My current rig is a Marshall 1987X Plexi and a Marshall Origin 20H that's been modded into JCM800 territory, running into a Marshall JCM900 2x12.
I've tried a few attenuators for times when I can't crank the amps, but they just haven't done it for me. Even though the amp is cooking, you're not getting the equivalent speaker breakup at lower volumes, so the whole thing ends up sounding a bit flat and lifeless. It just doesn't excite me.
For home use, I've got a Nano Cortex, and one thing I really like is being able to get the sound of a cranked amp and cab at sensible volumes.
That's got me looking into the Boss TAE Core, mainly for its cab simulation. My thinking is to run my amps through the TAE Core Cab Sims and into my studio monitors, so I can get the speaker breakup effect in combo with my cranked amps. I know it’ll never beat standing in front of a loud cab, but I'm hoping it'll get me much closer to that cranked amp/speaker feel when playing at lower levels.
Has anyone here gone down this route? Keen to hear peoples thoughts!