Audio splitters + adjustable volume knobs, why so expensive?

[babadoctor]

Why are these devices so damn expensive?

https://www.amazon.com/Speaker-Selector-Volume-Control/s?k=Speaker+Selector+With+Volume+Control

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001359997803.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.66a455d3nDKV3C&algo_pvid=8a42017a-a473-43d4-8a81-0909d7b7d6f5&algo_expid=8a42017a-a473-43d4-8a81-0909d7b7d6f5-2&btsid=0b0a557216186992963926556e5a47&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

 

I don't get why these are so expensive. 

 

Are these devices not just some beefed up potentiometers (or as suggested in this article https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/25426/can-i-use-a-potentiometer-to-reduce-sound-level-in-a-speaker) to adjust the volume for each channel?

 

why so expensive? anyone can explain?

[Jurrunio]

cuz analog signals. digital would be much easier to deal with, but if your audio devices dont run on them you will have to deal with how sensitive they are to resistance, capacitance and more numbers in the whole curcuit.

[jaslion]

Pretty much yeah. There used to be a couple 35$ 3 way ones that were great, There is a bit more than just a potentiometer behind these but really not too much.

[H713]

Parts to build them are expensive. Speakers are high-current low-impedance devices, so the switches need to be very meaty in order to handle that kind of current. Decent switches are super expensive, especially rotary switches.

 

If they're doing volume control at the speaker level (which is a horrible way to do it), then they're using L-pads. Without going into too much detail, they're built like a big rheostat. I actually just bought a couple rheostats for a transmitter filament supply recently- I think I ended up spending $30 each for used ones. L-pads are cheaper, but not by much.