I had one. It stayed pretty clean almost all the way up, I had to use pedals at Pragestock volume to get any dirt. I only ran it with 6V6s so I am guessing 6L6s would get you some more head room.Not big enough to be clean enough.
My Allen Encore fits the bill for me.
I hear ya. The cleans in MESA Express works for me as well, but it's no twin. There's a bottom end thump to the whistling clean in a 2x12 twin that I've yet to see/hear elsewhere.
I do! I still love it, but I don't get many chances to use it because it is so loud! Been considering selling it, actually.
How loud is it get before it starts to break up?
I think an amp like this works best in a blues/classic R&B/classic rock type setup where you always want a little breakup. The stuff I've been doing lately has at times needed a crystal clean clean for articulate effects, etc., and I wouldn't use it for that. And now that you've got me thinking about it, I'm kind of annoyed that it goes from 0 to 60 by the time volume is on 2. A little more smooth taper would be a big improvement.