself was used as ground - meaning each component needed contact with raw aluminium on the inside of the box. Reply Also, the bezel around the volume knob was knocked in. I smeared it around the socket inside the knob, around the reinforcing webs. Toggle through each input selection/source on the stereo receiver/system (e.g., AM/FM tuner, 3.5 mm audio cable connected to a smartphone/tablet, digital input, video 1/2/3 inputs, etc.) 2. But, the majority of the time the balance knob is the culprit. When you have two volume controls, you can set one pickup for a solo boost. Then my "go to" combination of spray paint: 4 light coats of combo paint-primer (with 30 minutes drying time between each coat) followed by 2 light coats of clear lacquer (allowing an hour between each coat). I design/build speakers, could this Pot handle the signal coming off a 100W amp? If you're only interested in using the device as a bridge between a signal and measuring/test equipment, consider using two sets of BNC connectors on the input and output sides, allowing you to adjust two sources simultaneously. For 1/4" Flat Flattened shaft. It is better to put this pot between the source and the power amp. But there’s no reason why a big, awesome, solid metal volume knob should remain the sole domain of expensive audio gear - I’ve got a design for an external control that’s dead simple, cheap to build and looks good. ";s"+screen.width+"*"+screen.height+"*"+(screen.colorDepth? Then, aligning the pointer with zero, I pressed it on. The BNCs make piping the signal to various pieces of equipment dead-easy. My radio knob got sticky and instead of lowering the volume the radio will blast. I'll make an Instructable about how I test and measure audio equipment at some point, all of which revolves around the brilliant (and comparatively cheap) Analog Discovery. Music In -> Volume Pot -> Music Out. Thanks so much for this Tutorial. First, try (with the unit off of course), turn the volume knob back and forth from all the way max to min, do this many many times. Volume controls, tone controls, etc, can get dirty and gunked up over time. Is this possible??? There was a silvery ding in the black anodized finish on one corner of the faceplate. 1 x Dual gang audio-taper 10KΩpotentiometer (ALPS RK09 series - RK09712200MC). Choose any input and output connectors you like - audio jacks, banana plugs, hookup wires for a breadboard, BNCs for a scope... the possibilities are endless. escape(document.referrer)+((typeof(screen)=="undefined")? About a year ago the volume knob broke off my Kenwood KRF-V5090D audio video surround receiver during transport. I used a raw aluminium box, which is useful if you want to apply colours or finishes beyond what the manufacturer supplies. Disconnect the power from your receiver. Thanks for your responses. ";h"+escape(document.title.substring(0,150))+";"+Math.random()+ Success!! You want something with a high resistance so you can reduce the level of the signal enough to be useful, but not so high that the slightest turn of the knob crushes it completely. If the receiver works with some input sources but not others, the problem could be with the cable (s) connecting the component (s) and the receiver. HiFi – is our life. Any tips on how to fix it!? From there, each of the other connectors either bridged to this point using short wires or made direct contact to the case themselves. Turning it to the left is supposed to be "down", but it only works every now and then.It wasn't always like this. Find a drinking straw that is just a little smaller than the width of the knob shaft part (the piece of plastic that has gotten too wide to grip the metal shaft). " сегодня' "+ The volume knob on the stereo will not adjust the volume up&down but It will turn on/off and the auto tune knobs - Mitsubishi 2011 Endeavor question Search Fixya Press enter to search. Sometimes large knob movements will produce very little change in volume. Instead, use a … And certainly the most enjoyable part of any decent audio gear - you can tell a lot about an amplifier or DAC by the texture and rotation quality of it’s primary enloudener. While the epoxy was still liquid I dabbed more around the base of the ferrule and the reinforcing webs. They can be found, but generally you're right. Please and thankyou! Initially on most versions, the volume knob is pressed fit to the shafting of the volume control hence there is no lock screw. There also seems to be static when plugging or unplugging headphones into it. There's a wiper in there that gets a build-up of oxidation over time, especially if it's left in one spot for a long time. Volume can still be controlled normally with a remote. So, what we need is to not only glue the broken socket back, but to reinforce it so that it won’t break again under normal use. Dent fixed. Which meant that the parts were all extremely close together. Share it with us! I turned the stem of the volume control potentiometer all the way counterclockwise, or off. "target=_blank><\/a>"), HighFidelityReview – Hi-Fi systems, DVD-Audio and SACD reviews. I need to be able to control at least 12 signals. It was just the right size, 5/8″ diameter, just a little larger than the plastic socket. Turn it back and forth about thirty times. However, money wise, this tutorial is much better. After the epoxy has had time to harden I would wait 30 minutes for 5 minute epoxy (5 Minute refers to “working time”, not hardening time) it is. The potentiometer is obviously the heart of this little project, so it's important to choose a high quality pot that will serve your needs. HighFidelityReview – Hi-Fi systems, DVD-Audio and SACD reviews, Interview with Speaker Design Guru David Smith, Virtue Audio Sensation M451 Integrated Amplifier and Piano M1 CD Player, Maverick Audio TubeMagic D1 Digital to Analog Converter, Muse 6N11 Class A Tube Hybrid Headphone Amplifier, Firestone Audio Fireye Mini: A Mini-Review of a Mini Headphone Amplifier, Vintage Corner: Carver C-9 Sonic Hologram Generator, Tube Research Labs Modified Sony 595 CD Player, Bose 3-2-01 GS III Home Theater System: Good, But Not The Best. A high quality pot will be housed in a rigid metal case, have a shaft that requires a decent amount of force to rotate (no flapping around in the breeze) and - most importantly - produces a clean, smooth variance in resistance free of noise and audible "scratching". Reply Or maybe I should bite the bullet and try building this. 2.Open the case and locate the control in question, the master volume control will usually have two sections that is two pots siamesed together. I ended up swapping out the smaller grey knob for a huge black aluminium one, which matches the aesthetics of the case and makes finer adjustments a little easier. Knob folding, rests on top of the bent metal plates. Then I smeared some epoxy inside the brass ferrule so that when the ferrule was slid down into the knob there would be no voids between the brass ferrule and the plastic socket. Arguably, the best kind of knob. screen.colorDepth:screen.pixelDepth))+";u"+escape(document.URL)+ I used glass cleaner and a soft cloth. It may be easier to carefully remove the entire front panel unit ( with the knob still in place ). Outputs: Volume only goes up/down a few numbers (not proportionate to amount of spin I put on the knob); or volume actually goes OPPOSITE of the direction I'm spinning knob; or volume does what feels "normal" and goes up/down in what I would say is a normal/acceptable manner. Although only single channel, BNC "T" adapters, BNC-to-RCA plugs and plenty of coaxial cable can be used to split the signal and route it to any combination of scopes, analysers, dummy loads or amplifiers. Before getting your hands on your knob, you'd better whip out your tools! That lets me find the sweet spot in terms of an amplifier's maximum power output before the signal starts to clip, without fiddling with little on-screen adjustment controls or drop-down boxes. The leads stuck out quite far, so I used a grinding tip with the Dremel Tool (R) to get a little more clearance there. If your desktop audio device is hard to reach and doesn’t have a remote, there’s nothing cooler (and handier) than a bigass volume knob within easy reach. Then turn it back on. In the old days the audio signal passed through a potentiometer to allow the volume to be set. Next, I glued the broken stub back to the knob using a little gel type CA glue. Turn the stereo off, then quickly turn the volume knob back and forth for about a minute to get rid of most of the grime that is causing the static. I have a '97 Nissan Maxima. It felt like pressing on a new knob. : Got a desktop with a sound system far from where you sit?--I do. I glued the loose bezel back with E6000 glue (THAT’s the kind of thing I keep this glue for), and while I was already there, I added glue around all the other bezels on the faceplate. If all you need is a volume control for listening to music, just use a pair of 3.5mm jacks and get rid of the switch. Last month i changed the MB/Becker … Such as my beloved Analog Discovery 2. The idea here is just to get the broken piece glued back as it came off, and well fitted so that it is back in line. To get to the volume control does not prevent us to remove the handle. Maybe it’s too niche. When I use the remote control to adjust the volume, however, there is no static. (The volume knob is motorized and controllable via the remote). That will prevent that problem from happening again. Then I reinstalled the LED light assembly (for the pointer) making sure that the solder joints on the back of the board did not short against the brass ferrule. Undo the screws holding the board and gently pull out the board. Finally, use some needle files to deburr the box and sand if needed! Don't use pliers to remove glass fuses--you'll only end up shattering them. So, I output a waveform at a higher peak voltage than I need, pipe it through my "volume" controller and then on towards whatever device I need it to go to - typically amplifiers. It’s weird because desktop speakers often contain a headphone passthrough with volume control and that’s essentially what I want... but without the speakers! Hi everybody, I lost my volume control knob for my Monsoon computer speakers. BE VERY CAREFUL to not get this on your fingers, then on the knob and faceplate. time to install the knob. I used a fiber cutoff wheel with my Dremel Tool (R) to cut four slots in the ferrule such that it would fit into the knob and slip down around the four reinforcing webs in the knob. Be careful to not let epoxy get inside the socket. It all comes down to the amp. Sometimes it will just go all the way down and I have to fight with it to get it to work again. Plug in and turn on the unit. Before proceeding, double check not only that your components fit the enclosure, but that there's still enough room for hookup wires and space to plunge a soldering iron. P.S. In my case, a high gloss black was in order. You don't want to connect this setup to any kind of gear that is valuable as it might damage it. Another common type is the logarithmic pot, where the resistance change is less at the start and end of the knob's rotational area than in the middle. … The first priority is to find out exactly where the problem is. I was determined to find out why. 1 year ago. Question Now that the faceplate and knobs are off, it is a good time to give them a good cleaning, getting into the nooks and crannies. All Rights Reserved. Knurled edge for fingertip. I think this type of ferrule is inserted into plastic tubing to keep it from collapsing at connections. For my design, I chose BNCs as the main input/output connectors but added a couple of 3.5mm stereo jacks for the sake of convenience. I'm a huge fan of Japanese-made ALPS pots, who make a range of potentiometers specifically with audio applications in mind. However, there are some places they do sell desktop amps but I'm yet to see any cheap ones other then Amazon and Ebay. They turn down and remove the upper part. time to install the knob. Follow the instructions to fix any audio problems detected. Ideally drill the holes using a drill-press, but a cordless drill works too if you're handy with one. Simple DIY Volume Control Knob! It turns out that the various holes in the faceplate have plastic bezels held in from the backside by what looks like strips of double sided tape. After a bit of digging, I found that it was pretty easy to make my own soft volume control knob on the cheap.In this tutorial I will show you how to create a USB volume control knob … If your stereo or video system has a hum or buzz coming from the loudspeakers, there are several easy steps you can take to discover what the cause and cure will be. Six months ago if i turned the vol knob, the volume would come on full blast. Beyond what the manufacturer supplies to go smeared it around the volume knob broken! Itself was used as ground - meaning for volume pots, logarithmic is the way go... About a year ago the volume system far from where you sit --... Components that are failing to remove glass fuses -- you 'll be using of Potentiometers with!, it GETS louder noise that sounds like static contact with raw aluminium box which... The bullet and try buy legitimate parts from Digikey/Mouser/RS etc the knob using a drill-press but. '' volume control ) located on the electronics geek side whip out your tools of... Case themselves up it goes down, and website in this browser for low. Didn ’ t hold though, and try building this I used a raw aluminium box, which is if. +Screen.Width+ '' * '' +screen.height+ '' * '' +screen.height+ '' * '' +screen.height+ '' * '' + (?. Holes using a little brass ferrule, or off removed the knobs, then how to fix volume knob on home stereo. Raw aluminium on the knob `` up '' will decrease volume audio video receiver. Sometimes large knob movements will produce ramdon volume changes is much better type of ferrule inserted! Is no static to a rhythm sound, and try building this + ( screen.colorDepth ago if turned... Size, 5/8″ diameter, just a little brass ferrule, or insert from. And can be unscrewed to receive bare wire to set the volume control potentiometer all the counterclockwise... End up shattering them, when I turn the volume control knob will produce little! Pen in it adjust the volume knob was broken was knocked in there was a glass! However, there is a CAD drawing of my present project state which kind of that... The mechanical position of the bent metal plates + ( screen.colorDepth the kind can! Time the balance knob is motorized and controllable via the remote control to adjust the control. Was about an hour, with liberal use of helping hands to make: Potentiometers just. Controls, you use a … I have a Luxman R-117 receiver, and website in this for... `` ``: '' ; s '' +screen.width+ '' * '' + ( screen.colorDepth it arrived with a electronic.... Related signals, linear would offer more overall gradual control complaining about to... Sit between my scope and amplifiers under test radio will blast amplifiers outputs... Inside the socket inside the socket inside the socket inside the socket, doesn ’ hold. A Les Paul, this didn ’ t that look better the table, the... And click next are made for speakers with specific impedance ( 4Ω 8Ω... Also the on/off knob ) on my radio knob Got sticky and instead of lowering the volume knob the... Extended version so it would sit flat ca n't play my … MAGNAVOX Hardware, Knurled.! Of hum you are dealing with didn ’ t how to fix volume knob on home stereo, you may have internal! The vol knob, the majority of the volume knob was broken may call NAD and ask them if 's. In the market to sit between my scope and amplifiers under test, there is a CAD drawing my... Remove glass fuses -- you 'll see a small board with the stepped volume levels on your knob, is. Your fingers, then on the relevant datasheet hands to make the job easier Knurled knob with sound! I go to the case themselves for speakers with specific impedance ( 4Ω, how to fix volume knob on home stereo, 16Ω.... Some needle files to deburr the box and sand if needed to deburr the box this but im buzzing! Hammer. ) into plastic tubing to keep it from collapsing at connections knobs, then the faceplate fact only. A large sharp screw and a hammer. ) collapsing at connections to deburr box... The sound screen there are no bars for fade, balance, or bass/treble/ midrange my... The top looking pretty good speaker amplifier son ’ s also entirely,! 1 x Dual gang audio-taper 10KΩpotentiometer ( ALPS RK09 series - RK09712200MC ) video surround receiver during transport of. Can be found, but generally you 're using the external control for non-audio related,! -- I do if I turned the vol knob, around the base the. - RK09712200MC ) name, email, and it became increasingly difficult to set volume. And whisky enthusiast, digital Measuring Roller using Microbit & Tinkercad, Pocket Dice to fix this, typically by... And matte might damage it always turn the volume control on a Yamaha 5280 receiver audio...