Motorised Volume Control PV10A

[goonybird]

Hi
Decided to look at motorizing the Volume control on my PV10a.
Cannot believe how easy this is. and cost about £40 for parts
First bought a Alps 100K Motorised Pot



Next needed a remote board and found this. Just removed the cheap pot it came with. and it comes with a nice little remote control



So wiring in. Power supply comes off the Heater supply (12VDC) Note Heater is DC so connect +ve and -ve correct polarity. Wires then to motor again check for polarity otherwise Volume will turn in reverse to remote request. IR Sensor is removed and 3 way wire goes to small 3 way jack socket on back panel. Had to drill a hole but at least this is out of sight. Used a plug in remote sensor from another Item I had.
Remote board mounted with a stand off screwed into existing standoff. and three small nylon stand offs screwed to board for support.
The only issue was newer Alps pots have shorter pins. Ended up cutting existing terminals of old Pot and soldering them on new one.

[admin]

Look at Buck Rogers over here with his futuristic wireless volume control!

But in all seriousness, this is awesome. It's now making me think of modding my PV-12L. It's kind of tight around the volume control on the PV-12L as the tubes are close behind the volume control knob. Very cool. When it's all up and running, let us know if there is any influence on the sound quality. I worry that sometimes this volume kits use very poor quality parts to keep the cost down.

[goonybird]

Thank you.
Couple of small jobs, I damaged the 3.5mm socket and the power switch is breaking apart. Both Parts on order,
Had it running this afternoon. When Amp is turned on the Volume control returns to zero. So by the time the relays click it is on zero. Nice "party" trick.
Sounds Better? possibly due to new Potentiometer as old one about 20years. Left Right Tracking is spot on. AFAIK it is a genuine ALPS RK27. Ordered from Germany.
The crucial test - no noise from the motor operation is added even at full volume, and the remote operates from the settee.

[admin]

Very nice. Some great mods.

[AnotherJohnson]

It is a very nice tweak for the PV 10 which was designed before CJ started to put so much emphasis on their own volume controls.

[Big Dog RJ]

Outstanding Goonybird!

That's simply superb, well done on the mods and intricate skills you have, excellent!

If I attempted something similar, not only would I break the entire in half, I'd also damage the kitchen sink whiles having a go... I no longer have the delicate touch. Hence, the sole reason why I still use a rugged Rega TT rig...

The Alps level controls are very good, and if executed properly they will improve things all round.

Do let us know how's this sounding, must be marvellous!
Cheers mate, now that deserves a massive loud WOOF!!!
RJ

[roberto]

I remember that in the 80s, remote volume controls were motorised. And really, what you did is a very clever idea. I don't know if you should use the power supply from the filament. You could do a regulated power supply from where it is supposed to have more current. Using a LM317 where the output is adjustable from 1.5V up yo 37.5V @ 1.5A. It is very simple to use.

https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm317 ... e.com%252F

Happy listening!

[goonybird]

Actually got the idea of using heater supply off HiFi Collective for their remote board. The PV10 Heater supply is 12Vdc (12.6Vdc) so not an issue and plenty of current. Its there and its convenient.

https://www.hificollective.co.uk/potent ... -alps.html

[goonybird]

Resurrecting an old thread.
Selling my PV10a but I think buyers are put off with the motorised Volume pot. It is still Alps Blue 100k as original. and as above didn't afffect sound in any way.
I can put a new pot in and remove the small control board as I wanted it to be reversible.
But I would have thought remote control volume pot would be an asset?
an advice welcome....

[admin]

I personally don't see this as a negative as it appears to have been done very professionally. The reversibility is also nice option. I suppose some will want an "untouched" unit, but in all honesty, I just view this as a neat upgrade.

[roberto]

I do liked a lot what you did adding a volume remote control. This is a very helpful and clever idea that you made it to happened with excellent success.

There are a lot of recordings with different intensity level. This remote control helps to adjust the desired SPL while listening to the music. We all do know the benefits of this option.

Happy listening!

[SolderSlinger]

This is a great post. Thank you for sharing.

[RJKflyer]

2018-03-04 at 10-04-50.jpeg (2.05 MiB) Viewed 687 times

I did something similar in my PV-10AL, putting the IR sensor behind a hole in the annular space between volume knob and panel.

[SolderSlinger]

Looks very professional! How does it sound?

[RJKflyer]

The actual pot is pretty much identical so this was a 'convenience' versus sonic upgrade. Not having the phono stage gave me some useful real estate. There is one addition not shown - a snubber cap across the motor to protect the relay. Can't use freewheel diodes obviously as the polarity needs to go both ways.

However, the other minor mods have been sonically welcome:
1. Auricaps in output signal path
2. All PSU caps decoupled under PCB with Ansar supersound 0µ15 silver leads
3. Heater electrolytic replaced with 10,000µ M-Ltyic (old one was a little tired). 22µ replaced also, ditto,
4. HT rectifiers replaced with RHRD460s (as per PV10B)
5. 0µ1 decoupling either side of the 7812
6. PTFE tube dampers

It is partnered by an MV-55 and Cabasse Farella 400s - an enchanting combination, BUT only when you've added a (15dB) attenuator pre-to-power as the very high sensitivity of both the MV-55 input and Farellas results in intolerable hiss.