Reactive Loads - 2026 consensus??

it would be really cool if companies that make reactive loads could offer options for different impedance curves.

Something like the Suhr RL that is passive and analog, but either you’ve got a dial to select between a few different SICs, or even the option to buy the 4x12 version or the 1x12 version, etc.
 
metropolis_4 said:
it would be really cool if companies that make reactive loads could offer options for different impedance curves.

Something like the Suhr RL that is passive and analog, but either you’ve got a dial to select between a few different SICs, or even the option to buy the 4x12 version or the 1x12 version, etc.
Click to expand...
Fractal's LB-2 has two. The BOSS has several, but it's friendliness to amps has always been in question.
 
Given the title - I'm surprised @Dez didn't take it <there>

Shaq No GIF
 
paisleywookiee said:
Fractal's LB-2 has two. The BOSS has several, but it's friendliness to amps has always been in question.
Click to expand...

I probably would’ve bought the Fractal if I’d RTFM. I saw the 9v jack on the back and assumed it was active and required power.

Have they said anywhere what SIC “UK” and “US” are?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dez
Just a thought on a fun experiment, many amps have a slave output that’s line level; almost every Mesa Rectifier head has this. You could run the slave output from one of those heads to a Fractal Fm3/FM9/Axe FX and try the tube pre amp model, flat, and try out some of the difference speaker reactance curves in there.

I did that a long time ago and found the differences interesting.
 
AlbertA said:
Given the title - I'm surprised @Dez didn't take it <there>

Shaq No GIF
Click to expand...
@Humbug has already trodden this ground.

Humbug

Thread 'Introducing: The Creampie reactive load box.'

With my previous load box circuit (BFL T652, thread here), the goal was to see how close one could get to an actual cabinet impedance. For this reason I chose to replicate the most characteristic / idiosyncratic cabinet I had access to (60's Marshall 412, Celestion T652 alnico speakers). The result was very close to the cabinet and a tremendous load, but not very versatile. It was also unnecessarily complex with too many parts. So I made a simpler one!
Creampie_T1220.jpg


This one is based on a 70's Marshall 412 cab with T1220 greenbacks and is a much simpler circuit. The two rise inductors...
  • Like
 
metropolis_4 said:
In what way? Curious since I’m using Vox amps
Click to expand...

The frequency response (and other amp reactions) to the bass resonance spike and the high frequency ramp up are greater in a low damping/low NFB amp, so differences in SIC between real cabs or loads will be most noticeable in those amps.

It's the same reason some people are happy with any crap attenuator and others see much more tone loss with (most) attenuators that don't maintain a decent SIC. If your amp has high NFB or high damping like a standard Class D, the speaker load or the attenuator won't matter much if at all. The difference between a 1x12 open back and 4x12 closed back becomes inaudible (at the amp level, obviously the cabs still sound very different).
 
All I know is that the Captor 8 I had was not nearly as bad as I thought it'd be and the Fryette PS-1 I just got rid of was not even remotely transparent as an attenuator and not much better than the Captor 8 as a loadbox ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
I’ve only tried the suhr RL and two notes captor. The suhr is so much better built it’s crazy but it’s at least twice the size. Sonically you can hear the curve is more scooped with more of a high end peak. No issues with excessive brightness or low end though.

I can’t imagine there’s a big world of sonic improvement over the suhr. Maybe a bit of eq tweaks would get the same effect. But I don’t know.
 
eggpl@nt said:
@Humbug has already trodden this ground.

Humbug

Thread 'Introducing: The Creampie reactive load box.'

With my previous load box circuit (BFL T652, thread here), the goal was to see how close one could get to an actual cabinet impedance. For this reason I chose to replicate the most characteristic / idiosyncratic cabinet I had access to (60's Marshall 412, Celestion T652 alnico speakers). The result was very close to the cabinet and a tremendous load, but not very versatile. It was also unnecessarily complex with too many parts. So I made a simpler one!
Creampie_T1220.jpg


This one is based on a 70's Marshall 412 cab with T1220 greenbacks and is a much simpler circuit. The two rise inductors...
  • Like
Click to expand...
Someone had to!
 
MirrorProfiles said:
Are you able to post some A/B examples showing different amps recorded from their power amp output with real cab loads comparing against the Two Notes Captor II? Very curious to know how close it gets to various different cabs.
Click to expand...
Thanks for getting back to me. Just to confirm, are you requesting DynIR examples from the Captor X? If so, you can actually demo this for free in GENOME using the 14-Day Trial. The DynIR engine in there is the same as the version in Captor X. I would suggest getting some NAM captures and then run these into the DynIR component and you can see exactly how that sounds! If i've missed the request here though, please let me know!
 
Ross Davies said:
Thanks for getting back to me. Just to confirm, are you requesting DynIR examples from the Captor X? If so, you can actually demo this for free in GENOME using the 14-Day Trial. The DynIR engine in there is the same as the version in Captor X. I would suggest getting some NAM captures and then run these into the DynIR component and you can see exactly how that sounds! If i've missed the request here though, please let me know!
Click to expand...
Nah, Im asking something quite different.

Basically to record:

Amp -> DI -> Cab (but record the DI signal, dont mic the cab up)
Amp -> Reload II Load box (record the dry signal from Reload)

Then to apply the exact same IR to the amp DI when driving the cab, and to the output of the reload. I'm curious how the Reload II causes the amp to respond compared to various real cabs.
 
Any opinions on the Fryette Power Load IR? Don't see it mentioned here.

I have the Mesa Cab Clone IR+ which has been fine, no complaints really for headphone playing (though the fan kicking in in and off can be distracting). Want something with an FX loop and headphone out, bonus points if it's quieter than the Mesa.
 
RRD said:
Any opinions on the Fryette Power Load IR? Don't see it mentioned here.

I have the Mesa Cab Clone IR+ which has been fine, no complaints really for headphone playing (though the fan kicking in in and off can be distracting). Want something with an FX loop and headphone out, bonus points if it's quieter than the Mesa.
Click to expand...
It has the same reactive load as the PowerStation. I think the general consensus is that the Fryette reactive load is fine, but doesn't get as close to sounding like a real world cabinet as some of the others.
 
MirrorProfiles said:
Nah, Im asking something quite different.

Basically to record:

Amp -> DI -> Cab (but record the DI signal, dont mic the cab up)
Amp -> Reload II Load box (record the dry signal from Reload)

Then to apply the exact same IR to the amp DI when driving the cab, and to the output of the reload. I'm curious how the Reload II causes the amp to respond compared to various real cabs.
Click to expand...
Ah ok, that makes sense. I can completely see the need here and will certainly look into seeing whether this would be feasible to capture - out of interest, what amps would you consider being necessary for the test?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top