Remote volume control for preamp?


I would like to remotely control the volume on a favorite preamp of mine(Audio research). Is there a fairly inexpensive device that can hook up to a preamp so you can use a remote control to adjust the volume? It's seems to me, that this would be a very in demand item, and so they must exist.
jeffo19
Yes. There are remote control attenuators available at various price levels. HOWEVER, if you decide to go that route, consider that you will now have two attenuators in line and that is not going to necessarily result in better sound, to the contrary. Consider placing the attenuator in the tape loop of your pre-amp - then you can use it for casual listening or take it out of the curcuit for those times when you want the best sound. FWIW Placette makes a simple RC attenuator - very high quality and not cheap. I see them used from time to time for 600 to 750.
+1 Placette

Go with the Placette! and you might sell your preamp.

It's amaazing how good these passive (and Active) preamps are! If you don't like it you will be able to sell it for close to what you paid!
Since I just use a CD player, how about a CD player with a volume control? I know some high end units have this, but any companys in the under $750 range?
Used Cary, Linn Genki, or Resolution Audio. I recently got a good deal on a Resolution Audio CD-50 with remote volume control. I know it's overused but with the CD-50 I swear I hear new things in my favorite cds. I actually find myself replaying sections to verify what I think I'm hearing.
The Placette remote volume control works very well. It offers something like 128 discrete steps and the manufacturer can set the level of the initial "on" step to match your needs. It does not have provisions for setting balance, but it does track extemely well between the two channels.

I have a linestage with a built-in welborne remote control of volume, balance, input selection and mute. It offers 60 steps of attenuation. While the differences between steps are just about right (i.e., not too large), the total range covered is not enough for me. The lowest level is not low enough and the highest level is WAY short of what I need to drive my Stax headphone amp. The Welborne is also sensitive to high DC offset at an input and locks up and refuses to operate whenever I select a phono stage that has a bit of DC offset. That said, the builder of my linestage selected it because he thought it was one of the best sounding attenuator of any type that he has auditioned in his design.