Normal for attenuator to squash and distort sound at low volumes?

[Kapo_Polenton]

Messing with this Bugera Infinium 1960 I picked up and it is loud AF. One thing I don't like is that this auto bias super duper tube life extender circuit means I can't set the bias myself and the power tubes sound a little on the cold side. Besides that, some cool features like PPIMV and cascaded input alla RR59. Using my Torpedo Reload as an attenuator though, at lower volumes it almost sounds like there is added gain and a weird swishing on the high strings when playing riffs. I thought maybe it was the amp so took everything off and plugged straight back in and it doesn't do that sound. Right now I've got it with a vol pedal in the loop and the PPIMV engaged but the sound is pretty $hitty that way on a NMV. Sounds like preamp is starving the power stage and it is being dropped into the fizzies with the PPIMV. I'm going to slave it through my EH44 power amp tonight to see how that compares but does it sound like my Torpedo Reload is having issues? Or is a 100+ watt NMV amp too much for this thing at lower volumes? (When I say low volume I mean 1/4 knob range or below). Any experiences?

 

[Dave L]

I haven´t tried the Reload or any of the newest and shiniest offerings on the market, but attenuators turned way down generally sound awful. Most of them are the most at home with taming stuff from too loud to slightly less loud, so by taking a very loud amp and dialing it way back like that I wouldn´t be surprised if it sounds bad enough that you start to suspect something is broken.

 

[panhead]

Super duper tube life doo hicky may not be helping?

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I haven´t tried the Reload or any of the newest and shiniest offerings on the market, but attenuators turned way down generally sound awful. Most of them are the most at home with taming stuff from too loud to slightly less loud, so by taking a very loud amp and dialing it way back like that I wouldn´t be surprised if it sounds bad enough that you start to suspect something is broken.

I think you guys are right.. for one the tube life extender obviously biases everything too cold. I am surprised that they didn't allow for an override to let us geeks dial it in like it should be.

Attenuator seems to do its job on my other amps so I think it must be the sheer volume of a 150 watt NMV squashed down to whisper or talking levels which makes it sound like shit. Slaving is the only way to make the volume work. That said there is a compromise on the power amp but there is also a compromise on the attenuator. You can hear it by plugging straight in the amp and then the attenuator and A/B' ing the sound. Maybe the answer ultimately is, stop being a wuss and play with some volume.

 

[Scumback Speakers]

I just have amps from 5w - 100w and select what I need for the size of the room / gig. The Scumback DBL did a really good job with this but no matter what, when you start going from 50-100w amps down to bedroom level, you loose the impact of the speakers moving, resulting in less bass and more treble due to squashing the signal.

 

[dstroud]

do you bypass the ppimv when using the attenuator? Ive always thought ppimv made the tone wierd

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

do you bypass the ppimv when using the attenuator? Ive always thought ppimv made the tone wierd

I tried it both ways and yes, it was worse with the PPIMV. I have to say I am not the biggest fan of PPIMV's unless you are just knocking a bit of volume off.