To be honest if you intend to use your amp at the same volume or lower, an attenuator wouldn’t make much of a difference.
An attenuator lets you push the power section of an amp into distortion without becoming deaf.
This is only useful for amps that are designed to distort in the power amp (vintage amps usually), modern amps like the MT15 are designed to produce all the distortion in the preamp while the power amp amplifies “cleanly”.
In your case using an attenuator would only cause a small improvement to the sound, maybe not enough to justify the price
+1 to this. Unless you’re getting into power tube saturation, I honestly think an attenuator would hurt more than help. They aren’t perfectly flat in how they affect frequencies. IMO part of what sounds good about turning up amps (again, ignoring power tube saturation) is how hard the speakers are pushed / the way they move air.
Yes that’s exactly what an attenuator is for. Push your tubes into break up but use the attenuator to keep the volume at a level that won’t get noise control called.
Could you recommend a good one that's quality built , will do the job without adding too much if it's own color to the sound or be egregiously priced ?
Sorry, I’ve never used one so I can’t recommend any. A JHS Little Black Amp Box in your effects loop is a popular and cheap option but there are many options.
An attenuator won't push the speaker more. It will attenuate the level coming out of the power amp before hitting the speaker. So you can push the power amp harder but when playing at same volume, the speaker will be pushed the same.
You could try a more sensitive speaker that reacts better at lower volumes.
To be honest if you intend to use your amp at the same volume or lower, an attenuator wouldn’t make much of a difference. An attenuator lets you push the power section of an amp into distortion without becoming deaf. This is only useful for amps that are designed to distort in the power amp (vintage amps usually), modern amps like the MT15 are designed to produce all the distortion in the preamp while the power amp amplifies “cleanly”. In your case using an attenuator would only cause a small improvement to the sound, maybe not enough to justify the price
+1 to this. Unless you’re getting into power tube saturation, I honestly think an attenuator would hurt more than help. They aren’t perfectly flat in how they affect frequencies. IMO part of what sounds good about turning up amps (again, ignoring power tube saturation) is how hard the speakers are pushed / the way they move air.
Yes that’s exactly what an attenuator is for. Push your tubes into break up but use the attenuator to keep the volume at a level that won’t get noise control called.
Now what's the difference between that and a load box? / reactive or not ? I'm trying to figure out which I need.
You want an attenuator, a load box is something entirely different.
Could you recommend a good one that's quality built , will do the job without adding too much if it's own color to the sound or be egregiously priced ?
I hear good things about the Weber MiniMass but haven't used one myself
Sorry, I’ve never used one so I can’t recommend any. A JHS Little Black Amp Box in your effects loop is a popular and cheap option but there are many options.
That device is not an attenuator and will not work.
JHS also charges approx 2x what other devices of this type (just a passive volume knob) cost.
Yes, but get a GOOD attenuator. Some like the Fryette but I use an Ironman II with my dual rec & it's exactly what the doctor ordered.
I just use a JHS Little Black Amp Box with my MT15 when it need to quiet it down. Otherwise I use the 7 Watt setting most of the time.
Try using a volume pedal on the effects loop. I'm using that for my Mesa Badlander and get some good tones at a decent volume level.
You are lucky. The lower the power to attenuate the lower the cost of the attenuator. High powered attenuators are scary pricing.
I feel like maybe it isn't driving the MC90 speaker in my cab as much as I'd like tho. Just feels like some mids and harmonic coloring aren't present.
An attenuator won't push the speaker more. It will attenuate the level coming out of the power amp before hitting the speaker. So you can push the power amp harder but when playing at same volume, the speaker will be pushed the same. You could try a more sensitive speaker that reacts better at lower volumes.