?s on the "light dimmer trick"

[GibsonGM]

Hey all!

Haven't been in here in ages - wicked happy the site is still up and running!
My 18W TMB, built with much help from here, is cranking along fine 9 years later!

Lately I have been doing that trick of using a Radio Shack light dimmer for an attenuator...question I have is, does anyone know if you set it so far down that nothing is audible - is it still safe? Thought I'd ask. I can't see why not, but you never know.

Reason is that I have run a line out and use that to record sometimes, and if I can kill the spkrs that aren't even being used, that would be great (when the wife is sleeping and so on).

Thanks!

~GM

[Daviedawg]

In theory if it is safe in use as an attenuator it should be safe down to very low levels. But I don't know what the circuit is so cannot be sure what happens when fully "off".

A good few years ago I built a direct input dummy load combination with headphone out from a schematic I found online. It sat in the amp to speaker line so could be switched in and out. It has been in the cupboard for a long time but worked well for recording direct from the amp (no speaker emulation). It was not expensive or difficult to build.

Dd

[GibsonGM]

I don't even remember where I got the info on the 'dimmer'. I'm sure it's not even made anymore. This was like 8-10 yrs ago, last I messed with it. Doesn't color the sound very much at all. I think a true load that you know something about would be more desirable, though.

Perhaps I won't try to use this thing in 'silent mode'! I have run it for long periods of time "a few clicks down", probably 1/2 volume that it would be, with no apparent harm; maybe leave well enough alone...