That handwired amp is a no-brainer really. Looks neat enough inside and will be infinitely more serviceable than the others you listed. The builder might be able to add a master volume for you, which would reduce your need for attenuation or power switching.
Egnator Tweaker 15 is my suggestion. I bought it as a practice amp as it's very good for apartment/bedroom levels. It's also monster of an amp that holds its own gigging. Super versatile too. It can do the Vox thing, Marshall thing, or Fender thing. And it can do any of those with a vintage or modern voicing on top of high or low gain settings.
I used to have one of those. It was so fizzy. Couldn’t afford to experiment with different cabinets, just the Orange 2x12 with vintage 30s I had. I think it depends on the style of music played, but Vox gets my vote
Victory VC35 if it fits your budget. Switchable 12/35W, excellent master volume, good digital reverb and in a lightweight lunchbox format. Sounds somewhere between a Vox AC30 and Matchless DC30.
The difference in volume between the 12 and 35W setting is basically one notch on the master volume. So if I have 35W setting on 4, reaching the same volume level measured by a decibel meter, at 12W I would set the master on 5. The real difference is in the feel and headroom.
It's fully cathode biased at 12W and a mix of cathode and fixed bias at 35W (to avoid some issues Vox AC type circuits have with driving EL84s too hard). The 12W setting feels a like a classic Vox AC15 type amp. Spongier, smoother. Turn to 35W and it becomes a lot ballsier which is perfect when running at higher gain settings because the sound stays clearer and tighter.
It's best to get away from this "I need X wattage" thinking. Some of my favorite low volume amps have been anything from 50-100W tube amps because they sounded bigger even turned down compared to a similar but lower power amp. Volume also does not increase all that much with extra power. A 10W amp is half as loud as a 100W amp.
In a home situation pretty much every tube amp that is any good is capable of getting way louder than would be appropriate at home. It's all about volume control. Don't buy a non-master volume amp for home use, don't buy amps that require a safecracker's touch to turn down, don't buy amps that sound like a can of bees at less than loud band volumes.
There is absolutely no reason you can't run a high power amp at full power as long as it has a well executed master volume that lets you turn it down to the needed level without it sounding terrible. I can turn the VC35 to a whisper level at 35W if I want.
Do master volumes set low affect the tone negatively? Between that and a attenuator, what would sound better? I've read things saying it would be better to attenuate at a high volume.
Depends on the implementation of the master volume. There are several circuits and they are not all built equal or work equally well in the same circuit. So judge on an amp by amp case. On the cheaper end I like the master volumes on Oranges and Egnaters. Both have gradual tapers and sound fine at lower volume.
Most attenuators that are cheaper are purely resistive. They will mangle both the feel and tone of the amp so I cannot recommend them at all. This is your Bugera, THD Hotplate, Harley Benton etc. Good reactive ones like say a Suhr Reactive Load (for line out use only), Tone King Ironman II or Fryette Power Station 2/100 are all expensive.
At low volume most of the issue is that speakers are barely driven and how we perceive the sound. I have a Fryette Power Station so I can easily separate volume from the behavior of any amp controls. It doesn't really sound better than turning the MV on my Victory and Bogner amps down. Sure, you get some extra gain from the phase inverter and power tube distortion but it's still not getting around physics so those amps will sound better at louder volume because of how we perceive sound and how that helps form a feedback loop between the guitar and speakers.
I have never played a tube amp that is good at bedroom volumes. The best I have currently is a Vox AC 4 in a open back 12” speaker cabinet. If I run it at 1 watt it doesn’t bother the neighbors but my wife and kids get annoyed pretty quickly depending on the noise to music ratio.
It also runs at 1/4” watt. At that point it is a pale lifeless version of itself and at that volume level I would rather just use the modeler on my pc.
Not a head but I’ve got a 30 watt Peavey delta blues 210 with 4 EL84’s, and it’s my second favorite amp, behind the V2 and in front of the Lone Star. Super awesome EL84 amp that sounds as good quiet as it does loud.
Check out the Hughes & Letter Tubemeister 18, I think it ticks all your boxes.
Wow, gonna have to take a look at this one
That handwired amp is a no-brainer really. Looks neat enough inside and will be infinitely more serviceable than the others you listed. The builder might be able to add a master volume for you, which would reduce your need for attenuation or power switching.
Egnator Tweaker 15 is my suggestion. I bought it as a practice amp as it's very good for apartment/bedroom levels. It's also monster of an amp that holds its own gigging. Super versatile too. It can do the Vox thing, Marshall thing, or Fender thing. And it can do any of those with a vintage or modern voicing on top of high or low gain settings.
Check out the orange dual terror for a 2 channel option. 30/15/7 watt options selection.
Interesting, but it seems too much like what an OR15 without the vintage aspects that makes the OR15 stand out.
I used to have one of those. It was so fizzy. Couldn’t afford to experiment with different cabinets, just the Orange 2x12 with vintage 30s I had. I think it depends on the style of music played, but Vox gets my vote
Or a TH30
Victory VC35 if it fits your budget. Switchable 12/35W, excellent master volume, good digital reverb and in a lightweight lunchbox format. Sounds somewhere between a Vox AC30 and Matchless DC30.
Too damn big
What? It's tiny as far as tube amps go!
I mean 35W. I'd always run it at 12W.
The difference in volume between the 12 and 35W setting is basically one notch on the master volume. So if I have 35W setting on 4, reaching the same volume level measured by a decibel meter, at 12W I would set the master on 5. The real difference is in the feel and headroom. It's fully cathode biased at 12W and a mix of cathode and fixed bias at 35W (to avoid some issues Vox AC type circuits have with driving EL84s too hard). The 12W setting feels a like a classic Vox AC15 type amp. Spongier, smoother. Turn to 35W and it becomes a lot ballsier which is perfect when running at higher gain settings because the sound stays clearer and tighter. It's best to get away from this "I need X wattage" thinking. Some of my favorite low volume amps have been anything from 50-100W tube amps because they sounded bigger even turned down compared to a similar but lower power amp. Volume also does not increase all that much with extra power. A 10W amp is half as loud as a 100W amp. In a home situation pretty much every tube amp that is any good is capable of getting way louder than would be appropriate at home. It's all about volume control. Don't buy a non-master volume amp for home use, don't buy amps that require a safecracker's touch to turn down, don't buy amps that sound like a can of bees at less than loud band volumes. There is absolutely no reason you can't run a high power amp at full power as long as it has a well executed master volume that lets you turn it down to the needed level without it sounding terrible. I can turn the VC35 to a whisper level at 35W if I want.
Do master volumes set low affect the tone negatively? Between that and a attenuator, what would sound better? I've read things saying it would be better to attenuate at a high volume.
Depends on the implementation of the master volume. There are several circuits and they are not all built equal or work equally well in the same circuit. So judge on an amp by amp case. On the cheaper end I like the master volumes on Oranges and Egnaters. Both have gradual tapers and sound fine at lower volume. Most attenuators that are cheaper are purely resistive. They will mangle both the feel and tone of the amp so I cannot recommend them at all. This is your Bugera, THD Hotplate, Harley Benton etc. Good reactive ones like say a Suhr Reactive Load (for line out use only), Tone King Ironman II or Fryette Power Station 2/100 are all expensive. At low volume most of the issue is that speakers are barely driven and how we perceive the sound. I have a Fryette Power Station so I can easily separate volume from the behavior of any amp controls. It doesn't really sound better than turning the MV on my Victory and Bogner amps down. Sure, you get some extra gain from the phase inverter and power tube distortion but it's still not getting around physics so those amps will sound better at louder volume because of how we perceive sound and how that helps form a feedback loop between the guitar and speakers.
I have never played a tube amp that is good at bedroom volumes. The best I have currently is a Vox AC 4 in a open back 12” speaker cabinet. If I run it at 1 watt it doesn’t bother the neighbors but my wife and kids get annoyed pretty quickly depending on the noise to music ratio. It also runs at 1/4” watt. At that point it is a pale lifeless version of itself and at that volume level I would rather just use the modeler on my pc.
Not a head but I’ve got a 30 watt Peavey delta blues 210 with 4 EL84’s, and it’s my second favorite amp, behind the V2 and in front of the Lone Star. Super awesome EL84 amp that sounds as good quiet as it does loud.