Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunder Pulse  There's one on my GK cab, I just saw one on the back of a Mesa cab in the classifieds, and I'm sure they're on plenty of other cabs as well.
My question - if it's a passive control then why is there a "plus" designation on it? Shouldn't the maximum clockwise position be 0 dB and any counter-clockwise setting be listed as a different degree of cut? That's how it is on a combo amp I have that has a tweeter control.
Just wondering. |
While those actual db levels are best ignored, the '+' has to do with most tweeters having MUCH higher SPL than most woofers. They must be padded down to 'balance' with the output of the woofer. So, for many cabs, if you open the attenuator all the way up to zero attenuation (or +3db or whatever with some cabs), that actually results in the tweeter SPL being a couple/few DB higher than the driver (often, much more than that). So, in some ways, the +/- is more accurate than the reduction of db's markings. It doesn't represent 'boost', but rather SPL output 'over the driver SPL level'.
Since most of those 'levels' are arbitrary (i.e., not really representative of actual SPL versus the driver), many believe that setting the attenuator at noon is 'flat'. This is often not the case with many cabs, and results in some believing tweeters are 'harsh'... user error IMO. It is best to use your ears and not the absolute level of the attenuator knob in balancing a tweeter volume with a driver in a given cab.
Nitpicking: the -2 dB/Normal/+2 dB *passive* tweeter control I see on a lot of cabs 
