Cheapest volume control

This is all FWIW and I'll defer to anyone who's used both the Lightspeed and the SYS (I've used neither), but I'm betting the SYS would likely be a step down - at least in the short run, til you could get something better, but if there's anything better-sounding than the Lightspeed I can't imagine what that would be. The next best-sounding-for-the-money solution I know of would be Goldpoint attenuators (which I've used and have found to be highly transparent...on par, I believe, with the Lightspeed. Don't let anyone kid you though, the surface mount resistors used are ridiculously transparent and are the real thing, IMO). But, a stereo, single-ended Goldpoint is $159 without the knob, box or shipping. Other solutions might include Alps or whatnot, but none I've tried could hold a candle to Goldpoint or Lightspeed. If it were me and money was the overriding concern, I might think about the SYS for the moment and let it tide me over, unless the wait was expected to be unbearably long or whatever. But, if OTOH you happen to be more concerned with not wasting any of your hifi dollars by buying something twice, then I recommend maybe waiting until you're in a better buying position for a nice attenuator. But, after the Lightspeed, almost anything would likely be a step backward, except the Goldpoint...or possibly the DACT, but Goldpoint is what I know and they're in the USA. BTW, Arn is a super nice guy and can set you straight on how to choose the right impedance values with no worries.

As with all the passive attenuators, the shorter your IC's (6" or less - 3" is ideal) between attenuator and amp, the less there is of the usual sound penalty associated with passives (usually a loss of lower mid presence or decreased dynamics, or sometimes both).

Hopefully someone else can post with a lower-priced option here that I'm not aware of. Regards. John

Thats what I was thinking. I tried getting the Goldpoint here on Audiogon 2 days ago but I offered $130 and he wouldn't take it.

Maybe I should try to swing a goldpoint or something a bit better than the sys is what I'm hearing. It will be awhile till I can get another lightspeed.

What about that luminous passive? Any others besides the goldpoint, that are really inexpensive and worthy? I was even looking at that bottlehead quickie...

In my view and as near as I can tell, the Axiom looks fairly interesting. This one is new to me and I'm not sure exactly how he gets the Alps pot out of the signal path, but, if that approach is sound, then I believe I might be considering that thing myself, were I in your situ...just could be the way to go, here. Maybe somebody has tried it. Not as sure about the Bottlehead, it could be ok too, but I dunno.

Update: Oh, ok, I see now where I misread the website text. The pot simply shunts the signal to ground. That may work, but the pot would likely still exert some influence on the sound quality...hence the stepped version for $500. In that sense it may not be the best value...unless somebody has tried it out.

Chase RCL-1. Often on eBay for about $100. This is a line control with a remote. I have three of these, all work perfectly. Some are available in a 12 volt version, and having a choice, that is the one to go for. How could something be so good and so inexpensive? One of the mystery's of life. Enjoy.

Just so you know, whatever attenuates volume in your system is extremely important. This is one area that you don't want to cut corners with.

That said, the Lightspeed and it's variants are some of the best passive attenuators you can buy. Even better than high dollar active preamps. I own an LDR using the Tortuga board and it is excellent.

Shakey