Introducing Reload II

[RossJohnDavies]

Hi Tone Heads!

We're super pleased to announce a new addition to our Reactive Load Lineup: Reload II!

Featuring twin-channel operation, selectable multi-impedance compatibility, a Celestion Approved Load Response and true continuous attenuation, Reload II is our most advanced Load Box to date. I have been testing this for the past few months now and the feature spec really is killer - our development team really knocked it out the park!

For more info head here: https://www.two-notes.com/en/reload-ii/

Check out our launch video here:

If you have any questions whatsoever, please do not hesitate to let me know!

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

This looks VERRRRRY interesting. I have to know though.. how is the Celestion approved Load response going to work and what exactly does that mean? Is the curve going to be based on one Celestion response curve like greenbacks in a 4x12 or are there options if you want to replicate the feeling you get with V30's or two Celestions Blues in an open back 2x12? So many questions...

 

[RossJohnDavies]

This looks VERRRRRY interesting. I have to know though.. how is the Celestion approved Load response going to work and what exactly does that mean? Is the curve going to be based on one Celestion response curve like greenbacks in a 4x12 or are there options if you want to replicate the feeling you get with V30's or two Celestions Blues in an open back 2x12? So many questions...

Thanks for getting in touch and we're so interested to hear you like the look of Reload II - Ross from Two notes here.

The impedance curve is not matched to a specific speaker but rather an average of the key drivers in Celestion's line; this was subsequently validated by Celestion in order that we can use the moniker: a "Celestion Approved Load Response". The root of this change was centred around the feedback we have received from user's in relation to our legacy line of loadboxes and marks a ground-up rework of our reactive load technology.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to let me know - I am always happy to help!

 

[FLUXX]

I am very interested the Reload II, especially in the Surgical Attenuation for my amp wall,
and using the Reload II to make better quality captures in my Quad Cortex (I currently use a Captor X 8ohm).

I'm assuming we can load our own IR's into Reload II?

 

[RossJohnDavies]

I am very interested the Reload II, especially in the Surgical Attenuation for my amp wall,
and using the Reload II to make better quality captures in my Quad Cortex (I currently use a Captor X 8ohm).

I'm assuming we can load our own IR's into Reload II?

Thanks for getting back to me and I am so pleased to hear you like Reload II.

In terms of IR Loading, in short, no. Reload II is an all analog device and as such does not feature any AD / DA conversion on the DynIR/IR front. It does however include a copy of GENOME so IRs / DynIRs can be loaded in either the standalone application or the Plugin variants. Please let me know if you need any more info!

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Hi Guys, Hope you're all good!

Just thought I would jump in to say we have released our Reload II Feature Run-Down video here...



If you have any questions let me know - always happy to weigh in and help! In addition, for any of you looking for Reload II's ICs, you will be happy to hear that we will be releasing these on Thursday this week and I will make a note to upload them here.

PS. If you ever wondered what I look/sound like, behold!

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Hi Everyone,

Following on from my post above, since launching Reload II we have been asked a lot of questions concerning the new––and improved––Celestion Approved Load Response, including multiple requests for the impedance curves for our latest flagship attenuator / amplifier. In developing Reload II's all-new reactive load we were conscious not to match to a specific speaker (due to variations rooted in the accompanying enclosure size) but to a range of drivers, averaging the impedance for optimum performance across the breadth of amplifiers on the market. The diagrams linked below illustrate the impedance curves of Reload II's reactive load when set at 4-, 8- or 16-Ohms operation.

4Ω Impedance Curve
8Ω Impedance Curve
16Ω Impedance Curve

If you have any questions concerning this, please do not hesitate to let me know - I am always happy to dive in and help!

 

[BedrockPoster]

I'll be using two 8-ohm cabs, one on channel A, one on channel B. What do I set the amp impedance at, 4 ohms or 8 ohms? Does this work as if it's seeing two cabs in parallel?
I normally go 4-ohms at amp into the two 8-ohm cabs.

Also wondering about wattage of cabs. The Reload puts out a lot of watts at 4 ohms. Do I need to have the same concerns with this unit as I would have with a tube amp? Meaning, the cab has to be rated for at least whatever your amp is putting out. I usually shoot for cabs rated at twice what my amp is putting out, though it's often less than that.
The manual says if using both channels, each is 150watts @ 4 ohms. Do I really need to worry about having cabs that are rated at least 150 watts? And yes, I want to be able to turn it up all the way. The Reload being two solid state amps, I'm not sure. I'm used to tube amps. Watts are watts though, right?

 

[RossJohnDavies]

I'll be using two 8-ohm cabs, one on channel A, one on channel B. What do I set the amp impedance at, 4 ohms or 8 ohms? Does this work as if it's seeing two cabs in parallel?
I normally go 4-ohms at amp into the two 8-ohm cabs.

Also wondering about wattage of cabs. The Reload puts out a lot of watts at 4 ohms. Do I need to have the same concerns with this unit as I would have with a tube amp? Meaning, the cab has to be rated for at least whatever your amp is putting out. I usually shoot for cabs rated at twice what my amp is putting out, though it's often less than that.
The manual says if using both channels, each is 150watts @ 4 ohms. Do I really need to worry about having cabs that are rated at least 150 watts? And yes, I want to be able to turn it up all the way. The Reload being two solid state amps, I'm not sure. I'm used to tube amps. Watts are watts though, right?

Thanks for reaching out, good questions here!

With Reload II, the key point is that the amp does not directly see the two cabinets connected to CAB OUT A and B. Reload II's reactive load sits between the amplifier and those cabinets.

So, if your amplifier is connected to Reload II's AMP IN, set the amplifier's speaker output and Reload II's AMP IMPEDANCE selector to the same impedance. For example, if you use the amp's 8Ω output, set Reload II to 8Ω. Your two 8Ω cabinets on CAB OUT A and B do not combine into a 4Ω load as they would if you connected two 8Ω cabinets in parallel directly to the amplifier. Each CAB OUT is independently powered by Reload II's internal solid-state power amplifier.

On the cabinet power rating: yes, you should still take the power rating seriously. With both CAB outputs in use, an 8Ω cabinet can receive up to 120W RMS per channel. The 150W figure applies to a 4Ω cabinet; at 8Ω it's 120W per channel.

And you're right about the underlying principle: watts are watts as far as the speaker's thermal/mechanical limits are concerned. The fact Reload II uses solid-state amplification doesn't remove the need to respect the cabinet's power handling.

The useful difference here is that the CAB controls on Reload II determine the level being sent to each cabinet, independently of how hard you're driving the original tube amplifier into Reload II. So you don't automatically have 120W going into each 8Ω cab; that's the maximum available output. You can drive the tube amp where you want it and independently control the actual cabinet level from Reload II.

Let me know if this helps and if you have any additional questions, I am here to assist!

 

[BedrockPoster]

Thanks for reaching out, good questions here!

With Reload II, the key point is that the amp does not directly see the two cabinets connected to CAB OUT A and B. Reload II's reactive load sits between the amplifier and those cabinets.

So, if your amplifier is connected to Reload II's AMP IN, set the amplifier's speaker output and Reload II's AMP IMPEDANCE selector to the same impedance. For example, if you use the amp's 8Ω output, set Reload II to 8Ω. Your two 8Ω cabinets on CAB OUT A and B do not combine into a 4Ω load as they would if you connected two 8Ω cabinets in parallel directly to the amplifier. Each CAB OUT is independently powered by Reload II's internal solid-state power amplifier.

On the cabinet power rating: yes, you should still take the power rating seriously. With both CAB outputs in use, an 8Ω cabinet can receive up to 120W RMS per channel. The 150W figure applies to a 4Ω cabinet; at 8Ω it's 120W per channel.

And you're right about the underlying principle: watts are watts as far as the speaker's thermal/mechanical limits are concerned. The fact Reload II uses solid-state amplification doesn't remove the need to respect the cabinet's power handling.

The useful difference here is that the CAB controls on Reload II determine the level being sent to each cabinet, independently of how hard you're driving the original tube amplifier into Reload II. So you don't automatically have 120W going into each 8Ω cab; that's the maximum available output. You can drive the tube amp where you want it and independently control the actual cabinet level from Reload II.

Let me know if this helps and if you have any additional questions, I am here to assist!

Thanks.
So, this is in the user's manual: "Irrespective of the impedance of the connected amplifier, the impedance rating of a connected cabinet to Reload is irrelevant and will not damage the amplifier or Reload II unit if a mismatch with the Amp/Load box is present."

This is from AI: "Solid-state amps are sensitive to speaker impedance because they are constant-voltage sources. Match the speaker impedance to the amp’s design range to avoid damage and get optimal power and tone. If you go below the minimum, you risk frying the output stage; if you go above, you’ll lose volume and efficiency."

Why does the Reload II not care about impedance at the cabs?

Edit: The manual says 3.5 ohms minimum load. Now I get it. 4, 8, and 16 are all okay. Shouldn't it say "3.5 ohms minimum load" on the back of the unit, at each speaker out?

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Thanks.
So, this is in the user's manual: "Irrespective of the impedance of the connected amplifier, the impedance rating of a connected cabinet to Reload is irrelevant and will not damage the amplifier or Reload II unit if a mismatch with the Amp/Load box is present."

This is from AI: "Solid-state amps are sensitive to speaker impedance because they are constant-voltage sources. Match the speaker impedance to the amp’s design range to avoid damage and get optimal power and tone. If you go below the minimum, you risk frying the output stage; if you go above, you’ll lose volume and efficiency."

Why does the Reload II not care about impedance at the cabs?

Edit: The manual says 3.5 ohms minimum load. Now I get it. 4, 8, and 16 are all okay. Shouldn't it say "3.5 ohms minimum load" on the back of the unit, at each speaker out?

Thanks for reaching out - great question!

The important distinction with Reload II is that your amplifier isn't directly driving the cabinet connected to the CAB OUT. Your amplifier sees Reload II's internal reactive load, which is why the AMP IMPEDANCE setting on Reload II should be matched to the speaker output impedance of your amplifier.

From there, Reload II uses its own internal power amplifier to drive the cabinets connected to CAB OUT A and B. That power amplifier automatically adapts to the impedance of each connected cabinet, provided the minimum load specification is respected.

As you've spotted in the manual, the minimum load is 3.5Ω, so standard 4Ω, 8Ω and 16Ω guitar/bass cabinets are all within specification. You can also use cabinets of different impedances on CAB OUT A and B simultaneously.

We actually have a dedicated Help Desk article covering this in more detail:

https://helpdesk.two-notes.com/port...eed-to-match-the-input-impedance-of-reload-ii

The main difference you'll see with cabinet impedance is the maximum available output power, with Reload II delivering different power levels depending on the impedance of the connected cabinet.

Let me know if this helps to clarify things a little!

 

[MattJ381]

Hello,

I have just ordered a Reload II and have a couple of questions about using FX pedals with it if anybody can help / advise.

I have a few pedals (tuner, fuzz, overdrive etc.) that I will run into the front of my amp which will be plugged into the Reload II. I have delay and reverb pedals that I am planning to plug into the FX loop of the Reload II.

All of these pedals are on my board and are powered by my MXR Mini Iso Brick. There is no way for me to power pedals on individually or in groups i.e. once I turn the power brick on all the pedals are powered at the same time.

My first question is about the order I should turn things on. Given what I have read in the manual I assume it would be:

Pedal board ---> Reload II ---> Guitar amp (and then the reverse when turning everything off)

Is this correct?

My second question is about whether having all the pedals powering on at the same time from the same power supply is ok? I have no reason to think there would be an issue, but something about having all the pedals on one power supply but going into different devices is making me a bit cautious.

Cheers,

Matt

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for reaching out— and absolutely, happy to help!

For powering everything up, your suggested order is essentially what we'd recommend:

Pedalboard → Reload II → Guitar Amp

Then reverse the order when powering down:

Guitar Amp → Reload II → Pedalboard

The important point is that Reload II should always be powered and correctly connected before switching on your amplifier, particularly when it's providing the load for a tube amp. We'd also recommend having your amp's Master Volume turned down when powering the system up or down.

Regarding the pedals, there's no problem with powering your front-of-amp pedals and the pedals connected to Reload II's FX Loop simultaneously from the same isolated power supply, provided each pedal is receiving the correct voltage/current and the outputs you're using are genuinely isolated. You don't need to switch the two groups on separately simply because they're positioned at different points in the signal chain.

Your planned routing is also absolutely fine: tuner/fuzz/overdrive → amp input, with delay/reverb in Reload II's post-power-amp FX Loop.

One final tip: when you first get everything connected, we'd suggest starting with your amp and Reload II levels down and bringing the system up gradually. That'll give you a chance to check the routing and levels before letting everything rip.

Hope that helps, Matt — enjoy the Reload II!

 

[MattJ381]

Thank you, Ross, very much appreciated

Quick follow up question re isolated power supplies: the power brick on my pedal board has five isolated outputs. In some cases I have a single pedal powered by one output, in others I have a daisy chain powering several pedals.

My delay and reverb pedals are both connected to the same output i.e. they share the same isolated output but are separate from all the other pedals.

I assume this would be ok?

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Thank you, Ross, very much appreciated

Quick follow up question re isolated power supplies: the power brick on my pedal board has five isolated outputs. In some cases I have a single pedal powered by one output, in others I have a daisy chain powering several pedals.

My delay and reverb pedals are both connected to the same output i.e. they share the same isolated output but are separate from all the other pedals.

I assume this would be ok?

Thanks for getting back to me. I dont see any reason why this should affect Reload II whatsoever on the pedal power supply front! If you need anything else, please let me know!

 

[MattJ381]

Thank you, Ross

 

[RossJohnDavies]

Thank you, Ross

No problem at all, if you need anything else, please do not hesitate to let me know.