|
Post by gotmojo on Jan 18, 2015 8:00:53 GMT -7
Here's a question that has most likely been covered before, but I'm asking again!!
Do the Z brakes actually drop the "wattage" of your amp? When you run your rig through a Z Brake, is it actually dropping the RMS output of the amp, in terms of what the speaker is seeing?
i.e. If i run a 40 watt remedy wide open into a cab with a single 25 watt Greenback, is that speaker protected at heavily braked settings from the 40 watts of power heading out of the amp to the speaker?
And just for fun (and here is where we really dip into "Geek World" a little bit): Is there a mathematical formula for calculating the output at each brake setting? Wouldn't that be cool? ("I'm running at 21.34 watts right now!"). Maybe Doc can come up with one that digitally tells what output you're running at.
jj
inquiring minds wanna know.
|
|
|
Post by Jaguarguy (Mike) on Jan 18, 2015 16:58:12 GMT -7
|
|
|
Post by benttop (Steve) on Jan 18, 2015 19:05:29 GMT -7
When you stick an attenuator between your amp and your speaker, some of the power is consumed by the attenuator (it is dissipated as heat). The real risk though is simply that the Brake Lite has a "thru" setting, and it would be very easy to make a mistake and kill a really nice speaker. These are the amounts of reduction per the Z factory for the Brake Lite, assuming you haven't tinkered with the connections inside. Keep in mind a 3db sound pressure change occurs by halving the power. Note that it is likely these values are +/- 10 to 20% depending on the components used and the accuracy of the jig used to set the slider. Let's be careful out there. 0 = 0 dB 1 = 2 dB 2 = 5 dB 3 = 8 dB 4 = 11 dB
|
|
|
Post by gotmojo on Jan 19, 2015 9:57:05 GMT -7
Right. Thanks Mike and Steve. I'm hip to the dB loss. The Humbucker site does say that an attenuator reduces "wattage". And that is the question I'm trying to confirm here. When you run a brake, let's say at half the volume (and I know this is not a linear function, but for the sake of discussion) that the amp would be running at with the volume dimed, is the wattage the speaker is seeing roughly half the amp's max output? If the amp is 50 watts, is this speaker only seeing 25 watts? It's a physics question. Is the brake actually cutting wattage (power)?
jj
|
|
|
Post by benttop (Steve) on Jan 19, 2015 15:28:56 GMT -7
Yes, the BL "consumes" part of the power, the speaker consumes the rest.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2015 22:11:30 GMT -7
I ran a Z Wreck thru a brake lite to a single greenback effectively for many gigs without doing any harm to the speaker. Checked with the Doc first and got the aok to do so safely, as i was wondering the same thing as yourself.
|
|