Attenuators

bertie

personally I think they work best,  allowing the power section  to warm up a bit,  so you can dial in those lovely warm "strat neck pickup just on the verge uber dynamic cleans"  that need the power section just cooking a tad that would normally blow the windows out.  

For total OD saturation, especially with low powered amps -  its all just toooooo mushy

HHwarner

I use a Powerbreak and also own a Hotplate. I use it on a MV JCM800 2204 but I play with the MV nearly full on and bring the Pre-amp up to just crunch up. This is way too loud in most venues we play (Pubs mostly). Most venues I can get away with -9Db which still sounds great. The Powerbreak is definatly better than the hotplate on Marshall amps.