Electronics : PHOENIX GOLD VMT-100 WHITE 100/50 Watt Impedance-Matching Stereo Volume Control in White |
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Rating: - * Good volume control ... This volume control works very well. Its range is from 0 being off to 10 being full volume. It has very nice detents so you know what level of volume you are at without listening. I find this helpful as the control is outside and master volume is inside. I set the outside control to about 5 and then turn the amplifier a little louder than normal. When I go back outside the volume can stay where it is or be turned up for a really good song and then back down without having to go in and out of the house. The control seems to be solidly constructed and fairly easy to install. I put it outside, but in a protected area. So far no problems. Rating:  - * Phoenix Gold Volume Control ... I'm using this to control two in-ceiling speakers in our home. The house was pre-wired so installing the volume control was quick and easy. If you're looking for something that's inexpensive and gets the job done, you can't get much better than this. Rating: - * Good product and good price ... I am very pleased with the volume controls. Very well engineered and easy to install. The face plates mount flush and the notched volume action is nice. I would definitely buy them again. Rating:  - * Caused my amplifier protection circuit to trip ... I installed this volume control in a fully 8-ohm speaker configuration, so I did not have to use the impedance matching jumpers. The general construction seemed a bit cheap to me, including the wire connectors and the front mounting plate, which for some reason is actually made up of two different plates plus the decora-style wall plate. When I turned on the amp and tried to use the control, it worked for about 10-20 minutes at 50% volume level on my amp before the amplifier protection circuitry tripped. This happened 3-4 times. I checked the connections and everything was OK. When I removed and bypassed this control (just using the amplifier volume control), everything worked fine. So there was definitely something wrong with the control. Also, I should note that the plastic face plate does not match standard Decora-style wall plates - it almost fits, but not quite. So you can't use your existing Decora wall plate. I'm returning this for a higher quality version, such as the Niles controls. Rating: - * Poor sound quality... ... I bought the VMT-100 to control the volume of a pair of Bose, in-wall speakers I purchased at the same time. Once installed, I was very disappointed with the flat/dull sound from the Bose and was almost ready to return them. After double checking all the connections (used Monster, 14ga in-wall cable) decided to try a different volume control (a more expensive one from Niles) before giving up on the speakers. At least in this case, cost equals performance/quality... with the Niles volume control the speakers "woke" right up and now seem to produce both the crisp highs and lows the VMT-100 wouldn't pass through. |
