I have been looking into getting the most out of my modest but good sounding Laney cub12 and I am now considering an attenuator.
The Cub can get a very nice drive sound with the master down to bedroom levels (whisper quiet actually) but that is just pre-amp distortion. It also has a >1w input, fx loop, decent digital reverb, the speaker has been upgraded to a green back, the valves are JJ, so close to the perfect home valve amp.
So the move to an attenuator is mostly that I'm curious to see if the sound will improve if I engage power amp distortion as well in addition to the pre-amp. I am not too worried about loosing any high end with this method
considering that the speaker is not being pushed at bedroom levels
anyway and the Laney does not warrant a high end attenuator which would
be 3x the cost of the amp.
Now, the problem with the Cub is that it is a combo and the internal speaker cable is connected directly from the amp internally into the speaker (not an unpluggable out) which means I have to plug an additional amp-speaker cable from the speaker out jack of the amp into the attenuator and another speaker cable from the attenuator out into the internal speaker.
I'm getting the HB PA-100 attenuator with 4 ohms, 8 ohms and 16 ohms outs, the green back is 8 ohms.
So, my questions are:
- Is it safe to connect an amp-speaker cable directly from the attenuator into the speaker?
- Is it safe to unplug the internal amp-speaker cable and leave it unplugged?
- Will there be any additional safety concerns that I am not aware?
____
"You don't know what you've got till the whole thing's gone.
The days are dark and the road is long."
Comments
If you mean Amp -> Attenuator -> Speaker then yes.
You use a speaker cable, not an instrument cable.
If doing the above then you will need two (TS, unshielded) speaker cables.
"Is it safe to unplug the internal amp-speaker cable and leave it unplugged?"
You need to have something (either a speaker or a dummy load) connected to the amplifier speaker output when the amp is running. This product seems to be a dummy load and an attenuator so it will be fine.
"Will there be any additional safety concerns that I am not aware?"
Don't eat the yellow snow.
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Football is rubbish.
"You don't know what you've got till the whole thing's gone. The days are dark and the road is long."
Ive used 13 amp flex before
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
It needs to be unshielded.
Show me the connections for the top cable.
If it is a regular instrument cable (or what you would use between two pedals) then do not connect a guitar speaker output to it.
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
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Football is rubbish.
Speaker Cable
"You don't know what you've got till the whole thing's gone. The days are dark and the road is long."
Yes, you can unplug the speaker as long as the attenuator is turned right down. Some have a setting specifically marked 'load', but if not just use the lowest setting.
Probably no other concerns, since you already know you need to match the amp and attenuator impedance and not to leave the amp with no load. You will get slightly faster power valve wear if you're regularly cranking the amp right up.
"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
"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
"You don't know what you've got till the whole thing's gone. The days are dark and the road is long."
I always wonder (the HB being the only one I've tried) if all attenuators suck tone like this (for getting down to bedroom volume) or if I just need to buy a better one... I'd be pretty annoyed if I spent £300+ and it was no better!
"You don't know what you've got till the whole thing's gone. The days are dark and the road is long."
"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
Richtone have a Weber MiniMass in the second hand section if you want to try something thats supposed to be better without going mental.
I think it is worth trying another attenuator as I don't think one-size-fits-all. I try both attenuators in an amp and go with the one that works best. BTW, there is a Powerbrake in the classifieds right now (last bumped 3 days ago)
FS: Marshall Powerbrake: 2 available - Amps £ Discussions on theFretBoard
I had to wait a long time to pick up one for less than that asking price.
I looked at the Ox box ones last year. The second hand prices used to be a bit less than the full price, but I noticed that the second hand prices dropped a lot (but they were still like +£700). In the reading up I did, I saw that although people loved the sound through headphones and for recording with IRs etc, but many people didn't rate them as an attenuator - not enough step downs and not a good sound.
Maybe someone with some actual experience of an Ox box can chime in here...
I’m so bored I might as well be listening to Pink Floyd
Then again I'm using it to take the edge off rather than tame a beast to be bedroom levels.
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.