Life without a remote

My system is a little bit more modern than the rest? Mine is controlled by voice.
"Hey honey would you lower the stereo"

At one point I had remotes for the amp, pre, CDP, curtains, fan & lights, so I could control almost every aspect of the listening sessions. I gained over 300 lbs.

Now there are no remotes & simply turn on the system loud enough so I can hear while I do the dishes.

I too found the great desire to have a remote, too much to avoid in my last round of upgrades a few years ago. (For twenty years I had lived without one with my Counterpoint and ARC preamps.) This is why I went for the Ayre K-1xe, as its remote control is supposedly the best around as it can not affect the sound due to its design, (which is really complicated, and somewhat of a Rube Goldberg design, to be honest).

Hey Schipo, does that remote control unit of yours also get your beer when necessary? Lucky man if so!
:-)

Unless you can place the preamp where it can be adjusted from your listening position, you will ultimately become dissatisfied since you are already accustomed to a remote.

My secondary system and my back-up preamp do not have remote control and I can live without it for the short term. I listen to my main system around 2-3 hours per day and enjoy the ability to make volume adjustments. When I use the back-up preamp, I find it distracting to get up to make minor volume adjustments. When I purchased the preamp, the lack of remote wasn't a deal breaker since I liked the sound and build quality for the dollars.

Given the choice between a stepped remote volume control and a continuous non remote volume control, I would choose to forego the remote. I hate stepped volume controls. I always find one step too loud and the next too soft.

Good luck on your quest.

You need to start drinking wine,time it so that when you need to adjust the volume your glass also needs topping up.Works for me.