attenuators: help!

Trotter

Have been toying with the idea of an attenuator for a little while but there are so many different options i'm getting a little snowblind. 

The main feature that I think I need is variable impedance (does this exist?) as the amps/cabs I use range from 4ohms to 16ohms and various combinations thereof. 

I have noticed some attenuators are also offering load box/speaker emulation which would be very handy for home recording, however my question is does this compromise the attenuator's functionality/quality? 

I'm completely green to this. Last time I tried an attenuator was when the Marshall power brakers first came out and honestly I thought that they sounded awful at the time. To be fair this was reduced down to bedroom volumes. I'm looking mainly to tame a 100watt plexi or bluesbreaker down to a useable stage level at the point of breakup. 

so have any of you guys used anything that you think ticks the boxes? what would you consider the industry standard to be and why? 

Any help or advice gratefully received.

thanks all

Mark 

simonk

The Dr Z BrakeLite works well with lower wattage amps and is unfussy about impedance. Had a brief play with a Koch Loadbox some time back and was pretty impressed.

FreddieVanHalen

@ICBM tends to recommend the Power Brake for Marshall amps as some other designs of attenuator are less well suited to them. I am not enough of a tech to know why that is.

The Dr Z BrakeLite isn't bad on the 8w Z I use mine with but it's not suitable for a 100W amp.

Variable impedance restricts your options a bit more but off the top of my head gives you a choice of the Jettenuator and Rivera Rockcrusher.

You could also look into finding a Tone King Iron Man or an Arracom. I have both of those and like them a lot but they are  expensive options.

With the notable exception of the Sequis Elemental/Motherload, I've not really found the speaker emulation on any of the attenuators up to much - I tend to run a non-emulated line out from the attenuator into a speaker impulse response loader on my computer for recording.

IMHO, if you're on a limited budget and want a box that has variable impedance, a line out, mic sim and you're not worried about getting the amp down to bedroom levels I'd go for a Jettenuator.

If you've got a higher budget and want to get the amp down to bedroom levels and with all the above features try the arracom. I'm happy with mine but YMMV.

EDIT: the other option would be a box that is a dynamic load and which then re amplifies the signal through it's own power amp, Torpedo Reload, Bad Cat Unleash or Fryette Power Station, but if all you're looking to do is hold an amp back a bit in a live situation they're overkill.

Trotter

thank you guys for taking the time to go through these. 

@simonk the Koch Loadbox looks like a good option. Similar to the Sequis elemental in operation which I have noted before and have been leaning towards. 

@freddivanhalen. Thank you for the in-depth response. The rivera has come up before in another chat and I note that there is a rockcrusher "recording" too which also has speaker emulation. The arracom also looks fantastic and I can see the benefits of the individually foot-switchable channels too. I think really I would need to try all of the above. The arracom makes a lot of sense as I don't want to run out of headroom; I still need to be able to boost so this makes a lot of sense, however it's likely that i'll be running two amps anyway so this may not be such an issue. 

Trotter

Also you have just reminded me of the two notes torpedo. I remember watching the Pete Thorn demo a while back and thinking it had everything (& more!) that I would need. Pricy but a lot of useable options.

andy1839

I've got a Rivera Rock Crusher. Sounds good with all my amps. Big in size though.

Trotter

Is the tone comparable to the unattenuated sound @andy1839 ?

Would you recommend one?

ICBM

If it helps choosing a multi-impedance attenuator, it matters that the attenuator matches the amp but not that the attenuator matches the cab, at any attenuation more than -3dB - because it's the attenuator that the amp sees, not the cab.

So 8-ohm amp > 8-ohm attenuator > 4-ohm cab is safe, for example.

I haven't tried most of the latest ones.

Of the older ones I have tried…

The Marshall Powerbrake is great for Marshall-style amps but less good for Fenders. (8/16-ohm, switchable.)

The THD Hotplate is good for Fenders and Mesas but not good for Marshall or Vox-style amps. More recent ones also seem to have build quality issues. (Various impedances, fixed per unit.)

The Dr.Z Airbrake is good for Vox-style amps but is not heavy-duty enough for a full 100W amp - not even the full-size one. 4-16 impedance, safe with most amps. I did not like the Brake Lite at all and thought it was very overpriced, and is only rated to about 45W - but not a cranked 45W amp. I wouldn't try one with more than a 30W amp.

The Weber Minimass (50W) I tried I didn't like, it was poor-sounding and not that well built. Switchable 4/8/16-ohm impedance. Be careful with power ratings with these too, they are not for a fully cranked amp of the 'rated' power either. Weber suggests de-rating by about half. I haven't tried the bigger Mass, I understand these are much better.

The "Ultimate Attenuator" is a pile of junk and I would not recommend it at all unless rebuilt to an acceptable safety and reliability standard. Supposed "universal" impedance but is actually 16-ohm only unless modified. It's not an attenuator at all, in fact - it's a load/solid-state-reamp system. It seems to work OK once rebuilt.

The Sequis Motherload Elemental was great, but is more useful as a combined attenuator/speaker emulator than a straight attenuator otherwise it becomes very expensive for what you get. The attenuator side works well enough, nothing wrong with it, but isn't outstanding... the emulator part is stunningly good.

viz

I had a THD but tbh I can't tell the difference between using that and just putting a volume pedal in the loop.

monquixote

The Sequis is awesome, but no good if you need multiple impedances. 

Moe_Zambeek

For an actual Marshall, I agree with ICBM, the power brake is great. Not at bedroom level though. That's what I'd buy now if I wanted to tame a Marshall made amp.

I've also had a THD and it was just OK, really. I never thought it was particularly great, and it really did not like my old Oranges...but then I'm not sure Oranges really like attenuators. Same with Matamps.

Have you considered some form of removable PPIMV?

Trotter

@icbm thank you for the indepth message. Great to hear thoughts on different models that you have tried.

It seems that the sequis is leading the way at the moment. As long as the attenuator side is high enough quality & will sound great live. The emulator side would be very handy for home recording as I have several amps that never get turned on at home as they will nuke the neighbours.

Thank you all for your input

simonbeckwith

I had a Marshall Powerbrake for my 1987x, did the job well I though although when I bought the amp I ran it through a THd Hotplate which had extra options but was limited to one impedance it was totally superior though. I'd recommended that for the blues breaker combo

Trotter

A lot of love for the power brake. I honestly was not keen at all when I first heard one but as mentioned this was at household volume level. I have to say though that the idea of emulation/loadbox as well as attenuation really is appealing.

simonbeckwith

Sounds like a plan. Would be good to mix that direct sound with a mic' sound live.

normula1

If you can handle a soldering iron, these are reasonable.http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Kits/Power-Suckers/Kit-TT-Pos-100::6133.html

Trotter

Moe_Zambeek;717594" said:

Have you considered some form of removable PPIMV?

Have thought about it before for the 100watt plexi yes but in an ideal world a good quality attenuator that will work across my amp collection and that will allow me to record using my amps at home would solve the issue fully.

bazxkr

I have the JetCity Jettenuator and find that very good. It has 4/8/16 ohm jacks.

It is 80w but ok with 100w if you are not going full pelt.Plenty of demos on YT

I only use mine at home/fun levels thro an Engl E650 100w head into an Engl Pro 212 & it seems to do a great job  but I have never used an attenuator before so cannot compare it with anything.

Few people need to run a 100w at full gun I would have thought ?

Sassafras

normula1 said:

If you can handle a soldering iron, these are reasonable.http://www.tube-town.net/ttstore/Kits/Power-Suckers/Kit-TT-Pos-100::6133.html

I like that it's called POS. I hope that doesn't refer to its performance.

andy1839

Trotter said:

Is the tone comparable to the unattenuated sound @andy1839 ?

Would you recommend one?

Well so far I've used it on a Budda SuperDrive 80 and a Matchless Independence, Marshall JVM210H and a 100w Genz Benz. I've found it worked well with them all, although it only has 8 or 16 ohm inputs.

It's tamed all of them, makes the master volume pot sweep a bit less severe. It lets me play them in the house and get quite close to gig tone for practice purposes. It also it built like a tank, everything feels really solid on it.

Nowt has blown up or melted either when using it. :-)

Nerine

Bad Cat unleash?