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Koch: Load Box LB120

Official product page

jtmmusic.com product page - "120 watt power attenuator (load box), no loss of amp tone, 6 power levels, recording line out with XLR & quarter inch, 2 voicing filters, headphone out w/volume control, available in 4, 8, & 16 ohm versions. List: $399.00".

JT Music page on Koch Load Box

Custom-sounds.com dealer page for LB120 page - "Innovative, ruggedly build and bursting with features, the Koch "Load Box" is THE guitar player�s tool."

Jan 2003 Marketing from Site

Innovative, ruggedly built and bursting with features, the Koch "Load Box" is the guitar player's tool.

 

The LB120 Load Box can reduce your tube-amp's power to small club, rehearsal or bedroom level ... even silent recording is possible.

 

Specially designed circuitry assures that your amps tone is will remain the same. by providing constant (medium) speaker-damping at all outputs. But that's not all... We have added some smart features to improve your guitar sound on big stages or in the recording studio. No hassling with microphones any more .... just plug-in-and-play.

 

The DeLuxe Recording/PA section offers both a Line and a fully balanced DI output, enabling you to send a perfect guitar signal to a recording or PA mixing console.

 

Dual switchable speaker simulation offers you a choice between the characteristics of a single guitar speaker or the added low-end boost of a 4x12 cabinet, and even selects the mic position: in the center of the speaker-cone or closer to the edge. Both outputs allow connection to any type of mixing console; at home, in the studio or on stage.

 

... the volume-adjustable Headphones output provides the possibilty of practicing at home in complete silence while pushing your amp to maximum output power.

 

The LB120 Load Box is available in a 4, 8, or 16 ohm versions.

Features

120W Power Attenuator

Six power levels: 100%-40%-15%-5%-2%-0%

No loss of Amp-Tone Line output for recording

Transformer balanced DI output for PA

LIFT/GND switch

Selectable speaker simulating voicing filters

Headphones output with volume control

Available in 4, 8 or 16ohm versions

No power supply needed

Made in EU

Rugged stainless steel housing

Easy to use

Specifications

Maximum power handling - 50 Watts continuous power / 120 Watts music power

Maximum duration 120 Watts power -180 seconds

Maximum load at line output - 20 Kohms

Maximum load at DI output - 600 ohms

Dimensions - 25w x 6.5h x 15d cm

Weight - 1.8 Kg

Original Marketing from Site

If you're looking for an affordable unit for reducing your amp's power to small-club, rehearsal or even bedroom level without loss of tone, here it is.

The LB120 was designed for those who need to reduce the output power of their guitar amp without loss of amp tone to small-club, rehearsal or bedroom level and may also want to feed this tone into a PA or recording mixer. No hassling with microphones any more, just Plug and Play.

The Deluxe Recording/PA section offers both a Line and a fully balanced DI output enabling you to send a perfect guitar signal to a recording or PA mixing console.

The Recording/PA output features dual switchable speaker simulation. One switch selects either the characteristic of a single guitar speaker or the added low-end boost of a 4x12" cabinet. The other switch selects the mike position; either in the center of the speaker-cone or closer to the edge. So with these two switches you can simulate four different recording setups. Both XLR and Jack outputs allow connection to any type of mixing console; at home, in the studio or on stage.

This is a handcrafted unit, it�s road-proof and build by people who care about guitar tone and quality.

Features:

Made in EU

The LB120 is a Load Box whitch can reduce the power of your amp in six different steps from 100% to 0%. Specially designed circuitry assures that there is no loss of amp-tone by providing constant (medium) speaker-damping at all outputs.

The headphones output provides the possibility of practising at home in complete silence while pushing your amp to maximum output power. The power attenuator output jacks reduce power as:

100% no power attenuation, but you can use speaker simulated recording output, PA output and Headphones output.

40% using this jack reduces the guitar amps output power to 40%. This means, for exsample, that if an amp delivers 100 watts into the LB120 input jack, only 40% of it (40 watts) is delivered to the speaker cabinet. So, a 100W amp is now turned into a 40W amp, a 50W amp into a 20W amp, ect.

15% reduces the guitar amps output power to 15%, 100W is turned into 15W, 50W into 7,5W.

5% reduces the guitar amps output power to 5%, 100W is turned into 5W, 50W into 2,5W, ect.

2% reduces the guitar amps output power to 2%, 100W is turned into 2W, 50W into 1W, ect.

0% For silent recording or practising the speaker or speaker cabinet may be disconnected.

Specifications:

Read what European Magazines have said about LB120: STAGE, Nov 1999: "We used the Load Box in the recording studio with various amps miked with an SM57 and EQ on the mixer "flat". We A/B�d the result with the Load Box using attenuations up to 95% and didn�t hear hardly any difference, the tonal balance stayed in tact, even the sparkling highs and the deep lows. The speaker simulation in excellent and the voicing switches are very efficient. The sound from the DI output is honest, powerfull, open and above all dynamic. The overall quality of the Load Box is high; and looks, reliability, as well as sound are on a very high standard."

GUITARIST, Dec, 1999: "I tested the Load Box with my Strat and my favorite tube amp and to my great pleasure, had practically no loss of tone, even with 95% reduction. This magic box is unique because of the fact that it combines three functions: power reduction, speaker simulation and DI box, in one housing. And all three of them are excellent. I cannot image one guitar player that should not benefit from buying the Load Box."

MUSIC MAKER, Dec, 1999: "I used the Load Box between my old red Marshall and a 4x12" cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30�s: very good. Recording with the voicing switches in the "4x12" and "mic-off-axis" positions gave a better result than with my all-time-favorite (up till now), the Palmer Pdi-03. I bring a toast and congratulate Dolf Koch with this great achievement."

Amptone.com Comments

Every tube amp should have a power attenuator, for variable-SPL power-tube saturation. Also, cabs should have a way of switching off all but 1 speaker, for getting speaker smoothing when playing at 1 watt privately.

How long will we have to wait for a dirt-simple, inexpensive stompbox like the Real Tube but using a power tube into a load, rather than a preamp tube? I'm not saying it will sound like a miked cranked tube amp automatically, but certainly such a pedal would produce interesting distortion sounds. The Pedaltone is like the cancelled Lawbreaker pedal -- a literal classic stompbox format, but using a tube power amp (albeit with a preamp tube used as a power tube). Also, products like the Pedaltone and Lawbreaker and Crunch Master are overdesigned, I mean there should also be a super stripped-down, punk-simple, entry-level version. I'm looking for something like a 3-knob Real Tube pedal, no larger. It's just a power tube, jeez, don't make such a big deal out of it. So many products are way overdesigned and overpriced. We need to stop worshipping power tubes and just use them. Just like you can effortlessly buy two distortion pedals and run them in series, so should every guitarist be able to easily get and try out two power-tube saturation pedals in series.

2% means that 50% is reduced to 1W. But 1 W, when distorted up to some 2 W, is still far too loud for private playing. Consider chaining an additional attenuator such as possibly a wall-mount attenuator.

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