The amp search continues

    Join the club, Brother! LOL

    There ARE a ton of options out there, nowadays! But all will have some different strengths and weaknesses. So, you have to weigh the differences for yourself.

    What this ultimately means is:

    Go to the Music Stores and actually play through the Amps you're considering, for yourself.
    If you are not sure of your playing, etc., take a friend who's playing and experience you respect, and have them Demo the various Amps for you.

    If you don't have any friends who play, have one of the Salesmen Demo the different Amps for you.
    The key to having the Salesman Demo things, is to make sure you tell them beforehand that you definately will not be buying anything on that day. In fact, make sure you don't have any $$$$ with you! That way, you don't make any impluse purchases!
    Just make sure to get a Business Caed from the Salesman, and let them know you will buy from them, specifically, if you buy at their store. Make sure you support the Salesman who does the leg-work for you.

    And, go to as many stores as possible, and repeat this process. With NO MONEY IN YOUR POCKETS! LOL
    Even if the different stores sell the same products. As different "Demos" from different people/players, will give you a clearer picture of what is available and what it can do for you.

    And be honest with what you actually need:

   Will the Amp be used in Living Room mainly? Will it be for a Band? Will it be for actual Gigs?

    You have to buy the right Wattage. There really isn't any magic button or box that will make a 50 Watt 212 Combo sound optimal in a Living Room. A 3 to 5 Watt "Champ"? Perfect!

Well why not a classic fender amp new or old.  I think your better off going for that clean tone you want and shooting for a distortion pedal such as the Tone Bonez pedal with a 12Ax7 Pre amp tube.  Think about it you won't get the thunderous low end of a Marshall but you'll have a damn good clean and with a pedal that creates sustain like a marshall you can get very close to the Marshall tone (but not quite the same.)  You could go for a Fender Deluxe Reverb (20 watts 35 to 40 lbs) get really good clean tones and for distortion crank the amp up loud to get a really good distortion.  Maybe your a Clapton bluesbreaker era fan you could get a Bluesbreaker Clone and have that Marshall sound, but really its more like a Fender Twin. 

Bottom line is I think your better off going for clean because if you got a great clean tone you can get a distortion tone from it thats great too with a pedal.  Its hard to get a great distorted amp to sound great clean a lot of the times.  Just my opinion but I think Fender clean, Matchless (might be out of the price range.)  Oh I had a great little amp one time that comes in a twin 12" format Laney Class A LC-212 I think is what it is.  Very good Vox like clean, and a Distortion that is very rich and smooth.