Mini Rectifier vs. Dual Rectifier w/ attenuator at home

I wanted to try to get some help with deciding between a mini rectifier vs. dual rectifier vs. rect-o-verb (single rectifier 50 watt combo). The question is would the dual rectifier with a volume attenuator like a Hotplate sound bigger, fuller, better, etc. than a mini or single at pedestrian volumes?

This will be for home use almost exclusively (other times for an occasional jam session with a friend, and no gigging planned), and I would definitely plan to have a volume attenuator with single/dual and possibly even for the mini if it was necessary. I already realize all of these options are overkill for my use and are not the most efficient use of capital. However, I have owned enough modeling options (POD XT Live and POD HD500) and tried other more practical options (Blackstar HT5, H&K Tubemeister 18) and nothing has gotten close enough to satisfying my lust for real Mesa tone and feel, so I have decided to just go for the gusto and get the real thing since I can afford it (and have rationalized it to myself now too…).

I have done enough research and still don’t seem to have come across a clear answer on whether at relatively lower volumes (highest = as loud as you could stand in a bedroom without your ears ringing after an hour; lowest = normal TV volumes that just drown out the string noise) would the dual rectifier with an attenuator be a noticeably better sounding option to the mini if size, weight, and price were not part of the consideration? Of the comparison videos that I have found the dual has a noticeably fuller tone compared to the mini which comes off as thinner in both high gain and clean settings, and having the third channel on the dual is really appealing to me. My concern is that even with an attenuator on the dual in 50 watt mode or the single they still might not be as good as the mini in 10 watt mode when it comes to pushing the amp into the sweet spot for that saturated high gain tone at these relatively lower volumes. I am planning to buy used and don’t have a convenient way to compare these option first hand before taking the plunge, but I did get a chance to crank a mini through a 4x12 stack once and it was a ton of fun and a tone that I was very happy with.

Also, I don’t have a ton of experience with different cabs, so I am not sure if there would be a particular option that would be better for my situation. From what I could gather so far the 2x12 horizontal rectifier cabinet would be awesome for a full sound for my main style of music which is alternative/hard/grunge rock, but I was curious if the mini rectifier 1x12 cabinet might be better for lower volume situations with the theory that the same amount of speaker excursion from a 1x12 would produce less volume compared to a 2x12 cabinet.

So does anyone have any relevant thoughts/opinions that might be helpful in steering me one way or the other. Thanks a ton in advance!

I used to have a dual rectifier solo and it sounded fine at home. I've actually never had much of a problem getting decent high gain sounds out of any amp with a master volume. Allot of what makes a 50 or 100 watt sound so good when it's loud is the fact that it's loud. That and the power section is getting a workout. Attenuated or not you won't ever be able to absolutely nail that cranked tone when the amp isn't cranked and pumping all that wattage through your speakers. That said either the dual or the recto verb should sound fine at a reasonable volume for home playing. And if you ever want to you can crank it just to put a smile on your mug.
If you want and can afford a big loud rock amp I'd say just go for it.

I would go for a Mini Rec or Rectoverb25. Make no mistake, 100W amps like the Dual Rec were designed for arenas and 50W amps for big clubs. I play small and medium-sized clubs with the MR and it works great and sounds great at home as well.

The MR and RV25 are voiced a bit brighter than the Dual and Triple, much like the Single Rec. They are great amps, and very versatile. There are a lot of MRs coming into the used market so the prices are very reasonable.

I think you will likely be happier with an amp that is designed for the way you will use it. If you need to crank it up in a club, mic it and run it through FOH. Better than struggling every day to keep it quieter than it was designed to be.

I say go with the mini. I play my Roadster in a band situation with an attenuator and the volume is barely on. It sounds amazing when it gets loud, but there's so much power you won't need it. You can do small to medium venues with a mini rec. I think you'll be happier with the mini. Not that you can't get goods sounds with the big guys at low volumes, but I always find an amp sounds better as the volume goes up. Why not get something that will allow you to turn the volume knob a little higher more often.

I'm with the majority here, get a Mini.

IMO an attenuator is a waste of money with a Recto. The amp gets it's tone and sustain from the preamp, and the amp has a great master volume to turn it down already. It was not designed to clip the powertubes, and sounds best with a clean output section.

I own a Hotplate, and now only use it as a dummy load when working on the amp.

Dom

I run my Dual Rectifier Solo Head with 6V6's in the EL-34 bias position with the tube rectifier... sounds very full.

I am going to go against the grain here, I say get a dual, yank two tubes and use a hot plate or similar. I have both a roadking and a Mini and my roadking just sounds better for the type of music I play, which I guess that will also make your decision easier.

Dual- Rock to metal, excels at hard rock and metal.
Mini- Rock to hard rock, excels at Rock.

The mini with the EL84 power section is very middy compared to the duals. Now if you like that then go for it, but it is hard to get the classic growl on many records, it is close but just not there. And yes the Dual has more low end, however you can ad low end to the Mini with a EQ in the loop.

So my advice to you, if this is going to be your only amp, get a dual, if this is just a practice small jam amp but you still have a bigger amp then go with the Mini.

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses. I just wanted to report back with what I wound up with and share some feedback on what my opinion was after some firsthand experience. I picked up a new Dual Rectifier Roadster that I got an insane clearance deal on from Guitar Center ($1,050 brand new, a 47% discount!!!). I demoed it and a mini/rectoverb on the same day, and the Roadster sounded noticeably better at all volumes, had 2 more channels and 4 additional tone option, and, in my lucky case, was the same price as a mini.

I had gone out to demo a rectoverb combo at a small local shop first. I tried it out with the combo speaker, the mini rectifier slant cab, and a 2x12 vertical rectifier cab. The combo was fizzy and muddy in my opinion. The mini rectifier cab was much better, but I am glad that I noticed the 2x12 before I walked out because it was immediately obvious how much bigger, fuller, and tighter sounding it was than the other options. I left thinking the mini and a 2x12 cab was going to be good enough for me.

I then had to swing by Guitar Center to get a cable adapter that the other shop didn’t have, and I noticed that all of their Mesa gear was on a big clearance sale. I wound up bringing the Roadster that they had in stock into the amp demo room hooked up to a Marshal 4x12 for 2 hours, and I was in guitar nirvana. I went back to GC the next day to try out the amp with 2x12 cabs, and they had marked the Mesa prices down again for the 4th time. So the Roadster was $450 cheaper from the previous day and was the same price as a new mini (no minis were in stock to compare discounted prices). It was an opportunity that I could not pass up because I could resell it for a profit if I wound up not loving it, but that is not going to be necessary.

When playing the amp in store and at home for a week (with a 2x12 horizontal rectifier cab that I also picked up) I have had no problems getting a tone that I love at moderate to loud bedroom volumes. Yes the amp does sound even better when I crank it louder, but it still sounds better than the mini at any volume level to me. As others have previously pointed out, the Mesa tone comes mostly from the preamp, so you don’t really have to push the power amp to sound good. Also, the dual volume controls on master volume amps (channel volume and output level on the Roadster) make it even easier to get a good tone at a lower volumes. Unless size and price (in most cases) are a concern, my opinion is that the real deal dual rectifier / Roadster / Road King are a better sounding choices with more features and options compared the mini rectifier / recto verb at any volume level. The mini just doesn’t seem to have the same full and rich tone compared to the real deal. I could perhaps feel this way because the mini seems to be voiced a bit brighter, but it just seemed to be lacking the rich bottom end which is really important for the modern hard rock rhythm kind of music that I mostly play.


FYI GC is no longer a Mesa dealer and anything that is remaining in stock is now at almost a 50% discount and is cheaper than used prices! So go check it out ASAP if there might be something that you are looking for or potentially interested in. I would have loved to also pick up a Mark V combo at these discounts if they had one in stock…

Congrats. You made the right choice. For that price, I would have hit you if didn't buy it. At full retail for each amp, I would have saved a few bucks and gone with the mini as I recommended in my post. When you get it for a price like that, you can't lose. Nice score.