Harley Benton PA-100 Power Attenuator Reviews

Great attenuator for your amp

This is a great attenuator. I've got it hooked up to my Hot Rod Deluxe which sounds great cranked, especially when you add a fuzz on top of that. Really needed a solution to bring down the noise of my amps and this solved it.

The only complaint I have is the line out isn't great and I would have liked an extra dial to control the simulated cab output XLR but apart from that this is a versatile attenuator that works with 4, 8 and 16 Ohm amps.

A must for bedroom tube amp players

This attenuator allows me to drive my amp and get lovely warm tones without having high volumes. Works just as expected so far. I'm playing with a small 15w tube amp and a 12 inch cab and its perfect for that. This setup doesn't load the attenuator too heavily so there is no sound that gets in the way.

Used as a load box

As i leave in an apartment i do not have the option to use a cabinet to mic up my Peavey 6505MH i decided to buy this and use it as a load box and from there straight into my audio interface and DAW to use IR's. So i do not know how this changes the sound compared to a real miced cabinet.

Now by using it as a load box with IR's this works really well. From the amp i go to the PA-100 and from the speaker out to the audio interface and into my DAW using 3rd party IR's.

The sound is amazing.

Only important thing is to keep the speaker volume at 1 otherwise the sound becomes really harsh.

Recommended to everyone who wants to use the same chain as me.

Good value for what it does

It's a simple box and therefore a simple setup. My band have been using this for a few weeks now and apart from a small scare at the beginning - it got very hot with a burning smell! - we are happy with it.

Inexpensive, does what you need it to

This is a perfectly serviceable power attenuator for bedrooms, small gigs and lowering headroom with dummy load capacity. When I got it I was a little worried at using an attenuator with this kind of price tag, given a broken attenuator quickly can lead to a fried amp, but I've used it heavily for nine months with no problems. For the price it's an absolute steal. Heavily recommended.

Use as a DI box

I bought this mainly to use as a DI box so that i could get the full potential of my amp while playing silently, and then i bought a pair of monitors so know i can run my amp into this and then into my interface and pc and can play through my monitors for recording and monitoring. It is a perfect device for my uses. I do not notice any sound degradation with using this

Best solution for the price

This product is a killer! I use it with Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier 25, although I guess it supports up to 100 W amps.

You can use it with different cabinets (ohm wise) which is a perfect feature for this price. You can't find that in more expensive attenuators.

I didn't use the direct out, so can't tell anything about that. Mine has some issues with the paint on the knobs but nothing to be concerned about.

You won't find a functional attenuator for less.

Cheap, cheap, cheap. But functional.

Handled perfectly an all-valve 50w amp completely cranked.

No variations on tone, not overheating... Yes, a very functional and again, CHEAP attenuator. Get it.

Does what it's meant to

I use this at home on a Fender Deville to keep the 60 tube watts in check. As such I use the attenuator to take a lot of volume from from the speaker.

Happy with the sound and happy i can use my Deville at home.

It's what you expect from a passive attenuator for the price

First of all, it works. I tame my Single Rectifier with it and it feels good.

Second of all, the quality of the product is what you would think of when you see the price tag. One of the knobs fell off of the box after 15 minutes of usage, and turning knobs makes a sound of a metal scratching metal. But, again, it does attenuate things, so who cares about the rest.

Finally, it starts squealing really loud when your amp output approaches 50 watts. So, even though the name of the product states it can handle 100 watts -- it cannot. I mean, it probably could: physically, it won't explode or melt down, I guess, but musically that squeal it makes is unbearable.

But as long as you keep your amp's output below 11 hours or so and don't mind gluing knobs back once upon a while , this attenuator works just fine. And the price is unbeatable.

Hell yeah!

There's not too much to say here. It's a small box, it works, it has some knobs and it's so much the same as all the other loadboxes. But if you count in the price it's kind of a miracle. They should be giving this one to all the amp heads as a mandatory accessory.

Don't forget to dial in a bit more highs if you're planning to significantly reduce volume, it gets darker the more you reduce.

Simple and effective

A cheap and simple way to attenuate your cranked up tube amp. Brought the sound of my power tubes to life without ripping me and my bandmates' eardrums out .

Good for the money

Im using it to tame a bit a 20 watt Tube amp for home use.

It doesn't give the same sound when without it but i really need it so i can push the power tubes to the deegree i want. Better with the attenuator than with the Master volume down.

When the signal goes through the Attenuator to the speakers i notice it becomes a bit darker like a more compressed sound. I dont have a problem with that as it kinda replicates the thickness that volume gives and my treble knob can balance it at some point. Appart from that speakers need to push some air to give you their best so i belive that any attenuator will sound different in comparisson with high volume.

I havent tried the Line or Mic simulation outputs.

It's Black Now

I have received one from the most recent lot, and I had the pleasant surprise to see it's black colored now. So, it fits very nice with a black amp.

Apart from this, everything is as expected: it reduces the output volume without any noticeable reduction in the sound quality. I'm using it with a Marshall Haze 40C, a 40 W combo that was unusable in the rehearsal room above the volume level 3, so now I can safely drive it to the sweet spot.

The fan is very silent, and it's activated above of a threshold in the output signal, that is during the playing, remaining active for a very short period of time after you stop hitting the strings.

Bottom line, great value for the money, as it brings a lot of value to the amp!

Good beginner attenuator

If you're just getting into attenuators and don't want to spend alot of money. You need to get this one.

It does everything you would expect from an attenuator and the pricepoint is very good for what you get.

I run a JCM800 and a Orange dark terror into it and it works but just know that you won't get the real cranked sound as you would crank it without an attenuator. The sound also tends to get a bit too compressed when using a driven amp and 2 OD pedals.

For the money it's a solid deal and if you like what it does, you can still invest in a better Attenuator later on.

i would recommend it to everyone.

An absolute steal at this price.

I'm a typical bedroom guitarist, with what might be a slightly atypical setup: a Marshall JTM45 valve head sitting on a 4x12 half stack. The amp doesn't have a drive or gain pot, so if you're after crunch or distortion, you need to crank it up. In common with most Marshall amps, it's very loud!

Enter the PA-100. Having shelled out the £€$ for the JTM45 I baulked at the price tags on some of the attenuators out there. This appeared to deliver the same features for a fraction of the price, so I ordered one.

It's excellent! It does exactly what I ask of it. As far as I can tell, it adds minimal colouration to the sound and doesn't appear to subtract much either. I'm very happy with it.

Audition this before you spend more.

UPDATE

Some time has passed. There’s a little too much play in the attenuator dial, but other than that I’m still very happy with the price/performance of this item. Recommended.

Great bang for the buck

This attenuator is good and cheap choice when you want to bring your overpowered tube amp to life at bedroom sound levels. You can not crank a 100 W tube head up that much, but just enough to make the amp actually sound like it's supposed to sound like. It really makes my Bugera 6262 sound great without annoying my neighbours too much.

My only complaint about the unit so far is that you start losing high frequencies if you go below 9 o'clock on SPK level. This is however something that is to be expected from this kind of load at this price point. I haven't noticed any deterioration in sound quality above that level, which is very nice.

So if you have a big tube head at home that sounds too muddy, buying this unit will clear its sound out and make it usable at home levels. I do not have experience from gigging/band practice with it, so I can only talk about using it at home.

BASIQUE

Basique et simplement fonctionnel.

Cant beat the price

Well built and sturdy. The knobs have a stiffness when turning but nothing bad from it. Slight sound from the attenuator when something is played, but barely noticable. It makes even my 100w fireball tolerable in my home.

Attenuates loud amps

I bought this to tame my valve amps for practising at home. It does that extremely well. It's a simple passive attenuator so it does roll off high end as it attenuates compared to the more advanced reactive load boxes. I've also started using the line out as a simple recording solution thats always ready to go. Capturing the sound of the amp without a cab and applying impulse responses in my DAW has given me a good recorded tone with a lot less complexity than other solutions.

If you're looking for a simple attenuator, at this price I couldn't recommend it enough