From tonysounds@yahoo.com Fri Feb 06 06:49:25 2009
Subject:Re: Frankenleslies [Was: 12 speaker in custom cab?

The difference is this:
With a PowerSoak/Marshall PowerBrake/Altair Attenuator, you are taking a large amplifier and putting a governor on it, so you are shutting it down to keep it “controllable”. 
 
The AMA, its works the other way: it downsized the leslie amp by making it 10 watts, so that you can throttle it.  Now, by feeding that into a solid state amp, you are simply magnifying the volume (not the tone) to taste.
 
The PowerSoak method is choking the power and the tone of an amplifier, since a lot of tone is gained through the amp section.  The AMA Method is throttling its internal 10watt amplifier, and then you are using another amplifier to turn it up.
 
Listen to the sound of a Marshall ½ stack with a Power Soak/PowerBrake/Altair on it (admittedly, the Altair is the best sounding of the three).  Now listen to the sound of an old Gretsch or Fender shoebox amp wound all the way up.  At the same volume as the chocked ½ stack, there is no doubt that smaller shoebox amp, wound all the way up, spanks in terms of tone.

"The meek shall inherit nothing."  -FZ 
"Hitting 'play' does not constitute live performance." -T
www.myspace.com/tonyorant
 

--- On Fri, 2/6/09, David Oakley wrote: