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[shAf]

Remember your old analog amplifier's "loudness" switch?  (i.e., it would raise the bass & treble for low listening levels ... for the most part abused at high levels by kids ...<g>...).  Is there something compareable in MC9? (besides the equalizer preferences).

The best loudness switch I ever saw came with my circa 1980 Yamaha amplifier.  Enabling it was a switch, but how much was applied was a function of the volume, and disabled at ~40%.

Another very useful switch was its 'mute' ... which did not eliminate the music altogether, but dropped it to a low listening level (e.g., 10%).

cheerios  

[Bartabedian]

You'll still find those on most car stereos, both of them actually.

"Loud" was\is essentially a low end boost filter. It was first described as being useful for lower listening levels in which the bottom end would usually disappear. "Loud" would bring it back.

"Mute" is now of course "Mute", but the effect you describe has become "quiet", a button push takes the volume to a barely audible preset level. Some "quiet" functions just have a -10 or -20 cut, which may mean little if you're really pumping the volume!

[DocLotus]

Another way to get loadness is to Enable...
DSP Studio/Vitual Subwoofer then select a larger subwoofer.

I know this is not an on/off switch like you may be looking for but it is another way to acheive the loadness effect.

[xen-uno]

Notice too, that newer amps have a different type of attenuator. You have to spin them like a top to get a real volume change vs the old style where a quarter turn would really crank it up. I like the old style better but the newer is probably more crackle resistant as it ages.

10^-27

[DocLotus]

Yes, the newer is totally crackle resistant as they are electronic.  They either work correctly or don't work at all... no middle road for problems.

The old ones were a variable resistor that controlled the voltage to the preamp directly.  As the resistor contacts & slider got worn or dirty it caused an erratic change in voltage that caused the noise.  Also the total resistance of the control would erratically change due to dirt & the wearing away of the silver coating on the slider.

[gkerber]

Yes, the newer is totally crackle resistant as they are electronic.  They either work correctly or don't work at all... no middle road for problems.

The old ones were a variable resistor that controlled the voltage to the preamp directly.  As the resistor contacts & slider got worn or dirty it caused an erratic change in voltage that caused the noise.  Also the total resistance of the control would erratically change due to dirt & the wearing away of the silver coating on the slider.

And for stereo, they were really 2 pots on the same shaft.  I remember my Dynaco PAT4 and PAT5 preamps where the  L and R pots were not totally synchronized and they would not adjust the volume equally.  

I really hated that.

[DocLotus]

I remember my first McIntosh preamp with electronic controls.  The volume was not step less like a potentiometer with infinite settings... it was in reality many small single detents from low to high. Each detent was a separate voltage being sent to the pre amp.  I really liked that as I could fell (in the dark) for exact volume settings.  Example: 12 steps from the bottom was half volume.  Worked great.

I don't really know why some of todays controls require you to turn the knob several times to get to the end.  Neber made an sence to me.

[zevele10]

As the resistor contacts & slider got worn or dirty it caused an erratic change in voltage that caused the noise.

-=-=-=-

Right ,but if you have a good amp ,at $$$$ price tag.
It is much of the trouble to give it to the shop to clean it and put new resistors every X years?

And ,trust me , only a good cleaning gives new life to your amp.

And none of you having the real stuff: an amp with ONLY a volume knob?
No bass ,trebles and so on ones?.

[DocLotus]

Often the silver coating on the slider wears off & a good cleaning sometimes only fix's the problem temporarly.

If a good cleaner is used then a very micro thin oxide prevention coating such as Cramolin is put on the contacts & slider, the problem may not come back for a long time.

Monster Cable sales a Cramolin Sound Restorative set which consist of the cleaner (red) & oxide preventer (blue) plus an applicator brush.

When I worked at GE, we found that Cramolin was the only thing that seemed to really work on senisitive switch contacts in various electronic instruments that we serviced.