Tube Cube - attenuator

[rayc]

Any thoughts, knowledge, experience warnings about this:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=016

[rayc]

Anyone? I'm considering getting one so that I can keep my superbass.

[timthetortoise]

Judging from all the positive feedback, I'd say it looks like a decent product. Do it!

[rayc]

Based on the flurry of responses I ended up buying the attenuator. I'll post a review once it arrives & I've played with it a bit.
Thanks Timthetortoise for responding.
I couldn't've done it without you.

[Thurgood]

That looks cool. Report result.

[rayc]

Oh, & to the "person" who dropped the negative points on me: I think you're the one that is in need of a life - you're jollies are obviously hard to come by if you take chuckles from anaoymous negativity.

[andyhix]

Review?

Since I'm bumping this attenuator thread, does anyone have a thought about this one?: http://cgi.ebay.com/TUBE-SQUEEZER-AT...QQcmdZViewItem

I just can't affor the $250-$300 for the Hotplate, and frankly can't understand why they cost anything close to that.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by rayc

Any thoughts, knowledge, experience warnings about this:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=016

It's just a big resistor box in a voltage divider network. Resistor attenuators work OK, but they present a different kind of load to your amp than speakers do (static vs. dynamic), so there may be a coloration of the sound. I've never heard of one damaging an amp.

[punkin]

Do tell us more?!

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by punkin

Do tell us more?!

What's to tell? It's an array of wire wound resistors that presents a nominal load to an amplifier. Its resistors are set up as a voltage divider network, and it sends a selectable portion of the amp's output to the speaker output and dissipates the rest as heat. It's pretty simple.

[punkin]

Yeah, yeah but, does it look like it will hold up, do you think it will cook for awhile then give up the ghost and take your amp out with it, will the thing dissipate plenty -o- heat, how does it sound, how far down can you get with it...you know. Give it up 'cmon...the tasty details.

At that price, it seems too good to be true. You know what they say about that.

[dementedchord]

seems i remember someone awhile back finding a good one they recomended highly... cant remeber who or which one... anyone else have a clue????

[punkin]

I've got a THD Hotplate, like it a lot, sounds great but you've got to have a seperate unit for the 4 ohm cab and another for the 8 ohm. They're very proud of the product and you'll pay for it.

[Outlaws]

I just can't affor the $250-$300 for the Hotplate, and frankly can't understand why they cost anything close to that.

1. The don't sell like hot cakes so the cost of production is higher.

2. Unlike a lot of other options, the HotPlate is not just a resistor in a box. The THD has a lot of tonal options to compensate for the tone loss that is common with heavy attenuation from the speaker not pumping air.

[rayc]

I bought a tube cube. It's a resistor type set up in a heavy mesh box so that the heats dissaptes easily. The Tube squeezer seems the same except for the mesh. I assume the things can cook if they get too hot and don't dissapate well - but I don't know. As to the sound from the tube cube - I've not recorded it as yet - my recording comp died a week after I bought the tube cube & I can't afford, as yet, to fix it as I'm in the process of getting repairs & set up to 2 guitars.
BUT I really like the sound, it doesn't have the options for tonal adjustment but as yet I've not felt the need for such. I don't have a big brand guitar with a just so sound, just a few cheapies/oldies that have unique sounds & since the tube cube is to allow me to push the valves for natural breakup and over drive I'm happy with the sound I get.
Mind you I'm essentially a bass player so I'm not quite so in tune with my guitar sound.
At the price the Tube Squeezer seems CHEAP & I hope it's not a case of getting what you pay for. The Tube Cube was about double the price. is robust, sounds good to me & is built to deal with the heat issue.
Sorry I can't give more deatil on sound.

[punkin]

I'd say it looks to be worth a look. Thanks for the review Ray! If you change your mind about it, I'd like to hear from ya.


Thanks,
punkin

[donkeystyle]

https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/masslite.htm

anyone looking for a great attenuator that doesn't cost as much as the THD ones should look into the weber attenuators.

I have the 100 watt mass lite and it's fantastic.

[mshilarious]

Here is my somewhat inenbriated idea for a tube amp attenuator: put a switch on the amp that routes the output signal through the power supply for the tube heaters . . . rectified, filtered, etc., but not wasted

[rayc]

donkeystyle - that's pretty good pricing in comparison and a nice box but rather to late as I asked for reccos some months ago. Oh, & I really do like my little tubecube!
mshilarious - sound cool - can you do it uninebriated? Could set yourself up as a valve amp modifier - an unwanted sideline I guess.

[dementedchord]

Originally Posted by mshilarious

Here is my somewhat inenbriated idea for a tube amp attenuator: put a switch on the amp that routes the output signal through the power supply for the tube heaters . . . rectified, filtered, etc., but not wasted

i'm afraid you have a bit of a chicken or the egg problem here.... without heater voltage to the tubes you cant get an output to provide the heater voltage.... and the single largest current draw is the heaters in most designs...

[mshilarious]

Originally Posted by dementedchord

i'm afraid you have a bit of a chicken or the egg problem here.... without heater voltage to the tubes you cant get an output to provide the heater voltage.... and the single largest current draw is the heaters in most designs...

Nah, not really chicken and egg. Tubes are so massively inefficient that you will always need much more power for the heaters, so it's not an all or nothing proposition. You would still obviously need a heater supply. But it's possible to recover some of the output power, if only to provide a handy internal pad for the output. It would be somewhat like switching between battery and external power like portable devices do.

I don't think there is any danger of me going into business modding tube amps. They are heavy and expensive to ship, and that sounds like far too much liability.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by mshilarious

Nah, not really chicken and egg. Tubes are so massively inefficient that you will always need much more power for the heaters, so it's not an all or nothing proposition. You would still obviously need a heater supply. But it's possible to recover some of the output power, if only to provide a handy internal pad for the output. It would be somewhat like switching between battery and external power like portable devices do.

I don't think there is any danger of me going into business modding tube amps. They are heavy and expensive to ship, and that sounds like far too much liability.

But the output from the power tubes is highly variable. When you're not playing it's virtually zero, and it's always AC, while the heaters use DC. I guess you could rectify it and send it to a battery... Maybe you could return it to the power grid to lower your electricity bill. ;^)

[mshilarious]

Originally Posted by ggunn

But the output from the power tubes is highly variable. When you're not playing it's virtually zero, and it's always AC, while the heaters use DC. I guess you could rectify it and send it to a battery...

The power the heaters normally use starts out as AC too. Heaters can use AC though, they don't particularly care which way the electrons move, but an AC supply has an effect on audio. Actually it could be an interesting form of feedback, either positive or negative. Or you could filter (and store) it with a cap and stick with DC. Yes, it would have to switch with the normal heater supply. I thought about doing a DC bias from the heater supply, but then the attenuation is occuring in the heater supply circuit, which somehow doesn't seem as romantic

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by mshilarious

The power the heaters normally use starts out as AC too. Heaters can use AC though, they don't particularly care which way the electrons move, but an AC supply has an effect on audio. Actually it could be an interesting form of feedback, either positive or negative. Or you could filter (and store) it with a cap and stick with DC. Yes, it would have to switch with the normal heater supply. I thought about doing a DC bias from the heater supply, but then the attenuation is occuring in the heater supply circuit, which somehow doesn't seem as romantic

Yes, but it starts with 60Hz AC at a constant voltage. The AC voltage from the amp's output stage is highly variable in both frequency and amplitude. As to saving money on power consumption, I think you'd get more benefit from turning off some lights and raising the thermostat a bit.

Just running the tubes "cold" (less heater voltage) will burn out the tubes very quickly.

As to "interesting" feedback, to me the best sort of attenuation is that which does not change the sound of the amp any more than it has to.

[cusebassman]

Originally Posted by ggunn

As to "interesting" feedback, to me the best sort of attenuation is that which does not change the sound of the amp any more than it has to.

Are there any reasonably priced attenuators out there that actually work, and aren't highly suspect then (a few hundred, perhaps)? I get a beautiful clean tone from my Blues DeVille when its cranked on the gain and the master is set reasonably low, but that still blows my face off...