Bugera PS1 Power Soak 4-stars Reviews

Muddies sound

All works fine, but could do with a quick true-bypass option. There is a significant degradation in sound, in particular from the top-end, as noted by others. A bypass would at least allow a quick switch-back to non-attenuated mode when volume not an issue.

Bugera PS1 tames a Marshall VS100

WORKS LIKE I HAD HOPED.

I can finally play Marshall 100w Combo without worry, but sounds great!

It does the job Ok and it's dead cheap

Great attenautor to get you started.

Sound is Ok, but if you like the result maybe consider getting a more expensive one.

Good for me, great for the neighbour

I use this with two different amplifiers. A small 5 watt and a 50 watt. They attenuate the sound alright, which is what I wanted the machine to do. Tonewise I can make the most of both amplifiers at any level--so I can keep the same settings and sound for home, studio, rehearsal and stage.

The information provided with the machine is rather deficient.

I do not use the line and emulated outputs, so I don't have anything to say about that.

Not too shabby

Works pretty great but I would never hook up a 100 watt head to it. 65 watts would probably be the highest I would go.

As others have said, the more you attenuate the signal the more highs you lose but I have not noticed it to be all that bad personally. If there was any top end loss I made it up with the amp EQ easily.

I found the best aspect is that it can be used as a load box just note that if you do so you have to crank the big knob up to 0 (or no attenuation) and then the Line Level knob will begin to work. You can do this without a cab and it is fine.

Used this to DI a couple of amps I have into a cab IR in my DAW and sounded great.

Gets pretty warm after long use but nothing that will burn you.

Mine made a rather fishy smell (burn in) for the first day or two of heavy use. Stopped after that, just keep that in mind.

Inconsistent output volume but does what it's supposed to

The power soak has some strange inconsistencies where setting the volume at 0 (on either or both knobs) will not completely mute the device, both volume controls will affect each other's output level.

However, it does what it's supposed to, I'm able to plug my amp straight into my interface and get the best guitar tone I've ever had with IRs, so definitely would recommend at this price.

The neighbours don't know they love it.

Is just what I needed for quiet recording at home. I don't use the mic level out and would recommend any user recording with it to opt for using the line signal and using their own cab sims.

Budget solution

I wanted to start playing guitar again, and still have an old 100w tube head standing around. Considered buying a small low power head to use at home, but for less budget decided to try a power soak instead and continue to use the amp I already have.

Build quality is ok but it feels a bit light and cheaply put together. Does what it says, so soaks up power which allows a big amp to be used at in-house volumes. Can't really think of any other use case, unless someone bought the wrong amp. The fact that it's a passive unit makes it easy to use, it just sits between the head and speaker, however the lack of a headphone out does mean you still don't have an option for really silent practicing.

So yes it's a solution but basically only if you have the wrong amp at the wrong place and don't want to break the bank.

Bugera PS1 Power Soak

If you simply want to reduce the volume/output on a 15 watt and upwards valve amp without losing very much at all of the tonal quality, then this is an excellent product especially for the price...a great well built box...

But bear in mind two essential factors: firstly, the moment you put it between your amp and the speaker you are automatically reducing output by 50%; secondly, if you want to play or record silently using the emulated or line output (to a mixer/headphones for example) you can't do that without having sound still coming from the speaker, which has to take the load. No good for middle of the night recording unless you live alone in a castle!

If Bugera could get round these two factors it would be 5 star brilliant, but if you simply just want to 'tame' your valve amp to a much lower volume level then its a very good choice.

Power Soak

No power cable, no software, no apps...Barebone power soaks just what I wanted to get my amp volume down. It does the work and tone/ soundwise is good, can be a little muddy in high gain but just dialing a little back, and it's fine.

A great passive attenuator for the price

There's no need to spend hundreds on an attenuator for your amp...simply get one of these.

The controls are good and don't make scratching noises and - with some amp/cabinet configurations - this unit will also kill any hiss/noise coming from the amp.

Works very well

I bought this to tame my insanely loud non master volume Marshall SV20 Plexi head and get some cranked Marshall tones without destroying my hearing. Very happy with the result. Only thing I didnt like is the scratchy volume adjustment knob. Something metallic is rubbing. I ought to send it back for replacement but I cant be bothered as it works just fine and once set I dont really touch the volume any more. Great value for the price.