attenuator a must!!!!! discuss please!

ROOG · June 2014

Ive seen speakers in acoustic enclosures used for recording, but would this work for home use? Presumably this would allow both the amp and the speaker to run hard , but I'm not sure if it would sound good.

Lew · June 2014

Well, if you can't handle the volume and don't want to use a pedal then get a 100ft cable, crank the amp and stand in the garden.

Don't be a pussy it'll stop getting louder when you hit 7, anyway.

Or just buy a uke.

fretfinder · June 2014

Lew said:

30W aint that loud. I've spent all weekend running a 30W at max volume and it has an attenuator that goes to 1/8thW.

I hope you were wearing earplugs. Tinnitus is no fun at all...

Monstronaut · June 2014

Don't attenuators turn the power into heat? That might explain why they're not built into amps.

Sambostar · June 2014

I just don't think 100W amps with built in attenuators are going to cut it in the age of importing all our gas from Russia and green energy bullshit. Given the amount of crap Gibson has got over Rosewood and Ebony, I wouldn't think a large brand name manufacturer would stand a chance when this energy would be much more sustainable spent on air con and heating in winter to 23 degrees in MP's third mansions or private jet holidays or running diesel mobile water cannons, subsidized at the taxpayers expense.

These facts aside, even I think it is an incredibly bourgeois attitude to run a 50 or 100W amp in a bedroom attenuated. Either turn it up or get a second amp. But of your mum is paying the electric, or your place is well insulated and you are playing in winter to warm the house, I guess it doesn't matter as much.

Lew · June 2014

fretfinder;273771" said:
Lew said:

30W aint that loud. I've spent all weekend running a 30W at max volume and it has an attenuator that goes to 1/8thW.

I hope you were wearing earplugs. Tinnitus is no fun at all...

No and it was naughty I know. It's a new amp so I wanted to see what it could do.

monquixote · June 2014

My puretone has a built in attenuator. It does more towards letting you get power amp saturation at smaller gigs. It doesn't do it at home levels. Stuff that does usually sounds like you have a blanket on the speaker.

Lew · June 2014

I remember when I saw UFOmammut and it felt like the bass snapped my spine in half let alone my ears.

siraxeman · June 2014

Lew;273654" said:
30W aint that loud. I've spent all weekend running a 30W at max volume and it has an attenuator that goes to 1/8thW.

I bet you wouldn't say that with an ac30. Oh no. And I'd you did you would be very very naughty as well as on your way to becoming deaf.

ecc83 · June 2014

Simple power attenuators are not a complete answer.

As ICBM has said, they are in any case amplifier "sensitive". They do in all cases (almost!) merely turn a 50W amp into a 5 , 1 or 0.1W amp and much of the feel and dynamics of the original is lost.

Then, if you put a resistive attenuator inside a "classic" all valve 30 watt EL84 amp you up the existing heat dissipation from some 60W to well over 100 when you give it the beans. 30watters get hot enough as it is thanks!

There is of course a range of amplifiers from 45 to 200watts that have a very sophisticated power control system in them. Spam forbids! But they ain't cheap!

Dave.

ThePrettyDamned · June 2014

Attenuators definitely have a place I think. Big amps sound different.

I had a 5 watt Mooer and it kicked arse for something that approximated a cranked AC30 in the bedroom (still needed an attenuator!). However, it didn't sound anywhere near the same as an AC30. There is *something* power gives.

And with some amps, like an AC30, it really happens in the power section. Preamp gain on an AC30 is not amazing but a bit of preamp gain and a bit of power amp drive is *amazing*. Getting that at home levels is impossible, but an attenuator lets you get closer.

I'm not an expert, but I've heard plenty of folks I trust on this forum say some attenuators work better with some amps than others, and vice versa. That might be why they are not often built in. And obviously, personal taste applies there... Maybe it's best they're separate.

Like OD pedals - but more expensive. And rarer. And probably more work to design.

Some boutique folk use a clever attenuation type thing that's relatively cheap (kit is about thirty quid iirc?) and supposedly works well. Maybe it'll become more common in mainstream amps?

Adolfhipster · June 2014

Why can't someone build an amp that sounds great at normal volumes and high volumes.....
Bloody valves are the problem right?

If modelling technology was any good I'd go down that route but I've never heard a decent simple of a real valve amp....

imalone · June 2014

Sambostar said:

I just don't think 100W amps with built in attenuators are going to cut it in the age of importing all our gas from Russia and green energy bullshit. Given the amount of crap Gibson has got over Rosewood and Ebony, I wouldn't think a large brand name manufacturer would stand a chance when this energy would be much more sustainable spent on air con and heating in winter to 23 degrees in MP's third mansions or private jet holidays or running diesel mobile water cannons, subsidized at the taxpayers expense.
These facts aside, even I think it is an incredibly bourgeois attitude to run a 50 or 100W amp in a bedroom attenuated. Either turn it up or get a second amp. But of your mum is paying the electric, or your place is well insulated and you are playing in winter to warm the house, I guess it doesn't matter as much.

Before people started using low energy bulbs you'd have been using more power to light the room than for the guitar amp. Unless you're using LED bulbs and a largish amp you probably still do.

Lew · June 2014

siraxeman;273831" said:
[quote="Lew;273654"]30W aint that loud. I've spent all weekend running a 30W at max volume and it has an attenuator that goes to 1/8thW.

I bet you wouldn't say that with an ac30. Oh no. And I'd you did you would be very very naughty as well as on your way to becoming deaf.
[/quote]

30W is 30W no?

Ché · June 2014

Most amps need to be pushing a lot of air to sound "good". They all have their sweet spots.

Attenuators do as much damage to tone as turning down your amp and in my opinion isn't really warranted on master volume amps.

What you seek is something Mesa Engineering do called Simulclass. That's where you can knock two output valves out of the circuit and lower the wattage, bare in mind, going from 100w to 60w isn't really much in terms of volume decrease.

Maybe look at an amp that you can knock down to 10w/5w for home playing and up to 30w to gig.

Alternatively, If the tone you seek is achieved at too high of a volume, invest in a different amp.

RaymondLin · June 2014

OP, check out the Laney IRT60H Ironheart, 60W, goes down to 1W.

koneguitarist · June 2014

Get a smaller amp, or another for home use.

sweepy · June 2014

Unfortunately there is no substitute for a large lump of iron called a Transformer . I loved my Supersonic 100 head, but even on 25 watts it was too loud and surprisingly noisy.My H&K Tubemeister 18 was great, but lacked the bottom end "whooomph" you get with a big old lump of iron, so it looks like its time for a decent attenuator, of which so far the only one that seemed to work for me was the THD Hotplate .