Black Bird Duo

Passive Speaker Attenuator for Low to Mid Wattage Tube Amplifiers

8 Ohm only available

The Black Bird 8 Duo was designed with the low to mid wattage amplifier in mind. Dual, parallel, output jacks for connection to two 16 Ohm speaker cabinets in parallel (8 Ohms total). Detailed attention to the preservation of high frequencies, at low volumes, was the key focus of my design. Many hours of design/research and testing have yielded fantastic results! Even at the lowest volume settings, (90db typical at speaker), most of the high frequency content stays intact. There are no switches to flip or buttons to push. Simply plug the output from your amplifier into the Amp in and your speaker into the speaker out and dial in the volume you are looking for. A true bedroom volume practice amp from your stage rig!

Now, to move on from my sales pitch, let’s talk reality. This is a PASSIVE / Non-Reactive speaker attenuator! At anything other than wide open, 100% volume, speaker is not a true reactive load on the amplifier. That being said, ANY passive speaker attenuator will never sound and feel as good as an active attenuator with a reactive load (i.e… Weber Mass/Mini MASS). Especially at critical recording volumes in the 100db – 115db (at Speaker) volumes. While my passive attenuator does sound fantastic at these volumes, simple things like feedback from the amplifier does not propagate as it would without a static/passive load between the amp and speaker.

While the passive load is rated at 100W RMS/200W Peak, I do not recommend use at high attenuation levels and extended periods of time with Amplifiers over 65 Watts. This allows for some headroom for sufficient cooling and component longevity. With all of this being said, if you are looking for the perfect low volume recording situation for your current stage rig, I would spend the $200+ on a Weber Reactive load attenuator. The Physics behind Ted’s design is solid and well worth the $$ they garner. However, if you are looking for the BEST sounding passive attenuator for low volume practice/rehearsal and writing/recording demo tracks, or to tame your stage volume, look no further!

$80

Black Bird Duo



Disclaimer: The Black Bird Duo must be connected between the amp and speaker using the proper jacks (i.e… Amp jack(RED) goes to Amplifier Output and Speaker jacks(BLACK) go to the Speakers). While holding the Black Bird 8 Duo with the volume knob facing you and the jacks toward the top, the amp input(RED) is to the left and the speaker outputs(BLACK) to the right. Connecting the Black Bird Duo in reverse can seriously damage your Amplifiers output transformer! DON’T DO IT! I will not accept responsibility for any damage associated with not following the included instruction for safe and reliable use. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!