Power Soak's + DIY Power Soaks

A

AshM

Member
Apr 30, 2009
106
0
16
London, UK
Hey,

So I got myself a Peavey 6505 and will soon have a cab for it. I'll be doing much recording at home, but won't be able to pump up to the levels I'd like to so am thinking of investing in a power soak.

Anyone have any experience with them? I hear they sometimes reduce dynamics. And are they safe to use?

Also, I saw these on eBay for £12!! Surely this is too good to be true?...:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VOLUME-BOX-GUITAR-ATTENUATOR-POWER-BRAKE-SOAK-HOT-PLATE_W0QQitemZ200356012000QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2ea6261fe0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1683|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50
 
Yeah, all that does is just let you drastically reduce the preamp signal so you have to turn the power amp much louder to get it to an equivalent volume, thus pushing it harder - I don't think it'd work quite the same way though, cuz the power amp may be working harder, but still isn't being "pushed" very hard. A real power soak would go between the head and cab, and putting the above box there would be a VERY bad idea! :ill:
 
Metaltastic said:
Yeah, all that does is just let you drastically reduce the preamp signal so you have to turn the power amp much louder to get it to an equivalent volume, thus pushing it harder - I don't think it'd work quite the same way though, cuz the power amp may be working harder, but still isn't being "pushed" very hard. A real power soak would go between the head and cab, and putting the above box there would be a VERY bad idea! :ill:
Click to expand...

Ah I seee. Apparently this goes in the effects loop. Yeah I wasn't planning on getting one as I didn't really trust it.

But as for power soaks, anyone used one?
 
To answer the question, yes, I have used (and still own) attenuators, and even the Sholz POWER SOAK !!! Still own it. As I am sure you know there are different approaches to attenuation, the purely resistive (Power soak) is just like it sounds...a big resistor, like EVH used back in his club playing days. The Marshall Power Brake and the THD Hot Plate combine resistance with a fan or light bulb that allows some of the electrical energy to 'drive' something (reactive).
I'm not here to debate the pro's and/or con's of either approach or any other...my experience with the Power Soak was fine. No problems mechanically (electrically). It did the job that I wanted it to do, the job it was designed to do, which was to allow me to crank the living daylights out on my Non-MV Marshall Super Lead, get all the tonal goodies from that, and not blow the roof off the club.
And there's the rub.
Running an amp at MAX all the time has inherent dangers and tonal effects, attenuated or not.
And the tonal effect depends on the amp, but yes, because it was cranked there was an increase in compression, peak limiting etc.
My subjective experience is that the tonal effect was mostly based on how the amp itself performed when cranked, partly how ears 'hear' (basically, louder is 'better') and partly the attenuator...which may have been rounding off the tops.
Confused yet?
In a nut shell I think the tonal effects are the amp, not entirely the attenuator.
 
SuperD said:
To answer the question, yes, I have used (and still own) attenuators, and even the Sholz POWER SOAK !!! Still own it. As I am sure you know there are different approaches to attenuation, the purely resistive (Power soak) is just like it sounds...a big resistor, like EVH used back in his club playing days. The Marshall Power Brake and the THD Hot Plate combine resistance with a fan or light bulb that allows some of the electrical energy to 'drive' something (reactive).
I'm not here to debate the pro's and/or con's of either approach or any other...my experience with the Power Soak was fine. No problems mechanically (electrically). It did the job that I wanted it to do, the job it was designed to do, which was to allow me to crank the living daylights out on my Non-MV Marshall Super Lead, get all the tonal goodies from that, and not blow the roof off the club.
And there's the rub.
Running an amp at MAX all the time has inherent dangers and tonal effects, attenuated or not.
And the tonal effect depends on the amp, but yes, because it was cranked there was an increase in compression, peak limiting etc.
My subjective experience is that the tonal effect was mostly based on how the amp itself performed when cranked, partly how ears 'hear' (basically, louder is 'better') and partly the attenuator...which may have been rounding off the tops.
Confused yet?
In a nut shell I think the tonal effects are the amp, not entirely the attenuator.
Click to expand...

Ah brilliant! Thanks for the detailed response, so helpful :)

I will try to be as careful as I can with pushing the amp too far too much, I've heard soaks can be the cause of blown amps, particular reactive ones, not sure how much truth there is in this.

Can I just ask, can you recommend any particular ones to buy at £100-£200?

Thanks pal
 
I guess Hot Plates work pretty well, but isn't at least some tone generated by how hard you push your speakers? A Hot Plate can't emulate that.

Just thinking out loud here.
 
Melodeath said:
I guess Hot Plates work pretty well, but isn't at least some tone generated by how hard you push your speakers? A Hot Plate can't emulate that.

Just thinking out loud here.
Click to expand...


You're right, pushing speakers contributes something. How much is contributed and how hard they must be pushed to get it is of course, subjective.

I'm not convinced it's the soaks that blow amps, although a device in a critical position like that better not have a fault obviously.
As I vaguely alluded to, it's constantly running amps on 10 that blows amps up...
 
Oops, sorry, as for a recommendation...

I'm not up to speed on pricing, but I would suggest researching THD's HotPlate products and the Ultimate Attenuator.

Anybody else got any good suggestions?
 
One more thing....

It may seem to be that an un-attenuated amp sounds better than when it is attenuated...

but in very general terms, our hearing tends to identify 'louder' as 'better'....

which can be wrong.

or right lol!!

Okay, sorry, that doesn't help lol
 
Haha, love that last post :)

Very helpful though guys thanks, yeah I can see what you mean by louder is perceived as better and isn't always. I will need to find the right balance between attenuation and amp level for the right amount of pushing the speaker if you know what I mean.

I'll look into those 2 products. Only trouble with the THD is that it comes in either 4, 8 or 16 ohms etc. What if I use my head at 8 sometimes and 16 sometimes? Actually thats a point I meant to ask, kinda loosely related...

Does everyone use their mono 8 ohm output to speaker normally? Whats the point in the 16 ohm stereo option?.. I realise it might sound like a dumb question. I'm clued up on many things, amps just aren't one of them! :)
 
I wouldn't worry too much about powersoaks, powerbrakes, hotplates, etc, with a 5150.

The 5150 will not sound as good at 1 as it does at 2.5 or 3, we all know this, but my overall impression that any of those devices are intended for non-master volume style amps, and the 5150 doesn't really fit.

I'd just run the volume on the 5150 as high as you can reasonably deal with, and turn the preamp gain up on your mic, make sure your signal chain is clean, mic cables are short, run a Hush Super C in the loop of the amp, and EQ to taste.

Otherwise, I'd build or buy some sort of isolation cabinet or isolation box for the cabinet you buy.
 
AshM said:
Sorry mate I didn't understand that.

Power soaks are intended for non-master volume amps?
Click to expand...

I'm saying my general impression is that they were originally designed for non-master volume amps. While they might work just fine with an amp with master volume controls, etc. I think they're really more for an amplifier that gets a large portion of it's sound from the power section being cranked right up. Where the 5150's tone mostly comes from the preamp section.

Might benefit a Marshall NMV 100 watt head a lot more than a modern high gainer like the 5150.
 
I haven't heard that the 5150's tone comes from the preamp mostly, even so, pushing the poweramp is still important to getting a good tone eh
 
AshM said:
I haven't heard that the 5150's tone comes from the preamp mostly, even so, pushing the poweramp is still important to getting a good tone eh
Click to expand...

Somewhat, but I still agree totally with Sysera, it doesn't have to be that loud to sound good! (just above painful in the room levels always works for me and my Dual Rec)
 
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