I think there is room in a player's heart for more than one device
Agreed. I personally just have no more need to own the physical amplifiers anymore. I'm older now, and don't want to have to carry heavy things around.
After my first real amp, a used Peavey Deuce I bought in '80, I got a Lab Series L11 head and cab brand new in '82, since my guitar teacher had the L9 combo, and I liked it.
Went from that to a Mesa Boogie MKIIC that I ordered direct and got 4 months after placing the order in '84 (the shared tone stack between clean and dirty was hard to deal with - one would sound good, and the other wouldn't). Put it in the back seat of my Mustang and ripped the seat once. Now I only put equipment in the trunk of my car!
Traded that one in for a Fender Red Knob "The Twin" in '87. Loved that amp, but it weighed 80 lbs! Was still using an Alesis Quadraverb and my Tom Scholz Chorus with the Boogie and the Fender.
In '91, bought and set up a complete MIDI switching Rig with my ADA MP1, Quadraverb, Tom Scholz Chorus and split stack and all of that. for 20 years.
I used an Eleven Rack for a year after that before my AXE II. I used a 3rd Power stereo power amp the last year I used the ADA, and the year of using the Eleven Rack - made the ADA sound like a total monster! The Eleven Rack wasn't running FRFR, so I had to make the presets "sound good" for the power amp and Spit Stack ADA cabinets
Got the AXE II, and was determined to go to FRFR so I didn't have to remake my presets for recording VS live. Got a Matrix Power Amp and 2 of their CFR12 Wedges for live. Sounded fantastic! Went to the AXE III, and then changed my band over to In-ear monitors almost 2 years ago so the hard-of-hearing bassist and drummer wouldn't deafen me (started to hear my ears ringing due to excessive snare and head-splitting bass - bassist uses an AX8 with some
@austinbuddy presets that came out just in time!)
Sold the ADA 2 years ago, the Fender and Lab Series amps last year. Down to my AXEII, AXIII, AX8 and my Spark Amp that I haven't used much, but it has a speaker in it for when the wife isn't at home, but usually use the monitors on my PC when practicing, to keep things quiet.
I still stop by my favorite guitar shop and plug into their real amps a couple of times a month, and talk with their staff, so I get my real amp fix in! However, they only stock small combo amps anymore, no stacks or 4x12's - not a great market for that in NE Iowa, I guess - everyone's tired of moving big iron. It all changed in the past 3 years.