Exactly what i meant, high gain amps rely on preamp distortion, but a 50 watt tube amp wasnt made to be played at bedroom volumes. Preamp distortion by itself sounds buzzy, poweramp distortion smooths it out, so that it sounds more tube amp and less transistor radio. However, its not like you're spoiled for choice because high gainers dont come in low wattage formats, except for a few with expensive power scaling options.
An attenuator doesnt work very well with high gain amps, which tend to be more compressed. IMO attenuators work best to manage your stage volume, so you can krank the volume a bit more without overpowering the other instruments. All that hype about full power tube saturation at bedroom volumes is just that, marketing hype. Any serious attenuation of your amp's signal will lead to noticeable loss in frequencies, as well as significant compression. (i.e. colour your tone, in a bad way). Adding more compression to a compressed tone doesnt sound like a good idea, unless you intend to use it that way, so attenuation only works well in moderation.
Some amps have very good master volumes, so that you dont even need an attenuator. I just think you should take that into consideration, so that you dont sell all your gear to get that dream amp, then realise you cant use it to its full potential. Sort of like buying a ferrari and realising you can only drive it in a multistorey carpark.
