Vintage 2 Ohm Fender amps using a Weber Z Matcher into a PS100

Stage & Studio Power Station PS-100
1

I have seen a few posts here stating that it is safe to run a vintage 2 ohm fender amp such as the Super Reverb with the PS100 set to 2/4 ohms.

My question here is not about safety and relates more to achieving maximum transparency of tone out of the PS100. By this I mean the ability for the sound of my amplifiers speakers being driven by the the PS100 to be as close as possible to the sound of the same amp and speakers without the PS100 connected (assuming the settings and volume levels are matched).

The Power Stations are clearly well known for their sonic transparency however I have heard somewhere that there is some amount of tonal change (thinning) perceived when using them with vintage 2 ohm Fender amps. I assume this is because the 2/4 ohm setting on the PS100 is not exactly the same load as the amp sees when plugged directly into the amplifiers speakers.

If the above is correct has anyone had experience placing a Weber Z Matcher between the Vintage amp and the PS100? This seems to enable showing a correct 2 ohm load to the amplifier while also enabling some sort of separation the amp side of the circuit from the PS100 circuit.

Do people feel this type of device would improve the transparency of the sound coming out of the PS100 or is it a waste of time and money and likely to add similar (or new) artefacts?

I don’t understand enough about amplifier load theory to know which way to go and hoping perhaps someone has tried this approach and could advise if it improved the final sonic results of the PS100 before I outlay any money.

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Hey Bukman, welcome to the forum!

Since you admit that loading concepts are not your strong suit, I’ll try to keep it light.

First, all common impedance ratings, 2/4/8/16 are approximations and come with a fair amount of tolerance. That’s why you often see a specification like “Impedance: 8 ohms Nominal” That’s because these specs are derived under test conditions that literally nobody uses in real life.

The Power Station and Power Load reactive loads recognize this and operate accordingly.

Secondly, the concept of transparency is something of a misnomer. It is primarily used to describe how accurately a violin concerto in a concert hall will be re-created in your living room. It is also mercilessly over-used in advertising literature to describe, for example, a recently released reamper with stereo Class D amplifiers onboard, ostensibly to indicate that the behavior of the speaker is entirely independent of the type of amplifier driving it, and therefore “transparent” (spoiler alert: it’s absolutely not). .

All that said, there is nothing transparent about the interactive behavior between an amplifier and speaker cab. That behavior is influenced by the type and behavior of the amplifier, the cabinet in which the speaker resides and the type, gauge and length of the cable connecting the two.

In an effort to optimize the impedance match, you may consider an impedance matching device that will quell your concerns about the subtle differences between the actual operating impedance at the real world volume you are playing vs the numbers printed on the back of the unit. Sure, something like the Z-Matcher will do that mathematic conversion a little more precisely, but at the expense of introducing an additional and complex component into the equation. Transformers have behavioral characteristics of their own and what you may gain with arguably a slightly closer impedance match, will most assuredly come at the expense of dynamic range and an altered frequency response (i.e. a potential reduction in transparency).

Gee, I was sure I said I would keep this brief. Sorry, not sorry :slight_smile:

The bottom line is that no matter how you approach what you consider to be the truest expression of your rig, there will be minor compromises along the way. The goal is really to keep them to a minimum while maximizing the most important things, like the joy of playing a rig that has some inspiring dynamic behavior that we call feel.

Hope that wasn’t soo painful!

Dave

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Thanks very much for the awesome info Dave. Very helpful.