PA-100 Power Attenuator : Works Great

I was super concerned with an attenuator/load for such an inexpensive price. My main amp is a 50watt Hand built Plexi from RocketRetro (Kevin is amazing).

Being that this is my main amp I literally tried this on all my amps before the Plexi, working my way up from a 5 watt tube amp, to a 40 watt Fender, my 60watt Marshall combo and finally my plexi. I figured if I was going to blow something up I didnt want it to be my dream amp.

I run my Plexi on about 7 jumped channels. I have a PPIMV installed so my master is about 1/2. I can turn the attenuator down to whisper quiet and it sounds great. All attenuators affect the high end but your amp has dials, USE THEM.

It's a 100 watt attenuator. I think if you're running a 100 watt head into this I would opt for something rated higher. The rule is usually double the amp output. Especially because the transients in a tube amp can easily exceed the power rating of your amp. I have no concerns with my 50 watt head

Pros

-Build quality is great. I couldn't but the parts for this at this price point.

-Works with 4/8/16 ohm taps from you amplifier ensuring compatibility with just about everything.

1/4" line out works great for recording.

-Seemed to be exactly the same as the jet city "jettenuator" whic is about $100 USD more.

-Silent recording works well so follow the instructions. You have to disconnect you cab and turn the power down to 9:00 for the line out to get enough signal.

Cons

-XLR out was completely unusable for my needs. I believe it must have some sort of Cab Emulation EQ circuit because the sound is completely different than the 1/4" out.

-XLR is unbalanced? I cant figure this out. Why would you have an unbalanced circuit when the main purpose of an XLR is direct recording or Str8 into a console?

- I was sometimes getting a weird hi frequency "whine" it hasn't happened in a while but when I pulled the 1/4" out slightly it was perfect. I haven't noticed the issue lately.

-Silent recording is only available when you pull the cable going to you cabinet. It's a load box as well and its not that big of a deal. I do wish there was some sort of bypass but with it hooked to a cabinet that's not as simple as it seems. I would never place a toggle switch between my head and my can, so I suspect they designed this unit for the same reason.

-3dB drop as soon as its placed in the circuit. Again this is probably like the bypass feature. It can be done on more expensive units but people get an attenuator to reduce the dB in the first place. Not a concern for me but I thought it should be mentioned.