vibratoking wrote:Using an attenuator is like putting a governor on a Winston Cup car...oh that's what restrictor plate racing is? It's still stupid IMO. I have to admit that I have tried attenuators and VVR. None are as good as just turning up and playing loud. If I HAVE to attenuate, then I use VVR or I don't book the gig. I have arranged it so that I can play as loud as I want at home.
Hey, Vibro. I agree to a point.
If I had a barn in Kansas, I'd blast sleeping cows to the ground,
shake grain off wheat stalks and keep locust dormant for another decade.
I bought the Weber Mass 200, which, by the way you should read the specs, as it's
different and adjustable and flexible etc etc than any other attenuating type of device.
You might like it!!!
BUT, MY GOAL is to to play my vintage amps at home.
And loud is not gonna sit well for a number of human ears within
a quarter of a mile, or 400 meters if you are across the pond
I did my homework and felt the Weber Mass 200 is the best on the market.
Check it out. You might be interested in the
https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/mass200.htm
"200 watt MASS with a moving voice coil speaker motor for the load.
This unit is impedanced swamped to protect the output of your tube amp,
and may be used with 4, 8 & 16-ohm amps. Includes adjustable Line Out,
System Bypass, and Variable Treble Compensation.
Volume level is continuously variable to over 50db of attenuation"
I have used it, but as the OP of this thread, I feel that I've learned
from other TAG members sharing that if an attenuator can produce
a matching load as the intended speaker cabinet, then what's the difference?
PLMK. Thanks.
Also, check out the voice coil speaker motor
and the treble compensation features on the Weber Mass 200w.
Not sure if anyone respected Ted Weber, but following are his words
that convinced me to purchase the Weber Mass 200 over any and all
of Weber's line-up of attenuating devices as well as over any of the competitor's
priced under $600 when compared the Mass 200 towards:
Ted Weber: "Here are some facts to consider when using an attenuator. Attenuators do work. They are not the cause of transformer failures. An attenuator can only simulate two out of the four components that are involved when you crank up an amp. The four components are #1 preamp tube distortion, #2 power tube distortion, #3 speaker distortion and #4 the physical movement of air that your speakers produce at high volumes. So the two components missing are speaker distortion and the physical movement of air and these are huge components! So if you’re playing at moderate volumes and just want to tame the amp down to get a bit of power tube breakup then an attenuator is a great tool, but do not expect to be able to dime your amp and then use any attenuator on the market to get the exact same sound from your amp at whisper quiet volumes. You can't get there from here. You would be better off with a one watt amp."
"Catastrophic power tube failure will cause transformer and screen grid resistor failures. The reason you will read and hear horror stories from unknowledgeable attenuator users is because they do not understand how attenuators work and the stress they put on your tubes. If in fact, a player chooses to run his amp cranked all the way on and attenuate the volume down to a whisper, then in most cases power tubes will only go a few months. Power tubes will die in one of two ways. The first and most pleasant is by simply fading and dying. The second and more popular way is to go out in a blaze of glory which is what I referred to above as a catastrophic failure which can and most often will, take out screen grid resistors."
What do you think? Anybody?
Toppscore
.
Just don't mess with the old coupling caps unless necessary.
Well maybe not the one you want about the Mass 200. Weber's info is very slanted toward their product. Surprise, surprise. They believe in their product, but I haven't heard anyone speak as highly about it as they do, at least here at TAG. Tell us how you like it...or better yet, let us hear for ourselves.