Custom Titanium 36" Wheel All-Arounder circa 2013:
 

 
It took 120 years, but folks are realizing that the Penny Farthing had some very useful design qualities.
 
:-)
 

Then how come they sound the same?  And, more to the point, who gives a rats behind about what goes on under the hood if the outcome is the same or better?  And lighter.  And has all the stomps and post fx built in.  And is smaller.  And has quite literally hundreds of those big ungainly PITA to haul around boxes already stored in it for you to choose from...take your pick.  And reacts just like a "real" amp...whatever a "real" amp even means.  I mean isn't it the TONE we're after and more amps and options means better, no?  And it sells for around half of what many boutique amps (i.e. Trainwrecks or, gawd forbid, Dumbles) do and has both...and the aforementioned hundreds of others readily available for your twanging pleasure.  And can profile any future amp you might run across and like...or your own existing setup, so you don't have to lug it around anymore.  Or just to have it, like you do your existing amps, in your studio for you and your pals to wang on.  I guarantee it also would be:
 
FUN!!!!!!!
 
:-)
 

Maybe not everyone agrees that they sound the same?
 
Please recall, I'm not speaking about getting the job done I'm speaking about enjoying what you are hearing so much that you describe it as "fun". A word 4 other people in this thread have already used.
 
edit to add: This is a different kind of fun than can had, if it is too be had, by switching through different amps (or models). I'm speaking about having so much fun with any particular amp that you don't have any interest in swapping anything. Of course, this does not address the needs of a modern back line gig a night guitarist. The guys you are speaking of have their jobs to do and I understand why they want to eliminate the un-fun stuff like cartage so that they can spend more time keeping track of all their pedal board presets.
 
Here's something to consider:
 
Class A amplifiers were patented in 1913.
 
Class AB appeared approximately 1923 and the idea was that this new technology was going to replace Class A amps.
 
People still enjoy designing, building, buying, and playing Class A amps.
 
 
 
Now I have to ask; Why would any pro guitarists want a 600 watt guitar P.A. amp? I have a lot of fun with amps that are rated at 3, 10 & 22 watts. It almost seems like there's some over compensating going on... maybe in the hope that up around 400 it will start seeming fun???
 
 
 
 
all the best,
mike

i did play a kemper.
 
it did not feel like a real tube amp to me.
 
it sounded great on the track.
 
but did not feel great playing through it.
 
i can tell you that.
 
 
now, pushing that kemper thru a 600 watt power amp, at stage volume..
now THAT might be a completely different experience.
 
then the real magic (using actual speakers to create the sound, rather than 0's and 1's) starts to happen.
 
for me, as a performance-driven musician, i have to be inspired by the feel and sound of my rig...
not just have it sounding great thru the monitors and on play back.
 
 
the kemper is probably at the top of the heap.....
 
but you'll NEVER see me trade my boogie in for a kemper.
 
well, maybe that version with the power amp will change my mind.
 
 
 
 
 
gigging guitarists, yes.....
studio musicians, yes...
 
but someone seeking their own signature tone, eh, not so much.
 
if i want the sound of a marshall Jubilee, i'll get a juby

mike_mccue
 Now I have to ask; Why would any pro guitarists want a 600 watt guitar P.A. amp? I have a lot of fun with amps that are rated at 3, 10 & 22 watts. It almost seems like there's some over compensating going on... maybe in the hope that up around 400 it will start seeming fun???

 
 
mike, if you ever had a chance to play a Pod XT thru a Atomic Reactor, this was an early attempt to give authentic speaker and amp dimension to the models....

You know this all reminds me of another debate. When listening to people talk about their DAW these days, it's like everyone needs a machine that can handle 1200 tracks w/ 12 plug-ins on each channel and 143 busses, and a variety of virtual processors that would put any actual hardware collection to shame.
 
Similarly, many of us get caught up in the idea that you need hundreds of different type of tones - hundreds of pedals and dozens of heads and cabs and virtual mics. But who needs that? Has everyone become a session player who's willing and able to play in absolutely every genre, so much that they need every pedal, amp and cabinet known to man?
 
Strangely, for all the options we have, music nowadays is depressingly lacking in terms of originality and personality. People seem so focused on classifying tones by types and re-creating this or that sound that music has effectively become pre-fabricated. When you think of music in terms of formulas like that, it's no wonder that it doesn't move us anymore most of the time. It's no longer fun to play or even to listen to. 
 
I'm not bashing the Kemper or any other things. But when the entire focus is placed more and more on re-creating something instead of creating something, that's when the magic fails to happen. 
 
With a Kemper, I'd be trying to re-create a Marshall sound or a Vox sound. 
With an actual Marshall, I focus on the actual sound and not how close it sounds to a real amp.
 
 
 
 

I have to add that, ironically, the actual session guys I know (a few of whom also operate studios) all use traditional rigs - usually, lots of different guitars, different amp models and in some cases a massive pedal collection. Or very few. No modeling other than for demos.
 

 
I've never played an Atomic Reactor but I think I get the idea.
 
I wonder how close the topology is to a Dynaco MK II home stereo amp from the late 1960s?
 
Do they make it any more? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
I just listened to an album that is full of Kemper:
 
http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Between+The+Devil+And+Two+Black+Hearts/8337803
 
The solo on the One and the outro on Glimmering left me with some very distinct impressions.
 
The YouTube producer interview that inspired me to go listen to the record said they did it all super fast and it was super easy to get the guitar tone they wanted.