(nerd alert)
Browsing your way through the NYA file cabinet you might hear the semi metallic clunking sound of your file tray rolling on its bearings as you zoom through the years!
The sound is actually a sample derived from one of the greatest and most musical technologies ever invented; the Ayre Acoustics volume control knob.
There is some very interesting thinking and technology behind Ayre’s unique volume control, which never seems to lose the depth of the music, even as you turn the volume way down.
The reason Ayre Acoustics uses these switches is this: With the mechanical switch, there’s an extremely short signal path that routes through a very high-quality resistor that determines what the volume should be. As the contacts are silver and the “wipers” are all metal, it’s as close to having a solid trace as possible and avoids the quality drawbacks found with other solutions.
While there are a number of these other solutions to control the volume in a preamplifier, almost every one of them makes some kind of compromise that severely impacts the audio quality. Some use relays to route the signal through different resistors, but the nature of relays compromises the audio sound. Some others use potentiometers, but they’re generally found to degrade the audio quality as the signal has to travel through a graphite or carbon polymer layer in that application.
The clunking sound itself originates from the motor that is attached to each channel. When the knob is turned, a signal is sent to the logic that then tells these motors to turn. The motors are connected by belts to big open frame switches.
The Ayre volume knob is the brainchild of Charlie Hansen, Ayre’s founding audio genius who passed away in 2017. We love you Charlie. You live on at NYA!
Neil Young, NYA Times.
The editor thanks Ryan P. Berry of Ayre Acoustics for his contributions.