[thesteve]

I meant weber

the main page is www.tedweber.com
here's the contact page
http://www.webervst.com/contact.html

[DaGeek]

Gotcha, thanks! I'll e-mail them and send a PM to Major Tom and then decide what would probably be best. I've got a while to decide

[nick2282]

Originally Posted by thesteve

any of the 50W models should work I think. You can email the company about it too, from what I understand they're very responsive.

on the Weber website they said you should get an attenuator that is about double the wattage of the amp because the amp is much louder when its pushed all the way. so you might want a 60-80w for a 40w amp. am i wrong?

[Rainer.]

You are correct, I believe.

It really also depends how much attenuation you're doing. This is because a lot of the energy the attenuator "throws away" goes out as heat. So if you're running a 40W attenuator low on a really hot running even 30W amp, it'll start smoking. But you could use that same 40W attenuator on a 100W amp with really light attenuation.

For most folks' neds, I figure doubling the wattage on the attenuator is a pretty good guideline.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by nick2282

on the Weber website they said you should get an attenuator that is about double the wattage of the amp because the amp is much louder when its pushed all the way. so you might want a 60-80w for a 40w amp. am i wrong?

Actually this is what it says,

"A note about the power level:

You should select an attenuator that can handle at least as much power as your amp puts out.

Amplifiers are generally designed to operate clean, and most manufacturers specify the output power as clean power. When you run the amp full blast, the output devices actually become more efficient because distortion is not considered. Under those conditions, the amp may be capable of putting out as much as 50% more power than its rated clean power. Be aware of that when choosing an attenuator, because the idea of using an attenuator is to run the amp full blast into power tube distortion and then controlling the level going to the speaker. If you are going to dime a 50 watt amp, you should choose a 100 watt attenuator."

So yes...if you're going to be diming out, then you're going to want to get a heavier attenuator. I was able to get into my HRDlx's sweet spot around 3-4 on the volume...I attenuated fairly heavily, and this was done with one of Tom's attenuators (which he has rated at 30-40W I think). I wasn't power blasting the power tubes...just pushing them enough to get compression and not much overdrive.

[nick2282]

major tom sells the attenuators?

[Rainer.]

If you ask him to build one... he's built and sold a bunch over time.