JCM800 2203x halfstack vs AXE FIII w/poweramp and cab

You should get an amp and a modeler and have the best of both worlds.
Amp into cab when you want to rock out loud.
Amp into load box into FM3 for IR and effects for quiet headphone practice.

I think a LOT of people have forgotten what the experience of playing a great tube guitar amp is actually like. Its easy to do that when you're playing a killer Fractal rig because it sounds awesome and does everything. I can be playing the Fractal exclusively for a few weeks, loving it, then I plug into the real amp and immediately think- "oh yeah. There it is. "

I can put them on a switcher and go back and forth and get them so close that they sound right but when I walk away and come back, they're not the same anymore with fresh ears- rinse and repeat.

The Fractal is the best in the world of what I've tried. As far as I'm concerned, there is no competition. I think Cliff said it well when he previously commented that a tube amp is like a Leica and the Fractal is like a Canon. The Leica has something special about it but its limited and it does that thing it does. The Canon does everything really well, but its not a Leica. Something along those lines.

If you don't like an amp, get rid of it. If you love an amp you have and have a great copy of it, I think you're making a mistake getting rid of it- especially with the price of everything going up up and up.

I'm currently enjoying my tube amp into an X-Load into an FM3 exactly as you describe. Its cool. I've not quite matched the amp tone in the Fractal yet but probably can. That amp also gets used with an Ultra. The FM3 gets used by itself. The amp gets used by itself. Its OK to have more than one toy at a time.
 
I don't know your house situation, but for me JCM 800 is too Loud. and you have to make it loud to sound good.

Since got the Axe FX, I rarely play a tube amp anymore.
How do you use the Axe FX? With studio monitors or FRFR?
 
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