The 100W amp graveyard is full of 100W amps that turned out to be junk. This isn't a one-way street.
BTW, it is also from the manual. It says it is gig-ready.
https://mesa-boogie.imgix.net/media/User Manuals/070517-MarkFive25.pdf
Quote for quote word the same.
- 4.5 db difference between that amp and the 90W version.
It is no wonder profiler makers and modelers are laughing all the way to make bank. As long as you still have people saying engineers can't get the tone of their 100W amps into lesser wattage than 50W, the model makers will just keep plowing full-on and doing what SOME amp makers say can't be done. This is what Friedman also did with physical amps. Realized he could do what people wanted.
The gimmick is not less wattage. The gimmick is selling you the full whack deal
as your only option. It was a monopoly. Like the Soviet Union. You can have any car you want as long as it's brown and a Lada. That is what Friedman caught onto and just did what others said couldn't be done. His range is practically made up of modded Marshalls because of it.
Marshall got wise and made the Studio series because the sub 40W DSL series wasn't cutting it. Guess what? It wasn't more wattage that did it.
Other amp makers did fail with their lesser wattage entries and others did fine, like Friedman. Orange also had quite a bit of success. They are getting even better at it.
100W invented for screaming fans was halved for the studio. 50W versions of the 100W high gain amps for recording. Yes, for recording. Meaning the tones they wanted were there. That's because it is -3db difference. 20W is a -6db difference and all this stuff about the bottom end get cut in the mix. The guitar is a mid-range instrument.
Anyway, your argument works both ways to show why it has problems. If your argument is correct, then a 100W amp and 4x12 is a sub-par tone for any bigger fish coming along and saying their full-stack is better, or 120W or 180W and a wall of sound.
The fact is your argument ends up being a Goldilocks porridge of the only type of setup you need. Not too hot, not too cold, and just the right amount of wattage you need.
My view is very different these days because it's evident that the vast majority of people can't determine the differences in blind tests. The biggest clue that there is something wrong about the 100W only-isms is how it is generally followed up with "video can't demonstrate, so trust your feeling" which points to the whole 100W claim being subjective if you can't even put down a track to get the gains from it you claim are there.