Originally Posted by American Viking

Of course they breathe better once you can get past the 3 mark on the master but power tube distortion is very minimal compared to preamp distortion. I used to defend this out put distortion a lot but when I see people getting amps like the DSL/TSL and buying attenuators it drives me crazy. Those things have so much front end gain that no one can tell that the power tubes are breaking up at all. I think a lot of people are wasting money, I don't see what is expected of an amp when you have to quiet them down to a whisper. On a JCM800 there isn't a whole lot of difference one you get past 3 or 4 on the master, it's damn near wide open at that point.
I think mine sound great from 2 on up. If it's too loud, I just turn it down (or put in earplugs and turn it up!)

A lot of people have a completely different opinion on this but I'm one of those guys that doesn't have to ever worry about being too loud. Whenever in the past it may have been an issue, I just turned my amp down, I don't expect the holy grail of tone to happen at the level of a whisper, it's just not going to happen, but to each his own.

Good luck on the rock and roll ride and keep the Marshall faith!