I am looking at using some rca sound attenuators. sometimes called potentiometers. It would be very cool to have a level dial for the tower and the boat wpakers seperately....quick and easy mounted on the dash.

These are used in performance audio set-ups all the time with no ill effects. Of course you want to buy quality if quality is what you are after. I'm sure cheapO controllers could effect sound quality...

PAC - LC1 <BR> <BR>Didn't seem to affect the quality of the sound from my last setup. Typically it was all up or all down so I will probably just switch the turn on lead to my tower amp next time.

They absolutely DO affect sound quality. They are typically a dual 10k(up to maybe 100k) dual analogue pot. It is a 10k shunt to ground on your RCA line outs. It will affect some decks more than others. Even with the pot at full volume, you are shunting the output of your deck to ground via a 10k resistor, you will lose some volume and high end. As you turn down the pot, you'll notice how hiqh frequencies are attenuated more than low ones. This can be prevented to some degree by bypassing the pot with a small cap that passes the highs. Good quality ones may have a cap in there already. You can easily make one of these from Radio Sheot parts, I'll put a schem up when I get a chance. <BR> <BR>Try listening with the control in place but at full volume, then remove it and listen again. You will hear a noticeable difference. <BR> <BR>That having been said, they work OK and are a decent band-aid for fixing level issues. If you are really after high fidelity sound, get one of those preamps with multiple outputs and level controls. They are active and buffer the signal for no tone-sucking when wide open and no loss of highs when you turn the volume down. <BR> <BR>

will depend on length of interconnects and output voltage... <BR> <BR>if the deck can swing the volts....no problem..

I have also found a good way to keep quality is by boosting the signal after the Pac, this boost in voltage clears it up. In a car they are really noticible, but in a boat, with wind, water, and boat noise, the difference is negligible, and the added benefits are worth it.

Should I wire my LC1 directly from the HU to my tower amp, or is it ok to wire it in the Line-out from my main amp, through the LC1 then to my tower amp?

Yah. Try it. To simulate, put a 10k resistor in parallel with the output from your deck. That's the best you'll get out of it, turn it down to less resistance and you'll lose more highs. If you have a deck that puts out 5 volts, it won't matter(as much) but if you are like us regular shlubs with typical outputs of less than 1 vdc it makes a big difference. <BR> <BR>You will also notice that the dumbasses that design that stuff use parts that are not suitable for audio. For instance, I bought a David Navone device supposed to do the same thing, he used a linear pot instead of an analog, no bypass caps. There is a big difference in the way they work, I won't bore you guys with details. If the LC1 is different, that's great but if it is a passive device (no +- vdc sourced to it) then it is sucking your highs and tone to ground. It is a fact, physics at work. <BR> <BR>Buy a good preamp, don't waste your money on the low level stuff. If you do you level control from the preamp you will have a lot less grief with noise problems. Just my .02

Once its past the first preamp than you can do all you want (boingy) fm sound whatever. Listen, it's not a small difference what you're talking about. <BR> <BR>Unless you just ROCK!!!!!

the one that i own are the peripheral brand made by stinger. their tech claims there is no change in sound quality on theirs. any feedback?