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loudfunk « Amp sounds great at levels louder than you can use...this is the fix for it. »
Published on 03/27/11 at 18:56We all know that tube amps sound best cranked, and we all love big amps because on a 100 watt amp that bottom simply sound much better than on a 10 watter.
Unfortunately once you get those amps to levels where the power stage actually starts to “breath” it gets loud. Loud enough that your band mates will bet angry, and the sound man will take you out of the mix.
This is where attenuators come in, they take the amps signal from the speaker tap and dissipates it into...well hot air.
The layout is simple, on the back you have 4 1/4 inch jacks. They are input from amp, speaker 1 and 2, and line-out plus a line out control.
Up front you have a 6 position stepped selector switch, which attenuates the signal down from bypassed (labelled 0dB attenuation), in 4 dB decrements. Once you get to the -16dB setting it will bring the continuos control on the right into play letting you gradually go from 16 dB of attenuation down to a whisper. Side effect however is that if you’re attenuating that much the amp’s interaction with the speakers are gone and the tone becomes anemic. So, I wouldn’t suggest this for bedroom usage but rather to tame a loud amp.
In addition to this you have a bright and deep switch to inrease the frequency you loose when turning down. Same concept as your car stereos loudness button at work here.
Now if you’re needing a very quiet volume out of your loud amp the 6th position of the attenuation dial...LOAD is where you want to be. The just send the line-out to a power amp, effects return of another amp or into your recording software with a speaker simulator plug-in and you’re good to rock that amp at whisper volumes with great tones.
Unfortunately once you get those amps to levels where the power stage actually starts to “breath” it gets loud. Loud enough that your band mates will bet angry, and the sound man will take you out of the mix.
This is where attenuators come in, they take the amps signal from the speaker tap and dissipates it into...well hot air.
The layout is simple, on the back you have 4 1/4 inch jacks. They are input from amp, speaker 1 and 2, and line-out plus a line out control.
Up front you have a 6 position stepped selector switch, which attenuates the signal down from bypassed (labelled 0dB attenuation), in 4 dB decrements. Once you get to the -16dB setting it will bring the continuos control on the right into play letting you gradually go from 16 dB of attenuation down to a whisper. Side effect however is that if you’re attenuating that much the amp’s interaction with the speakers are gone and the tone becomes anemic. So, I wouldn’t suggest this for bedroom usage but rather to tame a loud amp.
In addition to this you have a bright and deep switch to inrease the frequency you loose when turning down. Same concept as your car stereos loudness button at work here.
Now if you’re needing a very quiet volume out of your loud amp the 6th position of the attenuation dial...LOAD is where you want to be. The just send the line-out to a power amp, effects return of another amp or into your recording software with a speaker simulator plug-in and you’re good to rock that amp at whisper volumes with great tones.