Anyone using attenuators?

That’s one of the things I love about the Ox Box... running a real HXDA attenuated into a cab and through an IR and FX in the Ox to a good set of monitors (Presonus S8 Scepters) combines to make a glorious playing experience. Really fun!
Real is better :)

But even with the attenuator I couldn’t use the HXDA at the volume level where I loved the tone the most without making the missus upset. I typically get to play after my son goes to bed. With the Kemper, I can still get the same tone at any volume, plus the Kemper Kabinet was the final missing piece for decent sounds. I’m sure I could play around with EQs more but at this point I just wanna make sound rock noise being it’s been so long since I could play at all. :D
 
Over the weekend, I connected a newly-purchased Fryette Power Station, PS-2 (v2) to my 30w HX/DA 2x12 amp and holy crap did it sound insanely good running in the sweetspot that the PS-2 allowed me to enable.
I also ran my 100w Marshall Jubilee RI and 3 of my Friedman amps through it. I've owned MANY attenuators over the years, including the Two Notes Captor-X which I used live and the PS-2 attenuation is on another level entirely....the best of them all, so far. Worth every penny, IMO.
 
Over the weekend, I connected a newly-purchased Fryette Power Station, PS-2 (v2) to my 30w HX/DA 2x12 amp and holy crap did it sound insanely good running in the sweetspot that the PS-2 allowed me to enable.
I also ran my 100w Marshall Jubilee RI and 3 of my Friedman amps through it. I've owned MANY attenuators over the years, including the Two Notes Captor-X which I used live and the PS-2 attenuation is on another level entirely....the best of them all, so far. Worth every penny, IMO.
Glad to hear this. I love my Fryette Sig:X and have been checking out the Power Stations.
 
Not a big fan of attenuators. Eminence has a speaker with a built-in attenuator that works well, though.

Either use a pedal to get the tone you want, or get an amp that sounds great at lower volumes, which is my preference.
 
That’s one of the things I love about the Ox Box... running a real HXDA attenuated into a cab and through an IR and FX in the Ox to a good set of monitors (Presonus S8 Scepters) combines to make a glorious playing experience. Really fun!

I do the same thing with a little less control with a Torpedo Captor X.
 
I'm running an HX/DA and the Super Dallas through a ToneKing Ironman II which is the best I've found for attenuation and I've tried all the usual suspects. The HX/DA sounds better with the power amp wide open, gain set to desired location and attenuated to proper volume. Now here's the kicker the Super Dallas cleans sound better (considerably better) applying the same procedure. But you can jack the gain up on the Super Dallas and attenuate further and man that thing can get nasty.
 
Just wanted to add that I have made a makeshift attenuator with using the Level fader on my Danelectro EQ. I know it is not propper, but it will have to do for now.
 
I've recent dug out a Weber MiniMASS that I've had forever to use with my AC15CH rig, as that amp really wants to be run full-out to sound its best and the built-in attenuator has ...issues. My Archon 50 rig OTOH sounds great at noise ordinance friendly volumes.
 
I have a Boss Tube Amp Expander and i love it. It's much more than an attenuator: you have eq, reverb, delay (Boss top of the line effects), you can simulate cabs and different mic setups. You can use the USB output to directly record on PC.
The quality is superb, the sound amazing. I especially use it with cranked amps to have the best distortion. You find amp's sweet spot and then adjust the volume to the situation you're in, so you have the best tone you can desire at the right volume.
The Boss is not cheap, but in my opinion is worth every cent.

As the Tube Amp Expander is scalable from 100W to 50W to 10W, the great thing is that you can take a small 5-10 Watt valve amp, crank it up and make it a 100W amp...this really make a glorious sound (in this case is not an attenuator but a real expander). The Tube amp takes the input signal, replicate it (digitally) and then you can output the sound at whatever level you want. Technically you are not in real tube amp territory anymore, but i can assure you that the system works so well that you can't tell the difference between the amp alone and the Boss replication.

Someone talked about the UAD OX. I've found it limited in the attenuation settings, as it's not linear in the volume attenuation: you have 4-5 steps and you can hear huge difference between them. The Boss is so linear in the volume reduction that is like a Hi-Fi volume control, so you can really find the perfect spot for the room or the situation you're playing. And even at the lowest volume the tone is 100% there, you don't lose a thing.
The app control is good and works great, but in this case the OX seems better, or at least more appealing.

In my experience this attenuator changed the way i can now play guitar. I would have never reached such glorious tones in a small room situation or at practice levels without it. Now i can really have the best tone from my tube amps whenever i pick up my guitar...heaven on earth :)

On youtube you can check up some great reviews from Tom Quayle and Rebea Massad
 
Eminence has a speaker with a built-in attenuator that works well, though..

I have one in my MkIV!

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MmcRDwW
 
Yeah, don’t know why I d!cked around for a few years tryin different amps. It was like passing over the jelly and eating peanut butter and sh!t sandwiches instead.

Well I’ve had mine for over quarter of a century and it’s done me proud. It’s traveled hundreds, maybe a few thousand miles with me during my busy gigging years.

Love it.
 
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