Hmmmm, I’m very much on the fence about this one for two reasons. Firstly, I play in mostly small pubs, these days pubs like their punters to be able to have conversations and when you rock up with a 4x12 you immediately get glared at. Secondly, I do the sound for my bands and have invested in some very decent pa equipment but when that very good and powerful equipment can’t get the vocals over you’re other guitarist because they’re ‘in the sweet spot’ it tends to ruin the whole thing for me.
I get that valve amps operate best in a certain window but to me the days of rocking up with a 4x12 are long gone. A 30w head with a mic’d 1x12 through a good pa sounds just as good, saves everyone’s ears and helps get a good band mix. And in the age of reactive loads and digital modelling the days of the 4x12 and 100w head maybe over.