Load box - suggestions?

[witeter]

Hiya, I want to start recording using my actual amp-however mic'ing up at home is not really an option; so am looking for alternate solutions. I dont want to use amp simulators but rather my actual amp and be able to then play it through speaker simulators. So-what loadbox would you recommend? My amp is a 120w Peavey JSX. Thanks guys!

[Plenum n Heather]

I use a THD Hot Plate for that application.

 You set it to Load and can then use the Line Out.

[Kiichi]

When I am not using my HTH amp which has line out build in I can use my Weber Mini Mass. Generally a great attenuator and it also can function as a load box.
Now the Mini Mass is too low rated for you, but Weber also makes higher watt versions. Just as with speaker cabs get one that is rated for twice of what your amp has, since they can get up to that when the power stage is overdriven. If you can get your hands on one of those I can recommend them.

That one with Recabinet works nicely, though I just got Amplitube and thus far I am quite impressed.

[BigB]

Don't know if it can handle a 120W amp, but I've been rather impressed by the palmer PDI-03. Now there might be better solutions if you can afford them (ie a no*sim loadbox and a Torpedo cab sim...).

[witeter]

Cheers for the suggestions guys, i have also seen this one that seems very reasonable-any experience of it?
http://www.emersonwilliams.com/
The twonotes torpedo looks amazing though a bit out of my price range- their CAB version looks very affordable but i would need a loadbox to use my amp with it

[Brow]

I have 1 of the older design 100w Weber Mass' and it's quite a useful tool to have around.

I don't use it too much atm, but it's great for those gigs where I can't quite open my amps up enough. It's no good for cranking the amp at home and bringing it down to whisper levels; it sounds awful, as you'd expect!

[Nadz1lla]

Cheers for the suggestions guys, i have also seen this one that seems very reasonable-any experience of it?
http://www.emersonwilliams.com/
The twonotes torpedo looks amazing though a bit out of my price range- their CAB version looks very affordable but i would need a loadbox to use my amp with it

The one you linked to doesn't list what wattage it can handle, which I find a little dubious.
You'd be better off going for the 200w Weber box, (https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/mass200.htm) they always recommend you have a box that can handle more wattage than you will be using. If you push a 100w amp into a 100w capable box it can vastly shorten the life of your valves, whereas a 200w load box will offload the tubes a lot easier.

I've been eyeing up the Weber 200w box for a long while, the only reason I've not gone for it yet is because my 20w amp came with an old (looks home-made) Tubejuice attenuator that can handle 30w. I'll be investing in the 200w Weber when I buy my JVM 210h.

{EDIT}
Sorry, I found the spec of the one you linked to, I didn't look properly, heh. 150w peak, but I'd still go to a higher wattage load box if you can. Always best to be on the safe side, don't skimp on one, get a decent box that will be able to take the power well.

[Dmoney]

I use a THD Hot Plate for that application.

 You set it to Load and can then use the Line Out.

+1
The clips I put in the boutique rant thread were recorded this way.

I wouldn't trust the Emerson. The Hotplate has a passive powered fan that cools the chassis which is actually a large heatsink. That thing can get HOT if you're running the amp at high power into it for a long period. That Emerson box doesn't look ventilated. THD products are well designed and generally hard as nails. I've never had an issue with my Hotplate and I use it all the time.

I think you'd be ok with a 100watt rated box. If you read the Hotplate manual it actually says the largest wattage amp it should be used with is 185watts. It's rated for a continuous dissipation of 150watts.

If you set the box to load (so the amp is silent through the speakers) and then play with your amp WIDE open, you'll be stressing the amp because you'll be running it at full power (actually over 120watts) for an extended period of time and you probably won't even be able to tell. The power valves could possibly break down then short and cause expensive damage. You might even run into oscillation issues running the amp at such a high level that you might not even hear which will have the same effect as above.

The damage isn't caused by a poorly rated load box that can't "offload" power, the damage is caused by running the amp flat out for too long. The rating of the load box is just what power the box can take. It might be conservatively specified or not.

Either way, I still don't use my hotplate to push the master up to 7 on my amp. I just use it so I get more of a useable range on the dial when at home. Luckily the XXX should be getting most of it's tone from the preamp anyway and if you want tight sounds you probably don't want power valve breakup. So using a load box you shouldn't really need to be trying to attenuate stadium volumes down to silence.

[witeter]

Thanks for all your help guys. Yes, the most i would be using it settingwise would be similar to what i use live. Normally channel volume at around 5 and master at around 5, so in that respect i wouldnt be using it flat out. So when using say the THD Hotplate would i still hear sound coming out of the cab? or does that depend on the setting i select on the Hotplate? thanks again

[witeter]

And what about this? seems to do everything i need and more? http://www.andertons.co.uk/audio-solutions/pid25466/cid729/palmer-pga04-speaker-simulator-with-loadbox-124-8-ohm-version.asp

[Dmoney]

Thanks for all your help guys. Yes, the most i would be using it settingwise would be similar to what i use live. Normally channel volume at around 5 and master at around 5, so in that respect i wouldnt be using it flat out. So when using say the THD Hotplate would i still hear sound coming out of the cab? or does that depend on the setting i select on the Hotplate? thanks again

You just have to set the hotplate to 'load'. I think it does steps like -4dB, -8dB, -12dB, -16dB and Load. You get no sound out of the speakers on loud. the -16dB setting switches in an extra knob that lets you turn down even quieter. At those volumes the speakers are barely being driven and it sounds kind of rubbish. But for using the line out to record its no easy.

Palmer make good stuff.

[jpfamps]

As pointed out above, you need to make sure that the load box is rated for the full output of the amp.

Amps are usually rated at there continuous undistorted sine wave output.

If you push the amp beyond the it's maximum clean about you will deliver more power into the load.

The dummy load will be dissipating all the power of the amp. As the amp is rated at 120W (and generally Peavey amps do make their rated power unlike some other makes.....), then the maximum distorted output could theoretically be 240W (a square wave ie a fully clipped signal has twice the rms value of a sine wave).

In practice you probably can't achieve 240W, but I would not be surprised if you get around 180-200W from the amp at full clip.

Thus using even a 200W load would be marginal in my opinion.

Even if you are running the amp on "5" this doesn't mean that the amp is running at half-power. Furthermore if you are clipping the signal in the pre-amp you will get more output than sending a clean signal to the power amp.

OK you are unlikely to be playing continuously at full power, but I personally would like to have a margin of error in the load rating, because if the load fails you could cause significant ie expensive damage to your amp.

As Dmoney says, attenuating a 120W amp down to nothing is probably not the best place to start.

You may consider removing a pair of power valve to reduce the power of the amp to 60W to reduce the stress on the attenuator. If you go down this route you should plug the attenuator into the output for half the impedance of the attenuator, ie a 16 ohm load-box should be plugged into the 8 ohm output.

[witeter]

Cheers for that-so maybe the Palmer would be best? this one seems to have a section that shows you if the load is within the right range (i,e not going 100w) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NaS9ho_ryo

[Keven]

I've been getting good results with the Weber for my 50w amp, i use the mass 100 and i also have a micro mass 15 for my 5 watt rig. the line out is great, i had a blown cap in the mass 100 in the treble boost circuit(nothing amp critical thank god) and weber were very quick to solve the problem and send me replacement parts. it may not be the best attenuator on the market but it's damn good and works very well for the price sold.

[witeter]

Thanks Keven, thats useful to know.
I think though that I will go with the Palmer-just sent them some questions so awaiting for, a hopefully positive, reply.
Thanks :-)