I used to use only pedals into a clean amp, like DTR.
After having discovered and procuring a few PRS amps, I still use pedals. For two channel amps, it is mostly into the clean channel - e.g. I use the lead channel on my Archon for straight up medium to high gain, usually no reverb or delay or anything else. The Archon has a great lead channel, but it is indeed high gain-centric. I get far better low-gain crunch from pedals into the clean channel.
I have a whack of dirt pedals, which helps me find the right pedal or combo. I have an OCD clone going into a Keeley Oxblood on one pedal board typically used for gigging, and for home use I have a series of Boss dirt pedals on my almost-all Boss board: SD-1, BD-2, HM-2, DS-1. If I can't get the right flavor of dirt from those, I don't know what I really want.
I also have other dirt pedals on other boards or just laying about ready to go into service: Fuzzes, BMPs, RAT & RAT clone, and more.
Playing at low volume is going to be a compromise, tone-wise, especially if you are trying to rely on your amp for the dirt. Maybe you can find a "close-enough" lower-volume solution using pedals.