PPIMV in Rocket?

[paulster]

I've had my Phantom for a little over a year now, since I was lucky enough to hear about it when it was first being developed.

Given that I've got a wide assortment of different amps, mostly non-MV, I figured that a good attenuator was going to be a wise investment since I'd be able to use it with everything.

The Phantom delivers in spades.

Using the switched attenuator to get down to -12dB in -2dB steps is really transparent, and even the variable attenuation from this point down to load has minimal effect on the tone, even when you're as whisper volumes.

Once you're down at the -30dB zone you're competing against physics because the speaker cones are barely moving so aren't in their most linear region, but your amps will still sound like your amps, and I've been able to get down to -50dB when I've wanted to be able to crank a 100W plexi with my wife asleep in the next room!

The big thing is how it retains the feel and dynamics of the amps, which I believe is due to how Tim has designed a reactive load that appears as a speaker to the OT, so you get that same interaction with the comparatively high damping factor of a tube amp OT coupled with a faux loudspeaker.

It's that good that I'm going to spring for a second one when I can justify it as it would make the perfect stereo rig a genuine possibility. Plus the newest ones (like Glen has) now have a 2ohm option as well, whereas mine is only 4, 8 or 16.

I'd love it if Randall ever came up with one. It's so much hassle though, as Tim has already found, because people can't appreciate the value contained in an attenuator, seem to think "oh, it's only a couple of resistors" and therefore it should come in at $100! By the time you've had custom metalwork and heatsinks made you're a mile away from this figure but it doesn't change the perception.

It does seem to have spurred on a whole load of manufacturers to get into the game too. Since the Phantom first appeared we now have the Aracom, which is supposed to be pretty good, the Alex Attenuator (Alex's refinement of a Sequis, also well respected), and now Rivera and Jim Kelley have both got products on the market.

If you haven't seen it, check out Pete Thorn's demo of the Phantom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71h7Lv7LKcU

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...!

[rooster]

Man, that sounds too good to be true but I will take your word for it. I didn't know that Glen was using one, too? Man, this is all news to me. First, that someone has made something along these lines that performs better than the things in the past, and second that guys running the TWs are using them.

I guess it pays to inquire.

Yeah, as to what other manufacturers are thinking at this point, at $950 with a line around the block (?), it prolly shouldn't take too long before there are quite a few wannabee competitors.....

Er, when you report that it has a reactive load, just like the press blog says, too, what exactly is that within the box that behaves reactively, paulster? It's passive, so, a coil of wire and a magnet structure? Ferrite core wire coils? A wooden spoon with printing on it? For what you dished out, I wonder if you took a look? Have to ask, you know, and BTW thanks for the report, you have enlightened me.

[paulster]

It's passive, so, a coil of wire and a magnet structure? Ferrite core wire coils? A wooden spoon with printing on it?

There is at least one inductor in there in the big black block in the middle you can see in some of the photos. There might be more than one but I've got to be honest and say that, bizarrely, I haven't actually taken the lid off it!

I was thinking about building an Ultimate Attenuator style reamp device but using a proper reactive load like Randall Aiken's design, but trying to find the right inductors in the right values with windings thick enough for the power of the amps I'd be using, plus the fabrication costs and then still requiring a power amp made me think it's just easier to buy one off the shelf. And this was all happening right about the time that Pete Thorn got one of the early Phantoms so I gave up getting quotes on custom inductors and put my deposit down instead!

[rooster]

OK, just listened to all the sound clips and videos, too.

For me the 'French guitarist' artist/player demos, in particular the A/B demo of the Ultimate Attenuator and the Phantom at low levels speaks volumes. Also his other demos are all at bedroom levels which is pretty interesting, too, since they all sound very good. Meaning, if something like this is to have a value beyond other things like it, it will probably show up in the extreme usage areas. Bedroom level with good tone is hard to do.

Is there a clip somewhere where someone does the THD, the UA, the AB, etc. vs. the Phantom? That would be nice. This said, the UA vs. the Phantom was like - WOW! the UA sounded like a wounded cat. You have got to be kidding was my thought as I listened to it.

Well, I will always prefer the speaker cab thing for recording because there is more to be had with mics, mic placement, and room sounds - but, eh, for the latenite recording guy wanting to use an actual guitar amp the Phantom is maybe impossible to beat. With good IR software, yeah, the lines could get blurred. I get your interest, paulster.