Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?

I went to two Radio Shacks and neither stocked pots.
Upon further inspection, the most "do-it-yourself" parts
they stocked were switches. They should rename the
place "Phone Shack" or "****e Shack". I'll have to
try a larger store and hope they have it. I miss
the days when I could get a part close by even if
it was overpriced.

R.

"Dan Nicotera" wrote in message
. rogers.com...
An inexpensive one which is 100k can be bought at Radio Shack with the
loudness tap and it'd made by alps. Other than this another alps will cost
about $50.
The radio shack one isn't that bad for $3.
Dan
"RJK" wrote in message
. ..
Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?

If it's any help it's part# 271-1732.
Just go to there website and search and see what stores have it.
I know Radio Shack is not a DYI for tube equipment or even electronics parts
anymore.
But that pot isn't bad and it will get you through till you decide to buy a
real good one.
Dan
"RJK" wrote in message
. ..
Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?

I think I mentioned that I have one of these pots.

- jon

From: "Dan Nicotera"
Newsgroups: rec.audio.tubes
Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 12:48:27 GMT
Subject: Dynaco PAS pot replacement.

An inexpensive one which is 100k can be bought at Radio Shack with the
loudness tap and it'd made by alps. Other than this another alps will cost
about $50.
The radio shack one isn't that bad for $3.
Dan
"RJK" wrote in message
. ..
Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?

Where do you live? Here in Alberta, the Radio Shack stores are not really even
worth going to anymore... they hardly stock any parts anymore, and the service
can be okay sometimes, but it can also be very slow. They seem to be a place to
buy mobile phones and satalite TV receivers, more than anything else.

On the other side of things, I recently went to a Radio Shack in Kirkland WA,
and was amazed to find a wide assortment of pots, resistors, capacitors, and all
sorts of gadgets that reminded me of what Radio Shack was like here, 15 years
ago. They even had the descendant of the Minimus 7, on sale for $30 each... I
was tempted, but I already have a pair of those, and I need new speakers about
as badly as I need more tubes. I wonder if they still have a "battery club" in
the US like they did here years ago. I have to say I envy people who have a
Radio Shack like that one locally, where it's actually possible to drive to the
mall in the evening and buy a resistor (okay, a pack of 5 for $2), and get your
job done.

RJK wrote:

I went to two Radio Shacks and neither stocked pots.
Upon further inspection, the most "do-it-yourself" parts
they stocked were switches. They should rename the
place "Phone Shack" or "****e Shack". I'll have to
try a larger store and hope they have it. I miss
the days when I could get a part close by even if
it was overpriced.

R.

"Dan Nicotera" wrote in message
. rogers.com...
An inexpensive one which is 100k can be bought at Radio Shack with the
loudness tap and it'd made by alps. Other than this another alps will cost
about $50.
The radio shack one isn't that bad for $3.
Dan
"RJK" wrote in message
. ..
Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?

I'm in Toronto. I checked the part number that Dan suggested
(271-1732) but the guy at RS said it doesn't come up on their
system and probably was a US only number.


"Max Holubitsky" wrote in message
...
Where do you live? Here in Alberta, the Radio Shack stores are not really
even
worth going to anymore... they hardly stock any parts anymore, and the
service
can be okay sometimes, but it can also be very slow. They seem to be a
place to
buy mobile phones and satalite TV receivers, more than anything else.

On the other side of things, I recently went to a Radio Shack in Kirkland
WA,
and was amazed to find a wide assortment of pots, resistors, capacitors,
and all
sorts of gadgets that reminded me of what Radio Shack was like here, 15
years
ago. They even had the descendant of the Minimus 7, on sale for $30
each... I
was tempted, but I already have a pair of those, and I need new speakers
about
as badly as I need more tubes. I wonder if they still have a "battery
club" in
the US like they did here years ago. I have to say I envy people who have
a
Radio Shack like that one locally, where it's actually possible to drive
to the
mall in the evening and buy a resistor (okay, a pack of 5 for $2), and get
your
job done.

RJK wrote:

I went to two Radio Shacks and neither stocked pots.
Upon further inspection, the most "do-it-yourself" parts
they stocked were switches. They should rename the
place "Phone Shack" or "****e Shack". I'll have to
try a larger store and hope they have it. I miss
the days when I could get a part close by even if
it was overpriced.

R.

"Dan Nicotera" wrote in message
. rogers.com...
An inexpensive one which is 100k can be bought at Radio Shack with the
loudness tap and it'd made by alps. Other than this another alps will
cost
about $50.
The radio shack one isn't that bad for $3.
Dan
"RJK" wrote in message
. ..
Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?

I'm in London Ontario, I did find the last one here in Canada about a year
ago. I did buy a couple more juct recently in a Radio Shack store in
Michigan.
I didn't know if you lived in Canada or the states. They do have lots though
in the states.
Jon has listed that he has an original pot. Email him back...Dan
"RJK" wrote in message
. ..
Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?

Actually, the reason I'm looking for a replacement is
that BOTH my PAS-3's have an annoying volume jump
at the twelve o'clock position. I assume that they all
must be that way.

Randie

"Dan Nicotera" wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
I'm in London Ontario, I did find the last one here in Canada about a year
ago. I did buy a couple more juct recently in a Radio Shack store in
Michigan.
I didn't know if you lived in Canada or the states. They do have lots
though
in the states.
Jon has listed that he has an original pot. Email him back...Dan
"RJK" wrote in message
. ..
Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?

I believe that the essence of your question can be answered in two ways.

Generally speaking, in the replacement of any potentiometer you have an
exact match or a modification, there is really no in-between.

In the case of the Dyna PAS-3 the main volume potentiometer is very hard
to source for an exact drop-in replacement. The considerations are the
resistance,
taper and the loudness taps. If any one of these parameters is different,
you will
not achieve the same performance as with the original.

There is a company; http://www.potentiometers.com/ that sells 'modular'
style
potentiometers which can result in a near perfect match. But I believe that
the
loudness tap % may not be the ideal value unless you can be sure what the
% loudness tap on the Dyna PAS-3 is exactly.

If you can live without the Loudness Control them an ALPS 250K Pot
is the next best thing from www.angela.com

Now, as far as the 'annoying' jump in volume at the half-way point, there
are several factors that cause this to occur.

The output impedance of the Dyna PAS-3 is high, as compared to other tube
preamps that often will have less than 250K or even lower output impedances
via SRPP, cathode follower and/or special output tube circuit topologies
that
provide the extra 'drive' some newer tube and solid state amplifiers
require.

When driving one of these lower impedance tube/transistor amps from a Dyna
PAS-3
the volume will be quite low until you reach the point where the wiper
passes the Loudness
tap and at the same time passes the point on the carbon element that
logarithmically
produces a higher resistance that begins to drive the power hungry load.

The output impedance of a PAS-3 can be somewhat lowered by clipping the 510K
resistor
that is across the output RCA on the rear inside panel. The manual claims
this lowers
the output impedance from 470K to about 250K. This will provide a bit extra
'drive', but the
PAS-3 is not a preamp known from it's prowess in driving amps that need
extra 'oomph'
from the Preamplifier. Curcio mods often change the output topology and
result in more
detailed sound.

In closing personally I have matched my Dyna PAS-3 to amps that have input
impedances of
500K or more and the results are always stunning. But I can actually listen
to music quite well
within the 7-10 O'clock position of the volume control with great presence
and nice volume
control. But the amp I am driving has a 1 Meg resistor across the input so
the impedance
is the type that the PAS3 loves.

On amps that have lower than 250K of input impedance, I always have to
crank-up the
volume on my PAS-3 to the 1 O'clock position to get enough drive as you
mention. I have other
amps whose volume charateristic is similar to the Dyna PAS-3, such as my
Harman Kardon A700.
If not past 12 o'clock then the volume is too low for listening purposes,
unless I am sing really
high efficiency speakers.

Good luck,

Rich


"RJK" wrote in message
...
Actually, the reason I'm looking for a replacement is
that BOTH my PAS-3's have an annoying volume jump
at the twelve o'clock position. I assume that they all
must be that way.

Randie

"Dan Nicotera" wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
I'm in London Ontario, I did find the last one here in Canada about a
year
ago. I did buy a couple more juct recently in a Radio Shack store in
Michigan.
I didn't know if you lived in Canada or the states. They do have lots
though
in the states.
Jon has listed that he has an original pot. Email him back...Dan
"RJK" wrote in message
. ..
Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?

First I will temporarily remove the resistors on the
outputs to see if it gives me the volume I want BEFORE
the 12 o'clock jump. I'm feeding an amp removed from a
large Electrohome console that uses 6fq7's and PP 6BQ5's,
so I'm not sure of the input impedance. If this doesn't work
I think that I may have to drop the loudness control, and replace
the volume pot with an ALPS 250K.

Randie

"Rich Sherman" wrote in message
...
I believe that the essence of your question can be answered in two ways.

Generally speaking, in the replacement of any potentiometer you have an
exact match or a modification, there is really no in-between.

In the case of the Dyna PAS-3 the main volume potentiometer is very hard
to source for an exact drop-in replacement. The considerations are the
resistance,
taper and the loudness taps. If any one of these parameters is different,
you will
not achieve the same performance as with the original.

There is a company; http://www.potentiometers.com/ that sells 'modular'
style
potentiometers which can result in a near perfect match. But I believe
that
the
loudness tap % may not be the ideal value unless you can be sure what the
% loudness tap on the Dyna PAS-3 is exactly.

If you can live without the Loudness Control them an ALPS 250K Pot
is the next best thing from www.angela.com

Now, as far as the 'annoying' jump in volume at the half-way point, there
are several factors that cause this to occur.

The output impedance of the Dyna PAS-3 is high, as compared to other tube
preamps that often will have less than 250K or even lower output
impedances
via SRPP, cathode follower and/or special output tube circuit topologies
that
provide the extra 'drive' some newer tube and solid state amplifiers
require.

When driving one of these lower impedance tube/transistor amps from a Dyna
PAS-3
the volume will be quite low until you reach the point where the wiper
passes the Loudness
tap and at the same time passes the point on the carbon element that
logarithmically
produces a higher resistance that begins to drive the power hungry load.

The output impedance of a PAS-3 can be somewhat lowered by clipping the
510K
resistor
that is across the output RCA on the rear inside panel. The manual claims
this lowers
the output impedance from 470K to about 250K. This will provide a bit
extra
'drive', but the
PAS-3 is not a preamp known from it's prowess in driving amps that need
extra 'oomph'
from the Preamplifier. Curcio mods often change the output topology and
result in more
detailed sound.

In closing personally I have matched my Dyna PAS-3 to amps that have input
impedances of
500K or more and the results are always stunning. But I can actually
listen
to music quite well
within the 7-10 O'clock position of the volume control with great presence
and nice volume
control. But the amp I am driving has a 1 Meg resistor across the input so
the impedance
is the type that the PAS3 loves.

On amps that have lower than 250K of input impedance, I always have to
crank-up the
volume on my PAS-3 to the 1 O'clock position to get enough drive as you
mention. I have other
amps whose volume charateristic is similar to the Dyna PAS-3, such as my
Harman Kardon A700.
If not past 12 o'clock then the volume is too low for listening purposes,
unless I am sing really
high efficiency speakers.

Good luck,

Rich


"RJK" wrote in message
...
Actually, the reason I'm looking for a replacement is
that BOTH my PAS-3's have an annoying volume jump
at the twelve o'clock position. I assume that they all
must be that way.

Randie

"Dan Nicotera" wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
I'm in London Ontario, I did find the last one here in Canada about a
year
ago. I did buy a couple more juct recently in a Radio Shack store in
Michigan.
I didn't know if you lived in Canada or the states. They do have lots
though
in the states.
Jon has listed that he has an original pot. Email him back...Dan
"RJK" wrote in message
. ..
Does anyone know a source for a replacement
volume pot for the PAS preamp? I'm looking
for the type with the detents and it must have
the loudness tap. I think it is 250K ohms. I have
seen some, but they never have the tap.

Any suggestions?