j
Better than more expensive option
I've tested 3 attenuator:
Bugera PS 1 at ¤79
Jettenuator at ¤128
SPL Reducer at ¤369
The SPL and Jettanuator use fancy aluminium housed resistors, the Bugera has plain ceramic resistor that sit elevator from the pcb for cooling.
All 3 devices have just resistors inside, I was expecting some additional components in SPL to justify the price, but only the housing is nicer, the electronics are not.
The SPL has a noisy and cracking potentiometer, the other 2 are noiseless when adjusting the damping level.
The Bugera has an extra feature in the dail that consists of a magnet, a metal plate and an unknown wired component. I'm not sure what this is for, but I think it's to stabilize the resistance of the potentiometer. The more expensive Jettenuator has the same potentiometer but without these extra components.
I didn't have the SPL available for a side by side test, so I only tested the Bugera and the Jettenuator side by side. They sound almost exactly the same, the Bugera is slightly smoother and the Jettanuator sounds slightly more brittle. To me, the Bugera is the more realisticly sounding device.
On both you lose some depth in the sound. Although I find the sound surprisingly good.
Even if all were the same price, the Bugera would be a clear winner for me. The SPL is very disappointing at that price level.
Bugera PS 1 at ¤79
Jettenuator at ¤128
SPL Reducer at ¤369
The SPL and Jettanuator use fancy aluminium housed resistors, the Bugera has plain ceramic resistor that sit elevator from the pcb for cooling.
All 3 devices have just resistors inside, I was expecting some additional components in SPL to justify the price, but only the housing is nicer, the electronics are not.
The SPL has a noisy and cracking potentiometer, the other 2 are noiseless when adjusting the damping level.
The Bugera has an extra feature in the dail that consists of a magnet, a metal plate and an unknown wired component. I'm not sure what this is for, but I think it's to stabilize the resistance of the potentiometer. The more expensive Jettenuator has the same potentiometer but without these extra components.
I didn't have the SPL available for a side by side test, so I only tested the Bugera and the Jettenuator side by side. They sound almost exactly the same, the Bugera is slightly smoother and the Jettanuator sounds slightly more brittle. To me, the Bugera is the more realisticly sounding device.
On both you lose some depth in the sound. Although I find the sound surprisingly good.
Even if all were the same price, the Bugera would be a clear winner for me. The SPL is very disappointing at that price level.
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r
Not too shabby
Works pretty great but I would never hook up a 100 watt head to it. 65 watts would probably be the highest I would go.
As others have said, the more you attenuate the signal the more highs you lose but I have not noticed it to be all that bad personally. If there was any top end loss I made it up with the amp EQ easily.
I found the best aspect is that it can be used as a load box just note that if you do so you have to crank the big knob up to 0 (or no attenuation) and then the Line Level knob will begin to work. You can do this without a cab and it is fine.
Used this to DI a couple of amps I have into a cab IR in my DAW and sounded great.
Gets pretty warm after long use but nothing that will burn you.
Mine made a rather fishy smell (burn in) for the first day or two of heavy use. Stopped after that, just keep that in mind.
As others have said, the more you attenuate the signal the more highs you lose but I have not noticed it to be all that bad personally. If there was any top end loss I made it up with the amp EQ easily.
I found the best aspect is that it can be used as a load box just note that if you do so you have to crank the big knob up to 0 (or no attenuation) and then the Line Level knob will begin to work. You can do this without a cab and it is fine.
Used this to DI a couple of amps I have into a cab IR in my DAW and sounded great.
Gets pretty warm after long use but nothing that will burn you.
Mine made a rather fishy smell (burn in) for the first day or two of heavy use. Stopped after that, just keep that in mind.
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d
It's really good at this price range. What I have noticed is that it increases a little bit the gain/distortion compared when it's not connected, but not the bass/mid/treble, so i back down the gain a little bit to have the exact same sound. The manual is not very clear for all the options.
Once it is connected the amp is at half power. Meaning for a 50w amp, the maximum rating will be 25watts.
The power soak knob, is what controls the output, which means that if you use the line out, which is the second knob, you still need volume coming out. That was unclear to me as I thought I could do a "silent recording" with no sound coming from my speaker whatsoever. It is useful however if you don't have a microphone and want to record or sent at a PA at the same time.
Overall it is a great product, small, light, that doesn't need an extra outlet being passive that can tame down a large amp (up till 100w) head and enjoy it in an apartment.
Once it is connected the amp is at half power. Meaning for a 50w amp, the maximum rating will be 25watts.
The power soak knob, is what controls the output, which means that if you use the line out, which is the second knob, you still need volume coming out. That was unclear to me as I thought I could do a "silent recording" with no sound coming from my speaker whatsoever. It is useful however if you don't have a microphone and want to record or sent at a PA at the same time.
Overall it is a great product, small, light, that doesn't need an extra outlet being passive that can tame down a large amp (up till 100w) head and enjoy it in an apartment.
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A
Tames my Marshall 50W tube amp
I bought a lovely 4x12 cab and vintage Head amp. I just couldn’t turn it up past 2 in my house without the windows rattling.
This solves that problem allowing me to get those tubes glowing at volume 6 /7. It’s sounds amazing!
It does get very hot it you use maximum reduction, but that’s just because of the power it has to dissipate to work.
Highly recommended.
This solves that problem allowing me to get those tubes glowing at volume 6 /7. It’s sounds amazing!
It does get very hot it you use maximum reduction, but that’s just because of the power it has to dissipate to work.
Highly recommended.
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R
One of the best solutions to a loud about.
Bought a Marshall sv20 that's way too loud.
With the ps1 I can crank the amp and keep the volume on a comfy level.
As with every other passive attenuator there is a tonal loss when you attenuate more than 75% of the volume but can be fixed by adding treble from the amp.
When you attenuate more than 90% of the signal you can feel the sound more compressed, which can't be fixed.
All and all very usable, durable, cheap and effective.
Bought a Marshall sv20 that's way too loud.
With the ps1 I can crank the amp and keep the volume on a comfy level.
As with every other passive attenuator there is a tonal loss when you attenuate more than 75% of the volume but can be fixed by adding treble from the amp.
When you attenuate more than 90% of the signal you can feel the sound more compressed, which can't be fixed.
All and all very usable, durable, cheap and effective.
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m
Not good for a clean amp: Fender 65' DRRI
When my roughly 8 years old AlenGeere WattKiller 100 stopped working I needed a new attenuator for my Deluxe Reverb. Reviews were good as well as the price for such unit. So, I ordered one. Since I didn't have the chance the compare with my old unit. I couldn't be sure about the sound quality at first. But now I am sure that it adds a considerable amount of distortion to the amp's output through the loudspeaker. The sound is much cleaner when I remove the attenuator between the amp-out and loudspeaker. For a high gain amp, this might be a issue that one can ignore, but not with a clean amp. Thus if you consider this product for a clean amp, I wouldn't recommend it. If I wouldn't have missed the return period, I would definitely return it and look for alternatives.
In my opinion the unit lacks of a very important feature though it is very interesting one with 3 output options and 2 control knobs for speaker output and line-out: Bypass switch! It would even make it okay to keep the unit for me! I could activate it when I need amp overdrive and bypass it when I play clean in lower volume levels. Sadly, it doesn't have such feature...
Now I am looking into repairing my old attenuator and trying to find a buyer for this one. :(
In my opinion the unit lacks of a very important feature though it is very interesting one with 3 output options and 2 control knobs for speaker output and line-out: Bypass switch! It would even make it okay to keep the unit for me! I could activate it when I need amp overdrive and bypass it when I play clean in lower volume levels. Sadly, it doesn't have such feature...
Now I am looking into repairing my old attenuator and trying to find a buyer for this one. :(
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M
Brilliant piece of kit
I love my old valve amps, unfortunately they are to loud to use these days with out getting arrested. The Bugera PS1 Power Soak has enabled me to use my beloved 100 watt amps again. They are still loud but bearable.
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MM
Can't get better
This unit does whats it most do, reduce the volume of your amp. I open'd the unit and it's complete passive resistor, well built. I read here some reviews where they mention a change tone and adding distortion. Because this mainly is an passive high power poteniometer, it can't add nothing to your sound. The change of tone is because you speaker does not get the full power and it's normal that it's changing how it's behaving.
Overall if your want to cranck up you valve amp without blowing you eardrums and keeping you tone, this is the gear to buy.
A qiuick re marque, Do use the right cable, a signal cable is not an speaker cable!!!!!!!!
I use one om my Marshall Orgine20 and Marshall DSL40 and i'm very happy with it.
I will buy an other one very some for my Vox AC15 C2, Mayby Thoman can give me some special price here ;)
Overall if your want to cranck up you valve amp without blowing you eardrums and keeping you tone, this is the gear to buy.
A qiuick re marque, Do use the right cable, a signal cable is not an speaker cable!!!!!!!!
I use one om my Marshall Orgine20 and Marshall DSL40 and i'm very happy with it.
I will buy an other one very some for my Vox AC15 C2, Mayby Thoman can give me some special price here ;)
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Hr
Bugera PS1 Power Soak
If you simply want to reduce the volume/output on a 15 watt and upwards valve amp without losing very much at all of the tonal quality, then this is an excellent product especially for the price...a great well built box...
But bear in mind two essential factors: firstly, the moment you put it between your amp and the speaker you are automatically reducing output by 50%; secondly, if you want to play or record silently using the emulated or line output (to a mixer/headphones for example) you can't do that without having sound still coming from the speaker, which has to take the load. No good for middle of the night recording unless you live alone in a castle!
If Bugera could get round these two factors it would be 5 star brilliant, but if you simply just want to 'tame' your valve amp to a much lower volume level then its a very good choice.
But bear in mind two essential factors: firstly, the moment you put it between your amp and the speaker you are automatically reducing output by 50%; secondly, if you want to play or record silently using the emulated or line output (to a mixer/headphones for example) you can't do that without having sound still coming from the speaker, which has to take the load. No good for middle of the night recording unless you live alone in a castle!
If Bugera could get round these two factors it would be 5 star brilliant, but if you simply just want to 'tame' your valve amp to a much lower volume level then its a very good choice.
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W
Colours the Sound
These units sound like a bandpass filter to my ears. There is a big loss of high end, leaving you with a resonant honky sound. I tested the unit against my Captor for comparison, and it's night and day. The sound discolouration doesn't appear to be linked to the attenuation level either. I can't recommend one these unless you want your valve amp and cabinet to sound like a 6'' combo amp.
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