Whats your opinion on CTS pots?

[lespaulplayer]

i don't have any comments on quality or sound, but i have an issue with CTS 1Meg in the volume position.

In two amps that i have a CTS 1Meg as the V1 volume, it takes 20% rotation just to get any volume. but then between 20 and 50% rotation it is a nicer, more gradual change. so i got some more and measured them. this seems to be a characteristic of CTS audio pots. since i want volume on 1 to actually produce some amount of sound, so i tend to keep CTS's out of that application. though for consistency's sake within a build i have used them there.

Interesting. Well since I used a tube depot chassis, and got my kit from Triode, I ran into a few things that i need to order to make that kit work with that chassis. I need to get a square snap in IEC receptacle, the one that came with my kit is a two screw one and that won't work with my chassis and faceplates. Plus, I'm going to order some shielded wire to go from the input jacks to the tube sockets to help reduce some of the input noise. I might just order some alpha 1 meg caps with that order. CTS might be good, but I think I want the consistency of having all the same pots in the amp. I can always save the CTS as spares, or use them in something else.

[tubeswell]

Only use CTS all the rest are tone suckers

LoL

[Structo]

I have always used CTS pots in guitars.

Most likely because they were sold as such, guitar pots.

But I have built several amps with Alpha pots that work great so I don't a huge difference in quality between CTS and Alpha, though I try to buy American when feasible.

[C Moore]

Bourns, CTS, Alpha.....I thought all 3 were just kind of "Run Of The Mill" parts. Have never seen an advantage of one over the other.
But all parts seem to have their followers/fans.
good luck

[gktamps]

I like the brass shafts of the CTS and the more robust solder legs, but the price is 2.5 times higher than Alpha. One thing I've found is that Alpha are just fine when installed, but subsequent removal/resoldering or other manipulation can cause the small solder legs to bend or fail easily. On the other hand, CTS has fewer values available, and my builds have needed the wider range Alpha offers.

I've used PEC in a number of my builds, but recently had two fail after very little use in my 18 watt Rocket Reverb. Treble and volume pots have become really noisy and it is really not feasible to clean them.

Cheers,

Greg

[pdf64]

Randall Aiken is experiencing the same thing and has come to the same conclusion, see 4th Q.
http://www.aikenamps.com/TI_Aiken_Q&A.html
Pete

[husky]

So I just got my kit in the mail for my JTM 45 build. This is my first build. All the pots are Alpha except for all of the 1 Meg pots they gave me are CTS. I'm thinking of ordering some Alpha 1Meg pots instead of using the CTS. I think I would honestly prefer them to be all Alpha pots in this build. Do you think I'm over analyzing? I've used some CTS pots in guitars before, but honestly they seem cheaper to me than the Alpha ones are, and the ones in my guitars have crapped out on me before.

CTS have a much better taper compared to the Alpha. An Alpha audio taper is 2 linear steps, CTS is 3 or 4 and the PEC is like 6 last I remember.
Actually here is a plot I did on A250K
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jzxnupti1sti0 ... 20pots.pdf
Left side is DCR, bottom is % of rotation. It is also interesting to see the dead zones.

[Structo]

Thanks John, Always nice to hear from somebody in the industry.