Reactive load for attenuation primarily.

[CorrosiveMatter]

My primary concern is attenuation with a good impedance curve unlike the Two Notes. Not against IR capabilities but I really am more worried about playing my 100w heads quietly through my Mesa 2x12. I have a bit over $600 credit on Sweetwater I'd like to use so I would prefer something I can buy from them but would consider other places for the right solution. What would you pick?

 

[PLX]

I built my own for a lot less than that.. but that's just me.

 

[Desertdweller]

My primary concern is attenuation with a good impedance curve unlike the Two Notes. Not against IR capabilities but I really am more worried about playing my 100w heads quietly through my Mesa 2x12. I have a bit over $600 credit on Sweetwater I'd like to use so I would prefer something I can buy from them but would consider other places for the right solution. What would you pick?

Which 100w heads in particular? IMO attenuators strip out too much of the tone for me to want to use them. I do like Mesa's multiwatt settings they have in many of their amps now that allow you to bring a louder amp down a bit in volume. You do lose some low end when doing so, but it's not stripping out the gut of the sound like an attenuator does.

I had a few of the Torpedo Captor devices for a few years, and I never liked the attenuated sound from them. Yes some people like them, but I never did.

 

[CorrosiveMatter]

Which 100w heads in particular? IMO attenuators strip out too much of the tone for me to want to use them. I do like Mesa's multiwatt settings they have in many of their amps now that allow you to bring a louder amp down a bit in volume. You do lose some low end when doing so, but it's not stripping out the gut of the sound like an attenuator does.

I had a few of the Torpedo Captor devices for a few years, and I never liked the attenuated sound from them. Yes some people like them, but I never did.

Older Dual Rec and a 6505+ are the only 100w I currently have, Mark V and Stealth it's not needed. I avoid 100w or larger amps because I am just a home player and some amps are so hard to turn down, like you can't hear the amp to breath on the knob and your eye balls are shaking.

The Torpedo Captor attenuated sound is what I was trying to avoid if there is such a thing.

 

[Elf]

If you are into DIY you could make this one

Simple Attenuators - Design And Testing

Background Passive attenuators are wired between the amp output and the speakers. Their function is to absorb most of the output power of the amp, feeding a smaller amount to the speaker itself. This allows the amp output stage to run at higher power, letting the glorious tone of a good valve...

www.marshallforum.com

Or buy it already made for around $330.00 USD

Like @James Freeman have you tried posted in thread 'Marshall Amps'
https://thegearforum.com/threads/marshall-amps.4173/post-186285

 

[James Freeman]

heads

If you have multiple heads you can use one amp as a power amp for a load box if it has a good fx loop with a volume control.
A Powerstation will consume pretty much the same amount of power as another tube amp head.

Buy a good load box with a proper impedance curve, it's an indispensable tool for tube amp owners.

 

[2dor]

My primary concern is attenuation with a good impedance curve unlike the Two Notes. Not against IR capabilities but I really am more worried about playing my 100w heads quietly through my Mesa 2x12. I have a bit over $600 credit on Sweetwater I'd like to use so I would prefer something I can buy from them but would consider other places for the right solution. What would you pick?

If you're just looking to use those $600 and buy from Sweetwater I think I'd recommend spending them on something else; the stuff they have in stock is meh.

As folks have said, you can build one yourself if you want. From having tested quite a few loads in the past year, the St.Rock React:IR II is probably the better choice: it's a great reactive loadbox and attenuator all in 1. Pricing on the unit is good too but they're not on Sweetwater.

HTH.

 

[PLX]

I'd never crank a 100W amp into something like this..

your mileage may vary

 

[Blix]

I'd never crank a 100W amp into something like this..

your mileage may vary

Mine has 100s of hours of cranked 100w amp into it, top notch product.

 

[PLX]

Mine has 100s of hours of cranked 100w amp into it, top notch product.

Best of luck.

 

[Blix]

Best of luck.

With what? The Suhr Reactive load has been out for like a decade, no one has issues cranking 100w amps into them, no idea what you're on about

 

[PLX]

With what? The Suhr Reactive load has been out for like a decade, no one has issues cranking 100w amps into them, no idea what you're on about

I'd never crank a 100W amp (that I owned) into that cheap piece of junk.

Is this thing on ?



Your looking at like $75 worth of parts that Suhr is selling for how much ?

"Oh, it's not just the parts. It's teh engineering."


LoL!

<Randall Aiken has entered the chat>

 

[Blix]

I'd never crank a 100W amp (that I owned) into that cheap piece of junk.

Is this thing on ?

So you have no idea what you're talking about then. 10-4

 

[PLX]

So you have no idea what you're talking about then. 10-4

Turn that around 180° and you nailed it, bro.

 

[Blix]

Turn that around 180° and you nailed it, bro.

They product speaks for itself, claiming a Suhr Rective Load is junk just falls on its own absurdity.
If they were known for failing left and right with use I'd agree, but they aren't. So your claim has no base in actual reality.

 

[Humbug]

My primary concern is attenuation with a good impedance curve unlike the Two Notes. Not against IR capabilities but I really am more worried about playing my 100w heads quietly through my Mesa 2x12. I have a bit over $600 credit on Sweetwater I'd like to use so I would prefer something I can buy from them but would consider other places for the right solution. What would you pick?

Do you want a reactive load or an attenuator? If the latter, I think you will find that all of them dull the sound proportinal to the level of attenuation. JohnH (I apologise if I got the name wrong) attenuator with an inductor can get you 7(I believe) dB reduction with little degradation of sound quality. That's probably the best you can get.

As reactive loads go, the Suhr is pretty good, React:IR is probably slightly better, Captor not terrible (decent if used with TwoNotes cabs), and the Fractal can be modded to be quite good.

 

[James Freeman]

I'd never crank a 100W amp into something like this..

But you would crank a 100W amp into a hair thin copper wire on piece of paper?
The power resistors in the Suhr are more durable than any Celestion voice coil.

Fractal X-Load has three tiny resistors in a TO package instead of big power resistors, together they easily take 150W.

 

[Orvillain]

Go on James! Pistol whip him harder!! I'm here for this!!! mwahahahahahahahahaa!

 

[PLX]

But you would crank a 100W amp into a hair thin copper wire on piece of paper?
The power resistors in the Suhr are more durable than any Celestion voice coil.

I do it into 4, not 1.



The Suhr reactive load components are grossly under-spec'ed for power handling.

You're paying 5x what those parts are worth.. but you already know all of this.

 

[Orvillain]