@virgil First of all. I am "Clark Kent".
I'm the guy who currently creates most of the official Cab Packs for Fractal Audio and if you like my sound I strongly suggest you take a look at the awesome deals that are in the Fractal Audio Cab Pack store right now:
http://shop.fractalaudio.com/Cab_Packs_ML_Sound_Lab_s/69.htm
The gift to mankind IR was shot from the same cabinet that eventually became Cab Pack 7 which is a part of the Modern Bundle. Mesa Traditional 4x12 (the smaller mesa cab). That or the Misha Mansoor Bundle are what I tend to recommend to modern guitar players.
On the subject though, I think
@lqdsnddist made a good point about the price vs what you get. I used to spend so much money just to get to try a different cabinet. The only option was to buy/rent one and record some tones and then compare that tone to something else I recorded before and even then it's really hard to A/B test when working with so many different variables like amp settings/guitars etc. And in the end once you realize that the best sound you got was from that one vintage Orange 4x12 cab... that you had to sell to get the money for the next A/B and can't get back anymore... oh the rage I used to get! Even now I'm still negotiating with the guy who bought the cab that I used for Cab Pack 13 but he doesn't seem to be interested even though he doesn't understand what he has.
We're living in a time where fine tuning guitar tones to be perfect is super easy and fast. 10 years ago the problem was "how can I try all the cabs and find the best cab for me" and now it's "how do I decide the best cab for me when there's so much to choose from". That's a good problem to have. F.ex. Man... I have hamburger and pizza, it's so hard to choose which one I like more.
The food comparison is also good for understanding the high standards we set for guitar tones these days because "we can". How do you choose what the best food in the world is without tasting them all? Even then there's most likely no clear winner but you just choose one. I doubt none of them "suck or taste bad". There's no problem there. It's more about the "quest to find the best" and I promise you, I've been on the quest for 15 years now and I still can't say what my favorite cab, Cab Pack or IR is. I do have a top 10 video that's a little outdated but they're still good IR's:
Eventually there will be no "one best IR or Cab Pack" because we all have different tastes just like in food. IMO people should choose around a dozen go-to trustworthy IR's that do different things. One is scooped, one is bright, one has huge lows, one has a lot of mids etc. and when you're creating your tone you have a lot more options.
