Favorite attenuator

[Exo-metal]

I need to run a line out for my wet signal to a second half stack. There are so many great products now, curious which ones are the top choices and why. Not into recording or a rig that plugs into my computer, not that that's a bad thing but for me the more analog the better.

 

[stephen sawall]

I prefer the THD Hot Plate.

 

[Jason Wilding]

You cannot get a better one, especially at the price point, than the Torpedo Captor

 

[SpiderWars]

I haven't compared so I can't say what's better but I have a Trainwreck Airbrake that I haven't used in forever. It's def analog. If you find that it fits the bill hit me up.

 

[Smash]

I have only used the Fryette Ps100. But it is very transparent, except for one thing. When you crank the master on a high gain amp, you usually have the hiss. The Fryette takes all that away. I guess that's why he uses the power tubes he does, Idk.

 

[blackba]

I need to run a line out for my wet signal to a second half stack. There are so many great products now, curious which ones are the top choices and why. Not into recording or a rig that plugs into my computer, not that that's a bad thing but for me the more analog the better.

If you just want to run a line out to a 2nd amp, then what you want is a reactive load. For that I would recommend the Suhr Reactive Load, sounds great and is at a great price.

 

[napalmdeath]

PS-2 for me, hands down.
Runner up would be the Rock Crusher.

 

[Devin]

Powerstation is the only one I've ever used but it works perfectly for me

 

[stephen sawall]

The THD is analog, reactive load and by far the best sounding line out I have ever heard.
Besides that they can be found used inexpensive. I picked up a other one last year in mint condition for $50. Usually used they are under $200.
They can do the load / reamp thing that has become popular. Just use whatever 2nd amp you want with it.
After that I like the Fryette. But that's not ideal for the application you want.

 

[stratjacket]

Suhr Reactive Load or just about any reactive load. I would not recommend any resistive type such as a Hot Plate.

 

[Devin]

The THD is analog, reactive load

If you're talking about the THD Hotplate it is a resistive load.

 

[Monomyth]

I have an “ultimate” with plexi switch, the handmade version. It came with an amp I sourced, you can have it for cheap if you want it.

 

[Sitedrifter]

I have a few of them and sold them since they were expensive and decided to try Bugera PS1 for 89 bucks. It has line out and works very good and is build very well.
Try it before dumping hundreds on an expensive unit like I did.

 

[stephen sawall]

The THD is analog, reactive load

If you're talking about the THD Hotplate it is a resistive load.

Suhr Reactive Load or just about any reactive load. I would not recommend any resistive type such as a Hot Plate.

"We keep getting asked if the Hot Plate attenuator is resistive or reactive.

There is a lot of misinformation floating out there, including a recent "article" on Reverb claiming that the THD Hot Plate is a resistive attenuator. I both phoned and sent emails to correct the writer of the article, but never got a call or email in return.

People seem to assume that reactive attenuators are something new, which they are not. We’ve been building them since 1994. Many assume that since the Hot Plate has been around for so long, it must be a resistive unit like the Scholz Power Soak and the Altair PW-5. (For the trivia minded, the PW stood for "power waster".)

The Hot Plate is fully reactive in three different “modes", as opposed to one mode like all the other attenuators claiming to be reactive. The bright, deep and light bulb switches let you select exactly how reactive it is, and in which frequency ranges and dynamic ranges the reactance is most prevalent, but no matter how you set it, it is always reactive in all attenuation modes and in the “Load” setting as well. It’s the only attenuator which does this.

Some attenuators like the Marshall Power Brake (no longer produced) use transformers instead of networks of resistors, capacitors and inductors, to do the dropping. The problem with this entire approach is that the only way that a transformer can reduce the power getting to the speaker is by creating an impedance mismatch, which is never good for the amp, nor does it ever sound or “feel” particularly good. With a Hot Plate, if you have an 8 ohm amp, an 8 ohm Hot Plate and an 8 ohm speaker, no matter how you set it, the amp is always “seeing” an 8 ohm load. It is the only attenuator that does this, which is why there are 5 versions. In each version, every single capacitor, resistor and inductor is optimized for that impedance.

Another aspect of this discussion that is worth mentioning is that the absolute safest load for any amplifier is one that is 100% resistive with no reactive element at all. The problem with a purely resistive load is that they don’t sound very good at all. Guitar players are used to the hearing the amp as it responds to the inductance of the speaker’s voice coils, the motion of the cones (causing a huge momentary change in the load), and often the effect of the compression of the air in the cabinet on the cone/voice coil motion, and thus on the load. So, more reactance is not necessarily a good thing, especially when it goes beyond mimicking the reactance of a speaker cabinet.

Over the past 26 years, we’ve sold more than 100,000 Hot Plates, making it the best-selling attenuator ever built. It’s also the only attenuator made that is recommended by other manufacturers. The Weber is recommended only by Weber. The Rivera is recommended only by Rivera. The THD Hot Plate is recommended my Marshall, Fender, HiWatt, Soldano, Bogner, Diezel, MESA/Boogie, and dozens of other amp companies. And, over 30 years, we’ve only ever had two people come forward, claiming that their amps were damaged by a Hot Plate. One was using a 4-ohm Hot Plate on a Marshall set to 16 ohms, which caused the output transformer to fail, just as it would have if he had run into a 4 ohm cabinet. The other had just had the output transformer in his Vox AC30 replaced when he started using a Hot Plate on his amp with the new transformer. He claimed that the Hot Plate had blown his new transformer. We paid to have the amp sent to us for investigation. It turned out that his "tech" had replaced his 30-watt AC30 output transformer with a 15-watt Fender Tweed Deluxe output transformer, which could not possibly take the output from a quad of EL84 tubes and was less than 1/4 the size of the original output transformer.

We hope this helps to dispel some of these myths."

THD / Andy Marshall Design

 

[abrackas]

I have the Tone King Ironman II mini for a 20watt head and it sounds great! Would not hesitate to buy the larger version for a 100watt head. Instead of 3db of boost on the switch I wish it were something like 2db or 1.5db as 3 is too much of a change for live IMO. I just use it at one setting and don’t change anything live.

The mini is fixed 8ohm but the bigger unit you can select the ohm from amp and at cabinet separately.

 

[PlayAndersons]

Love the PS-2.

 

[LPMojoGL]

Alex's Attenuator worked great for me.
Knocks off dbs without messing with the sound too much, and has a line out. Can be had for $250, when they pop up.

 

[Rick Lee]

My Marshall Power Brake ($75 on CL) sounds way better than my Fryette PS-1, Hot Plate or Jettenuator.

 

[Devin]

Interesting post Stephen - I've never used one but all I've ever heard from people for years is that the Hotplate is a resistive attenuator

Weird that misinformation like that would become so ubiquitous

 

[stratjacket]

The THD is analog, reactive load

If you're talking about the THD Hotplate it is a resistive load.

Suhr Reactive Load or just about any reactive load. I would not recommend any resistive type such as a Hot Plate.

"We keep getting asked if the Hot Plate attenuator is resistive or reactive.

There is a lot of misinformation floating out there, including a recent "article" on Reverb claiming that the THD Hot Plate is a resistive attenuator. I both phoned and sent emails to correct the writer of the article, but never got a call or email in return.

People seem to assume that reactive attenuators are something new, which they are not. We’ve been building them since 1994. Many assume that since the Hot Plate has been around for so long, it must be a resistive unit like the Scholz Power Soak and the Altair PW-5. (For the trivia minded, the PW stood for "power waster".)

The Hot Plate is fully reactive in three different “modes", as opposed to one mode like all the other attenuators claiming to be reactive. The bright, deep and light bulb switches let you select exactly how reactive it is, and in which frequency ranges and dynamic ranges the reactance is most prevalent, but no matter how you set it, it is always reactive in all attenuation modes and in the “Load” setting as well. It’s the only attenuator which does this.

Some attenuators like the Marshall Power Brake (no longer produced) use transformers instead of networks of resistors, capacitors and inductors, to do the dropping. The problem with this entire approach is that the only way that a transformer can reduce the power getting to the speaker is by creating an impedance mismatch, which is never good for the amp, nor does it ever sound or “feel” particularly good. With a Hot Plate, if you have an 8 ohm amp, an 8 ohm Hot Plate and an 8 ohm speaker, no matter how you set it, the amp is always “seeing” an 8 ohm load. It is the only attenuator that does this, which is why there are 5 versions. In each version, every single capacitor, resistor and inductor is optimized for that impedance.

Another aspect of this discussion that is worth mentioning is that the absolute safest load for any amplifier is one that is 100% resistive with no reactive element at all. The problem with a purely resistive load is that they don’t sound very good at all. Guitar players are used to the hearing the amp as it responds to the inductance of the speaker’s voice coils, the motion of the cones (causing a huge momentary change in the load), and often the effect of the compression of the air in the cabinet on the cone/voice coil motion, and thus on the load. So, more reactance is not necessarily a good thing, especially when it goes beyond mimicking the reactance of a speaker cabinet.

Over the past 26 years, we’ve sold more than 100,000 Hot Plates, making it the best-selling attenuator ever built. It’s also the only attenuator made that is recommended by other manufacturers. The Weber is recommended only by Weber. The Rivera is recommended only by Rivera. The THD Hot Plate is recommended my Marshall, Fender, HiWatt, Soldano, Bogner, Diezel, MESA/Boogie, and dozens of other amp companies. And, over 30 years, we’ve only ever had two people come forward, claiming that their amps were damaged by a Hot Plate. One was using a 4-ohm Hot Plate on a Marshall set to 16 ohms, which caused the output transformer to fail, just as it would have if he had run into a 4 ohm cabinet. The other had just had the output transformer in his Vox AC30 replaced when he started using a Hot Plate on his amp with the new transformer. He claimed that the Hot Plate had blown his new transformer. We paid to have the amp sent to us for investigation. It turned out that his "tech" had replaced his 30-watt AC30 output transformer with a 15-watt Fender Tweed Deluxe output transformer, which could not possibly take the output from a quad of EL84 tubes and was less than 1/4 the size of the original output transformer.

We hope this helps to dispel some of these myths."

THD / Andy Marshall Design

I understand what they’re saying, just feel that is loose use of the term “reactive”. But not knocking it, some folks love ‘em. I’ve had 4 or 5 over the years and they were not for me.