Attenuator

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klugster

klugster

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Been watching for a reasonably priced attenuator. Seen a Mesa powerhouse on Ebay for $300 shipped. Offered $250 No, $275, no. Guy is firm at $300. My question is, would the Mesa unit be better then say a brand new Two Notes? This is for my Mesa Mark IV and Mark III. I can't afford a Fryette or and other one above $250-300 currently.
 

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300 shipped seems reasonable to me.. The seller is gonna take a raping on the payout..
 
honestly, after owning several THD, Alex, Weber, TN, etc..., I would just save up for one of the modern units. I've gone through a lot of the passive ones, and they all seem to take something away, at least to some degree. If you're like me, you'll dig it for a bit, then plug straight in one day, and throw it in the closet.

I currently have a PS100, and it's been the most transparent feeling and sounding attenuator I've used. I haven't tried an OX, but they seem highly regarded as well. The one downside to the Fryette stuff is having tubes, but I guess it's a plus as well if that's what keeps it feeling "alive". Also consider the horror stories over the years you can read with people using the older units and blowing OT's. I think the newer stuff is much more friendly with transformers, at least from the feedback I've read. It's worth it to spend a bit more with an attenuator IMO, since it's tied to your amp's health. I justified getting one by considering it can work with any amp I own, and having an FX loop after the power amp is very useful.
 
I have a reload now and it's ok down to half but after that I hear it.. but I used to own a hotplate and I dug it. Wish I had kept it.
 
I've a Palmer PDI06 and in the past I've owned the Hotplate but I've found the Palmer more trasparent and the amps reacts very well to volume knob and the eq doesn't change the nature of the amp
 
To me the question is why use an attenuator on a Mark iii or Mark iv? Turning the Master Volume down should sound better than attenuating.
 
klugster said:
Been watching for a reasonably priced attenuator. Seen a Mesa powerhouse on Ebay for $300 shipped. Offered $250 No, $275, no. Guy is firm at $300. My question is, would the Mesa unit be better then say a brand new Two Notes? This is for my Mesa Mark IV and Mark III. I can't afford a Fryette or and other one above $250-300 currently.
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Sweetwater has the PS100 for $40 a month right now. Just saying.

I've used the Weber Mass 200. It worked will with my Splawn, but not so much with non-Marshall based circuits. I have and use the Two Notes Captor X, but that is for the IR function for live and recording. I recently ordered a PS100. Looking forward to checking it out. Hoping to knock the level of my Stealth 100 down for at home.
 
klugster said:
Been watching for a reasonably priced attenuator. Seen a Mesa powerhouse on Ebay for $300 shipped. Offered $250 No, $275, no. Guy is firm at $300. My question is, would the Mesa unit be better then say a brand new Two Notes? This is for my Mesa Mark IV and Mark III. I can't afford a Fryette or and other one above $250-300 currently.
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I had the Mesa Powerhouse.
I didn't think it was a bad unit for what it is and I don't think sellers asking price is unreasonable...

I sold and ponied up for the Power Station.
Cant go wrong with a PS.
 
SpiderWars said:
To me the question is why use an attenuator on a Mark iii or Mark iv? Turning the Master Volume down should sound better than attenuating.
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Have you ever owned a Mark III? Not what I personally consider a “home friendly” master volume
 
SpiderWars said:
To me the question is why use an attenuator on a Mark iii or Mark iv? Turning the Master Volume down should sound better than attenuating.
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Cuz those amps stop the earths rotation and shift its axis when cranked which is fine playing stadiums. Not so good playing smaller places.
You gotta unleash the volume to get the goods.
I found the EV12L's unuseable if you like Greenback type breakup. The 12L's don't even bend a little.
 
SpiderWars said:
To me the question is why use an attenuator on a Mark iii or Mark iv? Turning the Master Volume down should sound better than attenuating.
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Maybe with attenuator?

Dave Friedman stated with the Power Station, his Plexi model sounded slightly better using the PS than the master volume.

I still have that Aiken amp with MV, and the MV is great, but with the PS its a touch better IMO...

Personally, when it comes to attenuating an amp, cheap/cheaper is not really the direction I would be looking... :dunno:
 
$300 shipped is a great price for a Mesa Powerhouse.
A TwoNotes Torpedo Captor doesn't have variable attenuation, just a fixed -20dB attenuated speaker output. It's effective, but does change the sound. It's thinner in the mids, which makes it brighter where it shouldn't be.
I haven't used a Powerhouse, but I want one. I just can't justify the cost, as I already have several load boxes and I just don't think their load could sound that much better thru my IRs.
The Captor is good as a speaker replacement load for silent recording. I think it sounds better than the Suhr RL, and almost as good as the Fractal X-Load. The Captor is the only one that can connect to the interface via XLR w/phantom power without needing a line isolator w/ground lift to cut the added noise. And it's a lot smaller than the Suhr and Fractal boxes. The Fractal has 2 voicings, though, but its XLR output is way too noisy with phantom power, and less, but still, noisy with an 18V adapter. The Suhr XLR doesn't need power, so it's fine, but the load is way too mid-scooped and bass-heavy
 
dcburn said:
Maybe with attenuator?

Dave Friedman stated with the Power Station, his Plexi model sounded slightly better using the PS than the master volume.

I still have that Aiken amp with MV, and the MV is great, but with the PS its a touch better IMO...

Personally, when it comes to attenuating an amp, cheap/cheaper is not really the direction I would be looking... :dunno:
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Those amps are totally different animals, I would use a Power Station with those as well. A Power Station is NOT an attenuator, it is a reactive load box.
Attenuators generally suck.
Power Stations (or equal) are great. I use that approach all the time.

Those Mesa amps run their power sections clean so a plain jane Master Volume is exactly what they need. It's also a reason an effects loop is easy to implement in them. It's not about cost.
 
tallcoolone said:
Have you ever owned a Mark III? Not what I personally consider a “home friendly” master volume
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Easy fix, put a clean boost or EQ in the loop and turn it down there. Still better than a tone sucking attenuator.
 
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