miroslav Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Looking for some suggestions on how best to reduce the power output of my SS Kustom Quad 100. I know a lot of folks use power brakes/attenuators on tube amps...so I would like to be able to do similar reduction on this little solid state amp. I have a tube Traynor Mark III w/412...and am also looking at the tube 30W Peavey Delta Blues 15"...or maybe one of the low wattage boutique tube amps (10W-15W)... ...but I really do like some of the sounds I get from this solid state Kustom. However, in my studio, I don't need 100W...and the output knob on the Kustom really kicks as soon as you go past "2"...which is a bit of a PITA. I'm not expecting the same tone variations you can coax out of a tube amp by messin' with its power output...I just want less power. The combo has 212 Celestions 8 Ohms each...wired in Parallel...which presents a 4 Ohm load to the amp. I'm wondering about switching it to Series wiring...which would add up to a 16 Ohm load...and should thereabouts quarter my amp's output...right??? Just looking for a best-case scenario that won't kill my amp!!! Anyone...? miroslav - miroslavmusic.com "Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroslav Posted July 11, 2004 Author Share Posted July 11, 2004 Actually...now that I've looked at the spec sheet...the amp is listed as having 8 Ohm impedance... ...so, since it has two 8 Ohm speakers wired in Parallel...giving a 4 Ohm load to achieve 100W... ...I guess I can also just disconnect one speaker which should drop the power by about half... ...or go to a Series wiring scheme as I noted above...giving me a 16 Ohm load, and roughly quartering the power...yes? Ehhh...Sunday morning... ...where's my coffee...??? miroslav - miroslavmusic.com "Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 Originally posted by miroslav: Actually...now that I've looked at the spec sheet...the amp is listed as having 8 Ohm impedance... ...so, since it has two 8 Ohm speakers wired in Parallel...giving a 4 Ohm load to achieve 100W... ...I guess I can also just disconnect one speaker which should drop the power by about half... ...or go to a Series wiring scheme as I noted above...giving me a 16 Ohm load, and roughly quartering the power...yes? Ehhh...Sunday morning... ...where's my coffee...??? Well, there isn't much appreciable difference in percieved loudness between a 50 and 100 watt amp. The 50's and below just get dirty quicker. I ain't the big kahuna around here regarding electronic specifications, but I seem to recall hearing that impedance mismatches are not good for your amp, low or high, and that solid state amps are more susceptable to difficulties of that sort than tube amps. You might want to ask around a bit before you do that. Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroslav Posted July 11, 2004 Author Share Posted July 11, 2004 Originally posted by picker: ...I seem to recall hearing that impedance mismatches are not good for your amp, low or high, and that solid state amps are more susceptable to difficulties of that sort than tube amps. You might want to ask around a bit before you do that.Exactly the reason for my posts!! Just not sure if I'm on the right path...or if there even is a path for this particular amp. Bottom line...I mainly want a little more "play" out of the Volume control before it kicks in the high output...that's all. I'm not trying to attain any tone/drive variations like people do with their tube amps when using power attenuators. Hell...maybe I just need a different value pot for the Volume control...??? Something that raises more gradually??? miroslav - miroslavmusic.com "Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave da Dude Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 picker, Well, there isn't much appreciable difference in percieved loudness between a 50 and 100 watt amp. To be exact, a doubling of power (watts) results in 3dB increase of volume, and vice versa. One dB is defined as the least amount of change that the average human ear can detect. I have a 1/3 power switch on my 50W tube amp (17W). My wife thinks it's still WAY too load at 1/3 with the Master Volume at two or three (and gain at 8 ). One-half (1/2) of 50W is 25W, or 3dB decrease; 1/2 of 25W would be 12.5W or 6dB decrease; 1/2 of 12.5W would be 6.25W, or 9dB decrease; a significant change; although 3.125W for a 12dB decrease would be even more significant. Just some info fyi. Dave the Math Guy Gotta' geetar... got the amp. There must be SOMEthing else I... "need". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel E. Posted July 11, 2004 Share Posted July 11, 2004 I don't know that an attenuator would help with the volume control's "play". Sounds to me like it would make it worse if anything. I would look at replacing the volume pot with a higher impedance unit. Or use a linear pot instead. "You never can vouch for your own consciousness." - Norman Mailer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Tom Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 There is no point in using a power attenuator with a solid state amp. Whatever distortion characteristics it has is in the preamp section - the power amp section is going to be like a hi-fidelity amp that just reproduces that. You could probably put a different value pot in or add a resistor or whatever to expand its usable range at lower volumes, but can you just attenuate the signal before the input to the amp? Possibly one of those wonderful "volume boxes" would help if it has an effects loop, or something like an EQ pedal in the effects loop using the level control to attenuate the signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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