12 dB RCA Line Level Audio Attenuator Pair

I've spent the better part of a year trying to find a solution for the notorious clipping afflicting my Cambridge AXR100 stereo receiver in my phono setup. For a bit of context, I have an AT33EV LOMC cart connected to a an Ortofon T-30 step-up transformer, connected to a Fosi Audio adjustable-gain phono preamp, connected to the Cambridge, and audio passing through a pair of Klipsch RP600M II's.Before I acquired the passive Klipsch speakers, I owned a pair of active Kanto YU4's which (with their built-in amp) never had a problem with clipping. The Cambridge and Klipsch pair worked perfectly fine for a time until I played a few records that produced very audibly loud pops (clips) at various stages of the playback. This never happened on those same records using the YU4's, so I knew the problem wasn't with the records themselves. After some troubleshooting, I decided that my step-up and preamp were simply delivering too much voltage to the Cambridge, which thus lead to clipping in the form of very harsh, loud and unpleasant pops. While I could certainly increase the input impedance of my SUT or reduce the gain of my phono stage, I often found it simply wasn't enough to prevent certain records from piercing that clipping threshold. Additionally, the SUT really works best when the input impedance matches (or closely matches) the internal impedance of my cart (which is roughly 10 ohms). Increasing the impedance above that mark often made for very veiled, muddy and unenthusiastic sound reproduction. Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated.A recommendation on a audiophile forum lead me to these 12db attenuators, and all I can say is WOW! I plugged them in to the Cambridge RCA inputs and attached the Fosi to the female end while keeping everything else the same, and the results were spectacular. Not only did they decrease the input voltage and eliminate any trace of clipping, they did so without diminishing the audio quality whatsoever. In fact, I actually think it sounds better than before, but I need to record some comparison samples before I can say that definitively.I honestly can't praise these enough. They were exactly the solution I was looking for and they've made my record-listening experience astronomically better as a result. I've seen some folks complain about the pricing, but I honestly think they far exceed their value. If I spend thirty dollars now in exchange for a lifetime of significantly better-sounding music, I'd say that's a pretty fair trade.

I have speakers that are so efficient that my receiver volume control gets quite loud enough after turning up the control (the pot) only a little bit. It's an old Onkyo and has a lot of power, and my speakers are Polks in a model that is very efficient. So, I always wanted to get this amplifier attenuated a bit to get the volume control in a better range.This receiver/amp makes using the Harrison attenuators easy. It has rca preamp outs right into main amp in on the back of it. So, I pulled the little pins making those connections, used two very short patch cords along with the two attenuators, and put the -12 db in between the preamp out and the amp in. It works perfectly. It gets my volume control that much more off the floor of it's range where it's not all that even between channels (like most of such pots that control volume).IF I had any need to turn the -12db on and off with my remote control, I could have put these on the good old Tape 2 monitor and created a loop where, when I selected that (along with whatever other input) it would loop the signal out the back and back in again, minus the 12db, and have it as a handy on and off for the attenuation. But, I don't need to turn the attenuation on and off. On all the time is great.So, works as advertized for me. If there is any degradation in sound, I surely cannot detect it and I'm pretty picky. These are excellent.

Pros: Well built, work exactly as described, no quality lossCons: NoneI've been interested in the Schiit Magni amplifer, along with the Schiit Modi DAC. I purchased them and they paired well with my Hifiman HE-400, but as the Magni is something of a budget amp that hits beyond its price point, they had to cut cost somewhere.That cut game with the volume potentiometer. There's very little play on the volume pot, especially at a fixed gain of 5. I was only ever able to get it to around 9 o'clock before I was comfortable, but moving just a little bit put it out of my range.Enter the Harrison Labs 12 dB RCA Line Level Attenuator Pair. I bought these, plugged them into the back of my Magni's RCA ports, used by Blue Jeans Cable LC-1 RCA cable with them and into the Modi and viola - I instantly had more play on the volume knob. I could get to around 3 o'clock without it being totally uncomfortable, and small turns didn't result in drastic changes.Best of all, I was unable to discern any loss of quality in what I was able to do in regards to blind testing.

My CD player outputs excellent but a bit excessive voltage signal that forced me to decrease the volume, thereafter hard to control the high or bass, etc. This 12dB attenuator do the job with zero perceptible distortion and zero noise.Now I have plenty control available to enjoy wonderfully music as the artists meant it!I recommend this product to my hi-fo friends and I’ll buy it again.Thank you Amazon!

I was under the assumption that this would increase the volume by 12 dB. But it decreases the volume by that but the sound quality is great. It doesn’t affect it. Just be aware that if you’re looking for something that will increase the overall sound this is not the product to get this is for something that sounds too loud and you wanna lower it.

Costs too much for what it is, but it is and works exactly as specified.

Using this to lower the db in one of my chains between an amp and a mixer.Although this does lower the db, it introduces a buzzing sound that is too noticeable to ignore.

I won a hi-def radio receiver but the outputs were about 10dB too hot. These attenuators made the receiver usable with the consumer level inputs on my amplifier. I wish it was a -10dB though ... that would be more useful.