Question for tube amp users: do speaker attenuators work?

rawfish

The discussion about folks not using their tube amps at home out of respect for neighbors (would someone tell my neighbor with the rooster about this kind of respect?) got me wondering- I've seen more and more speaker attenuator boxes out there (THD Hot Plate, Marshall Power Brake, etc.) and I'd like to know if they work as advertised.
The basic idea (for those who don't know about them) is that you plug the attenuator into your amps speaker output and the speaker into the attenuator. This allows you to crank up your amp so you produce the sweet tube tone you're looking for while keeping volume at manageable levels.

Could be a solution for you guys with kickin' tube amps that are collecting dust?

-Rf.

buzzby

I used to jam with a guy that used an attenuator. I don't remember what kind it was. The thing about attenuators is that the more you cut back the volume, the less genuine the sound is. Probably mostly because the speaker isn't responding in the same way. If you just want to cut back 3 or 6 dB, they work great.

For very low level playing, I think modelers sound better.