# Power Attenuators



## GuitarsCanada

Lets take a look at what everyone uses and why


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## Greg Ellis

Home-made using an L-Pad.

Why? Cheap, simple, and I'm only dealing with 5 watts. And my wife would kill me if I played without it.


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## Budda

Never used one - I have dumb luck in being able to crank halfstacks wherever I'm living


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## patrickh

The Ho Attenuator 50w basic model.


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## mcgriff420

I got two Marshall power brakes 7 years ago and never looked back.

Bought them to knock down the db's a notch or two. Used them with every amp I've owned since. 
-Ecstasy, BadCat, Matchless, Marshall, Brown Note, Dr.Z, TopHat, etc etc.

The only amp it didn't get along with was a Reinhardt 'Ampzilla' -loosely based on a trainwreck circuit. Sounded spitty and unfocused.

Are they considered mid to low quality attenuators? Yep!
They have a lot of compression when fully attenuated.

I'm not asking them to get me cranked marshall tone at 'true bedroom levels' and never have. 

For my purposes they work like a charm!

..

..


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## hollowbody

I had a Dr. Z Airbrake which was a nice attenuator, but didn't do what I wanted, which was _really_ quiet. I've since traded it for a THD Hotplate, and I'm a happy camper.

FWIW - the Dr. Z _sounded_ better, but the THD lets me keep my apartment.


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## Bevo

Rented the Power Brake and it was not really doing what I wanted.

My amps Fireball and 6505 play very well at low volume so it did not make a better difference. It did steal some tone from me so I took it back.

Now for bedroom level music when everyone is sleeping I just use my Randall 75 watt SS combo.


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## al3d

Not using one..i tried a TDHotplate on my 50w 2204..and sounded like crap..


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## dwagar

I use a THD Hotplate on my 2204 all the time, I like it, no way I'd use this amp without an attenuator. 

I also have a Dr Z Airbrake. One of these days I'll be using it at home with my JTM60. Maybe it's just me, but I think the Dr Z works better than the Hotplate at dropping to low bedroom type settings.


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## Sneaky

I've tried about 6 different ones and the only one that really knocks the volume down to bedroom levels without sound like crap is the Alex's Attenuator IMO. 

I have not tried a HO/Ultimate but this one is so good I've stopped looking:


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## hollowbody

dwagar said:


> I use a THD Hotplate on my 2204 all the time, I like it, no way I'd use this amp without an attenuator.
> 
> I also have a Dr Z Airbrake. One of these days I'll be using it at home with my JTM60.* Maybe it's just me, but I think the Dr Z works better than the Hotplate at dropping to low bedroom type settings.*


I found the exact opposite, the Airbrake couldn't tame my JTM45 enough, but with the Hotplate, I can actually dime my amp and keep the volume reasonable. Even fully attenuated, with the Airbrake, I couldn't turn my amp past 5 or 6 without it getting unreasonably loud.


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## pickslide

I love my Ho...attenuator that is. But this is a bit different than other attenuators as it is a reamping device as I have read. Not 100% sure about the differences, but apparently it is different. Really good and a Cdn made product.


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## bcmatt

I used to use a Weber Mini-Mass, but once I tried the Power-scaling type device called a Variable Voltage Regulator (By Hall Amplification), I never looked back. Waaaaaaay more convenient and better sounding. It's just one knob on the amp itself.

Less than half the price of the cheapest attenuator, doesn't color the sound and actually prolongs the life of the tubes. It is my dream machine. I've installed them in basically all my amps and any of my friends' amps that could use them already. Of course, it can't really be used in any amp over 50 watts.
I've been really lazy lately, but my 2204 clone is currently on my bench waiting for me to finish an install. Been there for over a month... It should really only take an hour or so to install, but I am working out the details of tidiness and the heatsink mounting. (A heat-sink is recommended for amps over 30 watts.)


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## incidentslip

My vote goes to the THD Hot Plate. I have a Fender Super Sonic combo that I bought it for. This amp has a nasty volume surge from 0-1 and climbs steadily up to 4 where it really gets sweet, and behaves like the vintage amps that it claims to emulate. To run this amp at it's sweet spot would be imposible in my apt. or even in a 150 seat bar. The THD not only tames it for bedroom levels, the -16db setting gets me comfortably over my drummer and keeps the club owner off my back, as well. When I get my Metro 100w. Plexi though, I think I'm gonna try the Ultimate Attenuator with it, as it seems to be optimised for these amps.


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## Guest

I used a Palmer PGA-04 for years. Great unit. Highly recommend it. And then the built-in soak in my Koch after that. I suppose that's a "LoadBox Lite".


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## Stephan1980

I use a Traynor YCS50


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## Stratin2traynor

Had a Weber Mini Mass. That was ok.

Built a homemade attenuator with an L-Pad. Sounded better than that Weber but had it's issues.

Splurged on a Ho's Attenuator. Totally rocks. Mine is the 10W re-amp model with a Plexi switch. Still pretty loud. The only thing I plan on having done to it is: add a bedroom switch and maybe a bypass switch. Other than that it's perfect. Sound amazing with my Trinity 18W


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## Scottone

Never tried one myself. I was a pretty early convert to Power Scaled amps and have owned 3-4 of them over the years.


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## mrmatt1972

i HAD A wEBER "lOAD dUMP" for a while with my YCV-40 (how is that already 3+ years ago). I was liking the sound of the clean channel cranked. It worked OK, but it did colour the tone.


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## Drazden

Got a Dr. Z Airbrake. I like it, but not for super-heavy attenuation. The 'Bedroom' setting isn't that great, but everything up to that is excellent.


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## J S Moore

I've read a lot of horror stories about blown OT's so I haven't really been interested in them. I just use earplugs. :rockon2: Then I came across this:

http://www.hearditontheweb.com/images/pdf/attenuator.pdf

It's a Gerald Weber design and you can build it to match the impedance of your speakers, which is where the problem lies with some attenuators. About $70.00 for the parts and shipping. I'm seriously thinking about building this one.


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## Sneaky

Drazden said:


> Got a Dr. Z Airbrake. I like it, but not for super-heavy attenuation. The 'Bedroom' setting isn't that great, but everything up to that is excellent.


I thought the same thing about mine. "Bedroom" sucked all the life out of the amp. It was pretty good at the higher levels though. The Alex goes right down to zero while retaining the feel of the amp.

It's kind of big and ugly though. When I got it my wife asked if it was a new amp. I started trying to explain an attenuator to her, but finally just said, "Just think of it as a $400 volume knob".


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## Stevo

I have a Ho attenuator. It is great, very transparent.


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## corailz

I voted for the DR Z Airbrake.I was using it with my Mesa Boogie F50 combo cause the 50 watts were way too loud for my needs.
I really loved it,but i prefer to drive a little amp to saturation,than drop the volume close to Off on a bigger one!!!!!!
It's a story of love with tubes!!!!!!!!!


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## mrmatt1972

J S Moore said:


> I've read a lot of horror stories about blown OT's so I haven't really been interested in them. I just use earplugs. :rockon2: Then I came across this:
> 
> http://www.hearditontheweb.com/images/pdf/attenuator.pdf
> 
> It's a Gerald Weber design and you can build it to match the impedance of your speakers, which is where the problem lies with some attenuators. About $70.00 for the parts and shipping. I'm seriously thinking about building this one.


That looks simple enough that I could do it! kqoct


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## J S Moore

Anyone could do it. I like that you can match the speakers. The problem with some attenuator designs is the huge mis-match in the load the amplifier sees.

Two switches. When both are off the unit is bypassed. One on is -6db and two on is -12db. That'll take a 100 watt amp down to a 6 watt amp. In the book this is out of Weber states that taking the level down any further seriously degrades tone.


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## AlcolmX

I have a Weber Mass 100 that I use with a YBA-1. I chose it because it has a bunch of extra bells and whistles (including an impedance selector), but it definitely colours the sound. It adds a nasty high-end fizziness that increases dramatically with higher levels of attenuation. The Treble Boost option makes it unbearable.

I'm inrigued by the Little Sucker. It's cheap, but I'm not sure about impedance... the eBay listings simply say 4-8-16 ohm.


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## traynor_garnet

I'm using an Aracom Power Rox. The best I've heard and I have owned almost all of them.

Given my tendinitous, I may end up moving it (can only play for very short periods).

TG


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## allthumbs56

Wow ........ been playing for over 40 years and never even tried one


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## greco

Greg Ellis said:


> Home-made using an L-Pad.
> 
> Why? Cheap, simple, and I'm only dealing with 5 watts. And my wife would kill me if I played without it.


I don't want to derail this thread...but I'm very interested to know how much tone you lost with the L-Pad 

I was going to make one once but was told that it would totally kill my tone...so I didn't build it.

Thanks

Dave


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## JHarasym

Uh, something's wrong with the percentages in the poll results. The total should not exceed 100%.


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## Greg Ellis

greco said:


> I don't want to derail this thread...but I'm very interested to know how much tone you lost with the L-Pad
> 
> I was going to make one once but was told that it would totally kill my tone...so I didn't build it.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Dave


It depends how much volume you're trying to soak up.

At moderate levels of attenuation (say 5 or 10 or even 15 db), I don't really notice much difference at all.

But if I try to wind it down to normal conversation levels, e.g. so someone can watch TV in the next room while I'm playing, it sounds awful. I might as well be playing the old junker solid state amp I keep in the garage for testing my solder jobs.

I think that's true for most attenuation devices, with the exception of the "re-amplification" type (e.g. the Ho). Considering the price gap (~$15 for an L-Pad vs $400+ for a Ho), I'm reasonably satisfied with the L-Pad for now.

That reminds me - I need to wire in a bypass switch so I can take the pad right out of the circuit. It's hard-wired in the speaker cab right now; I just turn it to the -0db position when I want to play loud. You've made me curious whether having the pad in-circuit at all is losing me tone.


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## greco

J S Moore said:


> I'm seriously thinking about building this one.


Jon...I built a dummy load for 40 watt head. I was amazed at how quickly the power resistor became quite hot.
The resistor is a very good quality Vishay and rated at a high wattage for the amp (more than 2 x the wattage IIRC)

I'm just saying that I would be sure to put in a very good heat sink system.

Cheers

Dave


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## stratman89

I had a Dr.Z Airbrake that I used for a Marshall DSL 50 W and I couldn't tame the amp at all for my liking so I sold both.

I now have a Dr.Z Brake Lite I use with my new Dr.Z Remedy and my hunt for the ultimate rig has now ended.

I find the Brake Lite much more responsive when changing each setting.


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## Prosonic

I use my THD Hotplate at all times with my Fender Prosonic and love it. The clean channel breakup on that amp is what I'm into and there's very few circumstances where I can crank it up without the hotplate. I've tried attenuators on my Deluxe Reverb and Hotrod Deluxe however and hated the sound. Tried an Airbreak on my Super Reverb and it was ok. It seems like some amps get along better with attenuators than others.


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## krall

Never used one..


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## seadonkey

I use an Ultimate Attenuator and I'm happy with the tone.


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## funfun

I use a small combo amp with high quality pedals. I can get beautiful singing leads on the verge of feedback at any volume. I think attenuators may be hard on tubes and even the amp perhaps.


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## hollowbody

I had originally voted for the THD, and while it still has a lot of features that I miss, the Ultimate Attenuator I have now is MUCH better.


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## jeremy_green

I was an attenuator guy ... until I did a hard A/B on the with/without and honestly prefer the without tone. I find some of the sparkle vanishes ... sure you get a little more lava, but some of the harmonic complexity seems to dull. I have tried a couple and the best I found was the Dr Z airbrake ... but i still don't use it anymore. Maybe i am just old or getting deaf!


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## pickslide

I mostly play at home, but still like bigger amps so I have a Ho attenuator. I have found that using that to take some of the volume off in conjunction with a master volume (on larger amps) or just by itself with a lower wattage amp works great for me and allows me to get 95% of "the tone" out of my amps.


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## SuperFlyinMonke

I prefer volume. I don't have kids or anything though, but playing at the appropriate times during the day and opening up when I get the chance keeps me smiling.


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## JimiGuy7

I bought the Weber mass lite and that worked great, mind you it was'nt selectable for your speaker ohms. It was, however, one of the best prices from a good name. I got rid of it in the end, due to the fact that even though you get a nice tube breakup and all that good jazz, there is no oomph from the speakers.


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## drift_boat

I may be able to contribute this thread. Quite a few of you have mentioned the DrZ Airbrake, which I also own. But none of you has mentioned tweaking it as per his instructions on removing the back cover and adjusting those 3 sliders in there. The Airbrake did not work for me, (not enough attenuation for my basement) until I made some slider adjustments. At one point, I was too quiet and had to add some volume back to it. At that low tone, it still sounded good to my ears....but tone is subjective. With some trial and error adjustments, I found it really is a reasonable unit for me. My amp is a tweed clone.


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## hollowbody

drift_boat said:


> I may be able to contribute this thread. Quite a few of you have mentioned the DrZ Airbrake, which I also own. But none of you has mentioned tweaking it as per his instructions on removing the back cover and adjusting those 3 sliders in there. The Airbrake did not work for me, (not enough attenuation for my basement) until I made some slider adjustments. At one point, I was too quiet and had to add some volume back to it. At that low tone, it still sounded good to my ears....but tone is subjective. With some trial and error adjustments, I found it really is a reasonable unit for me. My amp is a tweed clone.


I did actually do that and I still couldn't get the Airbrake to attenuate enough for my needs. It was a great sounding unit, but definitely more suited to rehearsal and live use than late-night noodling at home. The THD went MUCH lower in volume, but was a bit buzzy. The UA/Ho is flat out better than both at everything, though I do miss the flexibility of the THD.


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## pickslide

I hear that the Alex's Attenuator is great. I just got one, but have not been able to use it yet. If you read up about it on the gear page you will see how people say it is one of the best.


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## KoskineN

I use a Dr.Z Brake Lite in my Maz 18 woth great result! For the price you can't go wrong IMO.


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## captainbrew

I just bought a Swart Night Light from a fellow member. I'll post my results with my 20 watt Tungsten Crema Wheat once I receive it.


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## Milkman

I considered an attenuator to use with my Dr Z, but decided against it.

I like my cleans CLEAN, and simply rolling off a little on the guitar's volume knob doesn't suffice.

I get my dirt from good quality pedals.


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## david henman

Milkman said:


> I get my dirt from good quality pedals.


...i keep vacillating from depending on dirt pedals to searching for an amp that will provide great power tube dirt.

so, i'm extremely curious to know what pedals get the job done for you.

at the moment i rely on a danelectro trandparent overdrive, a radial bones london and (occasionally, for some modern high-gain "thunk") an electroharmonix metal muff. i'm also a huge fan of the radial tonebone hot british, which i keep on standby.


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## Milkman

I use a Fulltone OCD into an Xotic Effects BB+

That one is a two stage overdrive.

Sounds great to me


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## hollowbody

Milkman said:


> I use a Fulltone OCD into an Xotic Effects BB+
> 
> That one is a two stage overdrive.
> 
> Sounds great to me


I use an OCD as well when I'm not using an attenuator and I really like the way it sounds, but to be honest, my JTM45 and YGM2 both sounds much better than it when cranked up. I'm starting to think about getting something to replace the YGM2. I wanted a smaller amp that I can crank, but the YGM isn't it. It's still crazy loud once it gets to 3 or 4.


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## Milkman

hollowbody said:


> I use an OCD as well when I'm not using an attenuator and I really like the way it sounds, but to be honest, my JTM45 and YGM2 both sounds much better than it when cranked up. I'm starting to think about getting something to replace the YGM2. I wanted a smaller amp that I can crank, but the YGM isn't it. It's still crazy loud once it gets to 3 or 4.


For me that would require a second amp and an A / B box. Like I said, I want my cleans CLEAN.


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## pickslide

I finally tried an Alex's Attenuator and it is great! Highly recommended!


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## CSBen

Hi guys

I have been using an Aracom PXR-150 Pro and it is hands down, the best attenuator that I've tried. 

http://www.aracom-amps.com/products/prx150.html

http://www.aracom-amps.com/products/prx150-dag.html

I have tried and owned the Dr.Z Airbrake (owned), Ho/Ultimate (owned), Kosh (tried for a few hrs only) and THD (tried in store - certainly the worst of them all) and again, the units that Jeff builds @ Aracom is pretty incredible. 

The Kosh is a very nice unit, but is “limited” in its use as it will only work with one Ohm setting. A real negative if you have more than one speaker cabinet. The Aracom unit allows you to match and miss-match different Ohm Input and Output. Others like the Z Airbrake and Ho does that also, but to a certain extent – there are limits as to what they components can perform too. Another negative point of the Kosh is that you have to Stand-By every time you need to attenuate another level. In a live situation, this isn’t the best. Conversely, it doesn’t believe it uses an L-Pad variable circuitry, which is a good thing.

Side note on the L-Pad: it may be a cost efficient piece in an attenuator design, but man, in the variable (i.e. bedroom setting)...yikes - tone sucking mayhem if you're trying to keep clean tones clean.

The Dr.Z is a good unit, but the Bedroom settings I thought definitely chocked and compressed your signal way to much. Big clean tones at full attenuation would get very fuzzy and fizzy. Same with the Ho, but perhaps to a lesser extent.

The THD I found just bad all around – tone and usability (1x ohm use again, like the Kosh).

The Aracom blows these totally out of the water. I use it with my Dr.Z amps and it keeps their perfectly balanced, killer tones all the way through full attenuation. The model I have has the Min/Max toggle switch, a great feature over the previous model.

I haven’t tried the Alex or Faustine unit, but I’ve heard some very good comments about the Faustine unit – worth the extra cost, much like the Aracom ($660+shipping).

All I know is that my search for a high quality atteanuator is definately over!!! The Aracom keeps what would be really loud clean tone sqeaky clean. The touch sensitivity of Dr.Z amps are amazing and this unit keeps it all alive. Just great (but i think you've got the idea by now lol)

Cheers all.
Ben


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## guitarman2

CSBen said:


> Hi guys
> 
> I have been using an Aracom PXR-150 Pro and it is hands down, the best attenuator that I've tried.
> 
> http://www.aracom-amps.com/products/prx150.html
> 
> http://www.aracom-amps.com/products/prx150-dag.html
> 
> I have tried and owned the Dr.Z Airbrake (owned), Ho/Ultimate (owned), Kosh (tried for a few hrs only) and THD (tried in store - certainly the worst of them all) and again, the units that Jeff builds @ Aracom is pretty incredible.
> 
> The Kosh is a very nice unit, but is “limited” in its use as it will only work with one Ohm setting. A real negative if you have more than one speaker cabinet. The Aracom unit allows you to match and miss-match different Ohm Input and Output. Others like the Z Airbrake and Ho does that also, but to a certain extent – there are limits as to what they components can perform too. Another negative point of the Kosh is that you have to Stand-By every time you need to attenuate another level. In a live situation, this isn’t the best. Conversely, it doesn’t believe it uses an L-Pad variable circuitry, which is a good thing.
> 
> Side note on the L-Pad: it may be a cost efficient piece in an attenuator design, but man, in the variable (i.e. bedroom setting)...yikes - tone sucking mayhem if you're trying to keep clean tones clean.
> 
> The Dr.Z is a good unit, but the Bedroom settings I thought definitely chocked and compressed your signal way to much. Big clean tones at full attenuation would get very fuzzy and fizzy. Same with the Ho, but perhaps to a lesser extent.
> 
> The THD I found just bad all around – tone and usability (1x ohm use again, like the Kosh).
> 
> The Aracom blows these totally out of the water. I use it with my Dr.Z amps and it keeps their perfectly balanced, killer tones all the way through full attenuation. The model I have has the Min/Max toggle switch, a great feature over the previous model.
> 
> I haven’t tried the Alex or Faustine unit, but I’ve heard some very good comments about the Faustine unit – worth the extra cost, much like the Aracom ($660+shipping).
> 
> All I know is that my search for a high quality atteanuator is definately over!!! The Aracom keeps what would be really loud clean tone sqeaky clean. The touch sensitivity of Dr.Z amps are amazing and this unit keeps it all alive. Just great (but i think you've got the idea by now lol)
> 
> Cheers all.
> Ben


Now that I've got my Fender Dual Pro for the very clean stuff I'd like to use my Dr Z Mazerati in a 2 amp setup. I'd like to have an attenuator on the Dr Z but I've tried the Airbreak twice. The first time I bought it I tried it on my Dr Z Stangray and the amp shut right down and blew a fuse. Never figured out why. I did get it working but the sound was aweful for anything other than maybe one click of attenuation. I sent it back and about 6 months I thought I'd try again. I ordered another one and tried it again but the tones were just not liveable for me. 
My Mazerati was mainly used for clean so I never put an attenuator on it. But now I'd like to use it over driven but I'm going to have to find a different solution than the airbreak.
I'll have to look in to the Aracom. Wish I knew someone close that had one.


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## CSBen

guitarman2 said:


> Now that I've got my Fender Dual Pro for the very clean stuff I'd like to use my Dr Z Mazerati in a 2 amp setup. I'd like to have an attenuator on the Dr Z but I've tried the Airbreak twice. The first time I bought it I tried it on my Dr Z Stangray and the amp shut right down and blew a fuse. Never figured out why. I did get it working but the sound was aweful for anything other than maybe one click of attenuation. I sent it back and about 6 months I thought I'd try again. I ordered another one and tried it again but the tones were just not liveable for me.
> My Mazerati was mainly used for clean so I never put an attenuator on it. But now I'd like to use it over driven but I'm going to have to find a different solution than the airbreak.
> I'll have to look in to the Aracom. Wish I knew someone close that had one.


Guitarman2 - I'm sure there was something off when you first tried it. To blow the fuse, typically either a faulty pair (of the Quad in your SR) would have gone off the deep end, or the Rectifier acted up w/ the Airbrake plugged in. But that it worked fine until the unit was used tells me it didn't show the amp the proper load or something. Weird for sure!

Love the Mazerati - great amp. My second favorite after my Maz18Nr..then there's the EZG50...the Galaxie...well you know how it goes. If you want to tame the Mazerati, you'll definately need a quality unit. I really love this Aracom. Jeff is TOP notch in all he does really (just like Mike Z @ Dr. Z amps). I know that there is a bit of a wait time for the Aracom right now - 6 weeks or so. If you can pick one up used that would be great, but they are VERY rare. The units aren't available from dealers (except the PXR-150 DAG model).

Have a look at the videos on Aracom's page for the PXR-150 DAG model (DAG for the dealer Destroy All Guitars). There are also a few videos online, but the ones on his website will show you how great a 100w head will sound at full attenuation!

Best of luck in your search.

Ben


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## pickslide

If you dont want to pay upwards of $700+ then you should really look at Alex's Attenuator. It is around $375 new, but if you look on the gear page you will find they pop up used. Only problem with them is that they only work for one impedance, so if you might need 2. I have an 8ohm and a 4ohm and got them for less than $250 each shipped. Although, I guess that is getting me to $500, but anyway, I think they rock.


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## CSBen

pickslide said:


> If you dont want to pay upwards of $700+ then you should really look at Alex's Attenuator. It is around $375 new, but if you look on the gear page you will find they pop up used. Only problem with them is that they only work for one impedance, so if you might need 2. I have an 8ohm and a 4ohm and got them for less than $250 each shipped. Although, I guess that is getting me to $500, but anyway, I think they rock.


I've heard good things about Alex's Attenuator, but as you said yourself, one real big downside is that they only work with one impendance, so you're stuck carring two units, which two of everything is also two things to maintain. I really am a firm believer that the only way to go is to match the input and output impendance. I can't quite find online what the total attenuation level of the Alex is?? The Aracom goes down to -40db which is pretty much wisper level with an 100W head!


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## pickslide

As I understand, the Alex can be used for anything up to 100w amps. It has 4 set attenuation levels, the lowest of which is -12db, but once you are on that setting there is also what you could call a volume pot that kicks in which allows you to take the volume down to a whisper.


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## CSBen

Two other features of the Aracom unit that I believe puts it atop of the list..

The two output speaker jacks:
The two output speaker jacks are wired in parallel. So if you were running two speaker cabinets of equal impedance like yours (8ohm), their combined impedance would be half of the a single speaker cab’s value. So in your case with two cabs of 8ohm, you’d select, just like you concluded, the output impedance jack to 4 ohm. 

The Line Level and Line Out Jack:

The 1/4” output jack, unbalanced & negative ground, gives you an unfiltered, non-equalized sampled signal directly from your amp that you can use to feed a sound system, recording system, rack mount effects or slave into another guitar amplifier or an external power amplifier. 
Now that by itself is nice enough, but if turn the Line Level clockwise, you increases the signal level. 

The kicker, the Line Out can be used with or without the guitar speaker attached AND The Line Out feature can be used in the “Bypass” or “Attenuate” mode.

I just LOVE this thing !

Cheers
Ben


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## hollowbody

CSBen said:


> Two other features of the Aracom unit that I believe puts it atop of the list..
> 
> The two output speaker jacks:
> The two output speaker jacks are wired in parallel. So if you were running two speaker cabinets of equal impedance like yours (8ohm), their combined impedance would be half of the a single speaker cab’s value. So in your case with two cabs of 8ohm, you’d select, just like you concluded, the output impedance jack to 4 ohm.
> 
> The Line Level and Line Out Jack:
> 
> The 1/4” output jack, unbalanced & negative ground, gives you an unfiltered, non-equalized sampled signal directly from your amp that you can use to feed a sound system, recording system, rack mount effects or slave into another guitar amplifier or an external power amplifier.
> Now that by itself is nice enough, but if turn the Line Level clockwise, you increases the signal level.
> 
> The kicker, the Line Out can be used with or without the guitar speaker attached AND The Line Out feature can be used in the “Bypass” or “Attenuate” mode.
> 
> I just LOVE this thing !
> 
> Cheers
> Ben


The THD has these features as well and is half the price. Granted, I'm sure the Aracom sounds better, but I'd hardly call these two features game-breakers. They're nice to have, and I wish my UA had a line-out, but I get by.


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## hollowbody

CSBen said:


> Two other features of the Aracom unit that I believe puts it atop of the list..
> 
> The two output speaker jacks:
> The two output speaker jacks are wired in parallel. So if you were running two speaker cabinets of equal impedance like yours (8ohm), their combined impedance would be half of the a single speaker cab’s value. So in your case with two cabs of 8ohm, you’d select, just like you concluded, the output impedance jack to 4 ohm.
> 
> The Line Level and Line Out Jack:
> 
> The 1/4” output jack, unbalanced & negative ground, gives you an unfiltered, non-equalized sampled signal directly from your amp that you can use to feed a sound system, recording system, rack mount effects or slave into another guitar amplifier or an external power amplifier.
> Now that by itself is nice enough, but if turn the Line Level clockwise, you increases the signal level.
> 
> The kicker, the Line Out can be used with or without the guitar speaker attached AND The Line Out feature can be used in the “Bypass” or “Attenuate” mode.
> 
> I just LOVE this thing !
> 
> Cheers
> Ben


The THD has these features as well and is half the price. Granted, I'm sure the Aracom sounds better, but I'd hardly call these two features game-breakers. They're nice to have, and I wish my UA had a line-out, but I get by.


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## ccuwan

I bought a Weber Mass lite here from OddJobPeters...the 50 w version and I'm attenuating a Traynor YBA2 head into a 15" Traynor cab.....I think about 25 watts. It is the only attenuator I've owned so I am certainly no expert but I'm sure glad I own it. I use it regularly and love the sound of my old Traynor when the tubes saturate. Bottom line, imho, if you haven't got one get one.........


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## Milkman

Anyone have any insight into how much wear and tear these devices place on an amp? My impression is that they allow one to push the snot out of the output stage of the amp but don't let all that power reach the speakers. That has to come at a cost.


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## Guest

Milkman said:


> Anyone have any insight into how much wear and tear these devices place on an amp? My impression is that they allow one to push the snot out of the output stage of the amp but don't let all that power reach the speakers. That has to come at a cost.


]
You blow through power tubes faster. There's heat to dissipate. That's about it really.


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## Milkman

iaresee said:


> ]You blow through power tubes faster. There's heat to dissipate. That's about it really.


Replacing tubes is an acceptable trade off if you get the sound you want. I was wondering if other not so easily replaced components were subjected to higher strain.


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## hollowbody

Milkman said:


> Replacing tubes is an acceptable trade off if you get the sound you want. I was wondering if other not so easily replaced components were subjected to higher strain.


The OT will be working harder too, as a result, and that's a pricier replacement, but it's highly unlikely that the OT will go. I've been pushing the crap out of my Marshall with a variety of different attenuators for the last 2 years straight and I've had to replace power tubes once and nothing else. Seems like 1 pair of tubes a year is what I go through, which isn't too bad.


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## Milkman

hollowbody said:


> The OT will be working harder too, as a result, and that's a pricier replacement, but it's highly unlikely that the OT will go. I've been pushing the crap out of my Marshall with a variety of different attenuators for the last 2 years straight and I've had to replace power tubes once and nothing else. Seems like 1 pair of tubes a year is what I go through, which isn't too bad.


Ok, good to know thanks.

I may at some point pick up an attenuator for my Dr Z Maz 38. It's frightenly loud. In fact I picked up a little sub watt amp for home use because I can barely crack the Z open without it being too loud.

Thanks for the feedback.


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## traynor_garnet

Your amp suffers no more "wear and tear" using an attenuator than it does when simply cranking it all the time. You don't "blow through" tubes because you are using an attenutor: all tubes have a limited life span, and if you fire them up more often (through an attenuator or just cranked up), you will need new tubes sooner than if you only play your amp at low volumes. 

TG


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## Macki

I wouldn't pay 850 bucks for the Ironman but in a electrical design sense (i.e., matching the speaker impedance throughout range of attenuation) it is the best attenuator that I have seen out there.

http://premierbuildersguild.com/builders/bartel/ironman-attenuator


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## numb41

I'm liking the Weber Mini-Mass for my 18 Watt 1974 clone, my Dr Z Maz 38, and my RI Brownface Vibroverb. It works great. Doesn't seem to suck the tone.


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## bagpipe

I have a Swart Night Light which I use with my Ampeg Jet combo. I'm an at home player and I use it to push the tubes into the "good tone" zone (not crazy over-driven). Works great for my purposes.


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## kiddjazz

Faustine Phantom..... sad that the company is no longer. Great product.


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## Louis

Agreed!!



Louis


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## Tyler Savage

I've got the Weber Mass 200 - and it works great. It darkens the tone, but then the treble boost brings it right back up. There's still a discernible loss in tone, but when you're dialing down an 100w amp to near bedroom levels, that's to be expected. Actually like how it darkens my twin when I turn it down


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## pickslide

I recently sold my 2 Alex's only because I did not like the single impedance issue. I now have an Aracom and it is great!


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## traynor_garnet

pickslide said:


> I recently sold my 2 Alex's only because I did not like the single impedance issue. I now have an Aracom and it is great!


Dam, I'm looking for an Alex and cannot find a used one!!! 

TG


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## pickslide

I actually sold them a couple of months ago. I thought I saw one for sale on TGP in the last few days. Hope you find one as they are great.


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## hardasmum

I sold my Weber Mini Mass 50 a few months ago, it did it's job correctly but I could never really get it to work with my setup. 

Personally I didn't like the change it made to my tone but for some that may be a small price to pay to decrease stage volume. 

Great company to deal with though.


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## CSBen

IMO the Aracom Prx150-pro is still the only way to go - starting to sound like a broken record as I already voiced that opinion in this thread before, but hey, it really is a great unit!!!


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## bzrkrage

My new H&K Tubemeister 18 has it built in. That was one of the reasons I bought it. Family is happy with the volumes.


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## GuitarsCanada

Just picked up a Weber Micro Mass, seems to be a pretty good unit.


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## Diablo

i think theyre a great idea, never used one though.
Got me thinking now.....


have you guys also tried the pulling tubes trick?


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## Judas68fr

I had a Tube Cube 80 back when I lived in France (grabed one of these on ebay). Worked pretty well, didn't alter the sound that much (except on higher attenuation positions).


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## Tyler Savage

I've got a weber mass 200 and I love it. works really well, and the treble boost should be on every attenuator.


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## seanmj

Anyone tried the Unleash? I have more and more reasons why it could be useful... but have heard mixed reviews on the actual sound of it.... there was a review not that long ago floating around on tgp that wasn'r entirely favorable of it... though mostly in the attenuation department. Any experiences that anyone can share would be great!

Sean Meredith-Jones
www.seanmeredithjones.com


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## traynor_garnet

That was my review. It was written at a time when you just were not _allowed _to say anything negative about the unleash on TGP. Typical flavour of the week herd mentality LOL

Anyway, my review wasn't really all that negative, it simply stated that the unleash wasn't perfect, didn't sound any better and perhaps not as good (with my amp) as other attenuators, and I found plugging it in a pain. Others PM'd me saying they had similar results but they didn't want to post and get swarmed like I was (by people who had never even heard/used the thing!).

If some of the unit's unique features are useful to you check it out. Some found it worked great for them.







seanmj said:


> Anyone tried the Unleash? I have more and more reasons why it could be useful... but have heard mixed reviews on the actual sound of it.... there was a review not that long ago floating around on tgp that wasn'r entirely favorable of it... though mostly in the attenuation department. Any experiences that anyone can share would be great!
> 
> Sean Meredith-Jones
> www.seanmeredithjones.com


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## bzrkrage

Diablo said:


> have you guys also tried the pulling tubes trick?


With my Peavey Vintage 410, yeah.
Pull the far left & right, leave middle 2, reduced, noticeably.


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