Originally Posted by: JeffS65I think it depends on what you play and with whom.

If you play subtle jazz, a combo will do great. Metal? Not as likely.

I played with very hard hitting, loud drummers and combo amps never seemed to cut through. At least not with any level of good tone. Open back combo amps tend to bleed lots of the bottom end of the tone at higher volumes. That nice fat tone you dialed in sitting by yourself is likely to scream in a bit of pain if you have to play over someone who plays in a more heavy handed rock/metal style.

Reality was for me, in the day, I had an old 70's Peavy Classic combo that I played through a Turbo Overdrive and Wah and it got great tone at all but the highest volumes. The amp had an 'out' that I could plug in to a 4x12 cabinet. It has massive tone and plenty of volume then.

In my unofficial opinion, the watts can be important but 50 is plenty. If you can get a cabinet (even a 2x12), you'll be able to get a good sound at a decent volume. The wattage does affect the volume but at a point anything has too much volume. Higher wattage amps tend to have the ability to overdrive post tubes or push the speakers in desirable ways. So, there are reasons why high watt amps exist but for all practical purposes, a good amp with decent tone and effects will do a fine job without having to overwhelm.

Jeff i agree with you of course, but the point i was trying to make was based on initial question when he said he needs something for his home. Only in his last message did he make a second point of being able to play over drums.

Considering he said that his budget was $600 or so, i could have not recommended a stack 'cause i think worthwhile stacks are starting really over a grand. Actually for $600 is possible to get a decent half-stack from EBay or something, but i'm not a big fan of EBay myself. I prefer to buy new gear with extended warranty to make sure it will be replaced in case the gear breaks, no matter how cheap it is.

I recommended a Vypyr series 'cause i have used them myself. Even when i got my portable 15W Vypyr it exceeded my expectation, i did not expect all i got from it, i expected much less.

Vypyr Tube 120W that i had a privilege of trying out before in a studio, is not a stack - its a combo amp... But its pretty powerful, powerful enough to be used on a small gig. I mean it wont be same as a $2000 Marshall, but it's also not a same price range.

I mean this Thread is really kinda like the quest for golden middle. I'm trying to take all variables into consideration.

I would be crazy if i would say combo amp is "better" than a half-stack or a full-stack, if finances are unlimited of course it better to get something that has the best tone and the loudest kick =)))