Attenuators

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hollywood
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i tried a ton of them and settled for the Aracom Attenuator. Its extremely transparent, but pricey.
 
70strathead":1fkk3fxs said:
i tried a ton of them and settled for the Aracom Attenuator. Its extremely transparent, but pricey.
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Do you have the regular Aracom or the DAG version? If you have the regular do you notice any harshness in the high end.

Right now my 2 leading candidates for an attenuator are a Alex Attenuator or Rivera Rockcrusher. I have heard of mixed reviews on the Rockcrusher.

The Aracom DAG, Faustine Phantom, and Ironman attenuators get good reviews, but are out of my price range.
 
hunter":xxbj2u4u said:
Based on my limited experience I would say they work great on non master volume amps. A THD and a Plexi or Superlead or similar work great, sounds at least great with LordRiffenstein's Marshalls.

I tried a Weber in the past with a Bogner Shiva and a Budda Superdrive and found that the master volumes of those amps yielded better results at low volume than using the attenuators to bring the cranked amps down.
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:thumbsup: Yes, Attenuators work best with non master volume amps, I agree!
I rather use the master volume for the other amps than an attenuator.

That being said the Faustine Phantom is excellent, expensive and backordered...
 
I am very pleased with the Alex attenuator with my Plexi. Really a big difference between that and the Weber I tried. But it is a bit pricey. I bought mine off the classifieds. You can buy direct though, just google it. I sometimes do the slave out into some effects, then into my Egnater Seminar Head then into a 212. Really cool.
 
For what it's worth I've had the Aracom, the Alex, Dr Z, Kendrick Powerglide and maybe a few others.
The Aracom and Alex are the ones to look at IMO. Aracom is a bit brighter and the Alex may compress a tad but overall you can really crank the amp without much/any coloration. What small amount of tonal change is worth engaging the output section to it's full potential. Most amps sound dramatically different when really opened up.
Living in a home with kids/wife it's a must in my situation.. No other way to rip a 100 watter without wearing handcuffs and damaging my hearing too.
too many years to 1000 watt subwoofers in cars and 100w half stacks for me to continue blasting my ears to death. Only 42 and am about 60% in my right ear as it is.
 
I have rokker's old Alex and I like it better than the others that I have tried...sounds great and seems to keep the amp's (1959RR) dynamics better than the others. That said, I never tried the Faustine unit but I can't imagine that it would sound any better...and if it does I would have a hard time believing the difference could justify the extra cost.
 
I traded for a used one on this forum, best investment ever into my live tone.
THD Hotplate, I use it only on the -4 or -8 setting, lets me crank up the amp to the "sweet spot" of the preamp pushing the power amp tubes.
 
blackba":v6sccvx4 said:
70strathead":v6sccvx4 said:
i tried a ton of them and settled for the Aracom Attenuator. Its extremely transparent, but pricey.
Click to expand...

Do you have the regular Aracom or the DAG version? If you have the regular do you notice any harshness in the high end.

Right now my 2 leading candidates for an attenuator are a Alex Attenuator or Rivera Rockcrusher. I have heard of mixed reviews on the Rockcrusher.

The Aracom DAG, Faustine Phantom, and Ironman attenuators get good reviews, but are out of my price range.
Click to expand...

Yes I do have the regular and yeah its a little on the bright side, but i just adjust the EQ on the AMP to compenasate. Didnt know about the DAG? Honestly, I'm probably going to sell mine because Dave Friedman put a master volume mod on my stock NMV 74' , so I really dont even use it anymore . unless home recording full tilit loud i guess.

i've heard the Alex is a good one
 
I use an Alex Attenuator with a 5150, and a Bogner XTC Classic. Works great with both amps. Very transparent. Theres a small drop off in highs under serious attenuation, but at 9db's or less I'd say the sound is exactly the same.
 
I have tried Marshall Powerbrakes to those asking ( I have one available for sale) They sound cool a little more warm in the low mids-- growl.. but I would say my THD sounds better and I have heard there are even better ones out there (mentioned in this thread 2) I would try to talk someone out of the Powerbrake unless you like soft! haha
 
I mean soft as in thick and slow less and slower high end but a compression / collection of lower mid range frequency-----have heard it for a LONG time but that was my impression
 
Been looking at the different units. The alex looks cool, but it only does 8 or 16 ohms. To do both or have a choice I would be buying two of them. one for each.... They are $390.00 with shipping each. The rock crusher is $500.00 but it does both 8 or 16 ohms.... I read on here there are mixed reviews on the rock crusher ???
 
Hollywood":1zxtvydy said:
Been looking at the different units. The alex looks cool, but it only does 8 or 16 ohms. To do both or have a choice I would be buying two of them. one for each.... They are $390.00 with shipping each. The rock crusher is $500.00 but it does both 8 or 16 ohms.... I read on here there are mixed reviews on the rock crusher ???
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I like that the rockcrusher does both ohm also but It does look a bit big sitting on top of a head and I really dont need more bid shit to carry around to gigs same as with the aracom which is a monster in size. I like the size of the faustine and the ultimate but I wont pay a grand a wait a year for an overhyped attenuator as of yet. I like that the ultimate has two footswitchable masters and the variac plug on back as options, I am surprised other attenuators dont have the dual masters, its a selling point with me for live use.
 
I like using the Hotplate as a load-line out box for my 50 watt Marshall, then re-amplifying the signal with a separate amp. As an attenuator it ain't as good, but ok in a pinch.
 
I've used a Marshall SE100 for years, its been solid and works well but it does shave the top a bit and only has 2 levels of attenuation
 
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