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I built a resistive attenuator for 5w amps and it worked great - with an l-pad.
I think ICBM is right - certain types of attenuator work well with certain amps. I know the "ultimate attenuator", which did the rounds a while back, is an actual piece of poo in terms of build and is actually dangerous... But it probably sounds good with some amps nonetheless.
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"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Nope. Not with the right amp.
There isn't a "best" attenuator and any brand that says theirs is is lying. Try a few types out in one amp and you'll have a favourite - for that amp. Try the same ones into a different amp type (say, a fender blackface instead of a vox ac15) and your favourite will change.
I'll leave the technical stuff to @icbm though.
A lot of professional reviews seem not to mention this,but it's really obvious if you try it. I compared a thd to a Marshall power brake in store on a Laney gh50 and the thd was utter pants, making the amp sound congested. But apparently they work really well with fender style circuits.
I use an attenuator with my dual recto - but in my Marshall JMP I've got a post phase inverter master volume (PPIMV) installed which I have to say is a much better solution for that amp. It makes it way more versatile and if you want it to sound original you simply max it J
I'd look into the PPIMV for the JTM as well – you can generally get them fitted in such a way as to be reversible without drilling holes in the amp.
Might suck with your amp anyway. What amp are you attenuating?
Hopefully @icbm has some experience with them - he originally advised me and saved me a fortune exploring other options.
I have a Hotplate now for use with my Mesa, but I only plug it in when I have to - The amp's got a pretty wide volume sweet spot so I only really need it when I need to go low enough that things get a bit flat and fizzy. I've been playing around with using it as a load in parallel with the speakers, but that doesn't really shave off enough volume to be useful.
I think that for many amps when the issue is just taming the volume a little, using the master volume and just adjusting the preamp gain and tone controls to compensate is usually the best sounding solution, followed by creative positioning - don't point the amp at the sound guy, turn it round if times get tough. This is a club gigger's perspective though.
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Either playing or recording.
Amps are Jetcity JCA22H and Blackheart 15H.
Both work well with it but the best sound is always around halfway on volume.
Its a great unit for my use.
Yes, by fitting them in the second speaker jack - since you aren't going to need two cabinets if your goal is to reduce the volume.
In my experience, the Tweed Deluxe-type circuit seems to work best with a resistive attenuator. This is probably because it doesn't have negative feedback, and that seems to be a common correlation.
Likewise - the AC30 has no NFB.
If there is a rough rule of thumb, it's that it seems that no-NFB amps are best with resistive attenuators, 6L6 amps (which seem to often prefer a low mismatch to a high one when driven hard) prefer the THD Hotplate, and EL34 amps (which seem to prefer a high mismatch) are better with the Marshall Powerbrake. This is a *very* rough* guide, overly simplified regarding valve types, and there are likely to be exceptions, and there are many other attenuators… so that's about as clear as mud .
The differences between them are mostly in the way their impedance curve diverges from that of a real speaker, which is not constant at all frequencies. Resistive attenuators don't have a 'curve' as such, although sometimes they present a slightly different impedance at different settings, which you may need to take account of.
The real problem is that they're a fairly big investment, at least for the higher-power ones, so it's not very convenient to try several until you find the right one.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein