Hot plate attenuator

[mlockett]

I hope this subject hasn't been rehashed too much... I did a search and could find much info easily.

Is an attenuator invaluable gear for a home studio? Do you really get "loud" amp sound at a lower volume? (It would seem like you could get the power amp's "loud" sound, but not the speaker's.)

Hot plate seems to be the favorite... are there others that compete well?

Thanks for any input!

 

[parsky1]

The hot plate is probably the best one out there. I don't recommend attenuating beyond -8db. You start to lose speaker movement and the tone suffers. Even at -8db it will still be loud when an amp is cranked, but it won't make your ears bleed. You may have to make some very minor EQ adjustments when using one, but nothing major.

 

[SneakyPete]

Is an attenuator invaluable gear for a home studio? Do you really get "loud" amp sound at a lower volume? (It would seem like you could get the power amp's "loud" sound, but not the speaker's.)

Hot plate seems to be the favorite... are there others that compete well?

I use mine all the time - I have a Marshall SE100 Attenuator. Not only does it allow me to lower the dBs coming out of the cabinet, it also has a Marshall cabinet emulator and an XLR and 1/4" output so I can add it to my mix (like having my amp head coming out of two different speaker cabinets :wink

The attenuation does make a difference, because it's pushing your power tubes more, while changes your sound. You're right, pushing air through your cabinet also changes your sound, so this doesn't emulate the whole effect of blasting your amp (but it gets it much closer).

 

[Joshusama]

Ultimate Attenuator. Bar none, the best. Silly how well it works. Crank the be-geezuz out of your amp and attenuate as much as you want--no change in tone. I mean really...with the exception of speaker distortion and slight rounding with YJs in high-gain tweed/spongy mode... Toh-n