I have a 150-watt Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier head, an ENGL 412 XXL cab, and a Freyette Power Station PS-100 attenuator between them, all set to 8 ohms (that’s what the cab expects). The PS-100 gets quite warm during use—not brutally hot, but still warm. I understand this is normal behavior for an attenuator, but I’d like to reduce the heat a bit.
The PS-100 allows you to adjust the amplifier input impedance and the speaker output impedance separately.
Would it distribute the power more evenly between the amp head and the PS-100, and so reduce the heat of the PS-100 if I switched the head to 16 ohms and also set the amp input impedance on the PS-100 to 16 ohms, while leaving the speaker output impedance at 8 ohms to match the cab?
In other words: Can use the AMP IN at 16 ohms (and the amp is set to 16 ohms too) and the SPEAKER OUT at 8 ohms (which the cab expects) and use the PS-100 safely? Would this mean a bit more even power distribution between the amp head and the PS-100?
Hi Lajos, Thanks for contacting us! Yes, you can try that configuration with no worries about harming anything but it may not make a significant difference in the amount of heat emanating from the Power Station. Give it a try and let me know what you discover. Cheers! Gil
The temperature of the power station is proportional to the amount of power it receives from the amp plus the amount of power it draws from the wall. The reactive load has a fan that pulls most of the heat out. The main reason the Power Station feels hot is simply because its a tube amp in a small package. But don’t worry about it—it’s fine.
By the way, changing the impedance settings will not effect the amount of power your amp is delivering to the unit. The only way you can change that is by changing the volume control on your amp.