THD hot plate and/or amp mods

[brinton]

First of all, since I'm not familiar with this type of product, what exactly does it do. Let you crank your power tubes but reduce speaker output? Is it the speakers or amp that have to be at a certain power level to get the cut and high end (like amp is really on) sound?

I just wanna hear my amp at it's near best without going deaf.

Any help appreicated.

Also another thing, what's another little (or big) mod I can make to my deville, I've always wanted to have a big fat 15" speaker in there, but it's not my priority or special field. I'm kinda stuck between "If it ain't broke, why fix it" and "why settle for less".

 

[aleclee]

Re: THD hot plate and/or amp mods

An attenuator (e.g., Hot Plate or Weber MASS) absorbs some or all of the amp's output before it reaches the speaker. Though it can reduce a cranked amp to a whisper, it's not necessarily going to sound like a cranked amp at a lower volume. The reality is that at higher levels of attenuation (generally >8dB), it's going to sound strangled. All too often, folks expect an attenuator to tame a big amp for household-friendly use. The more common experience is that they let you knock things down a bit. It lets you turn up a bit so the master volume isn't strangling your output but it can't do anything about the speakers' tone at extremely low power levels.

 

[Stevo]

Re: THD hot plate and/or amp mods

I totally agree with Aleclee. Massive attenuation and minimal speaker movement will not do your amp much justice. I use a Weber Mass attenuator all of the time, but the actual volume needs to be up a bit.

With your deville, you can put a resistance in the effects loop. That allows you to crank your amp and get some pretty good natural distortion. I did that with my deluxe and it sounded pretty cool. I just used a volume pot. That method is pretty popular with the HRD amps.

 

[B2D]

Re: THD hot plate and/or amp mods

Kind of a hijack but Mojotone.com is gonna have a similar attentator to the THD coming out very soon. I saw it at Namm.