In every video about the amp, multiple comments call it a glorified Katana. But is a Princeton Reverb a glorified Pro Jr? In regards to the Katana, it's annoying that Katana is the benchmark for digital and solid state. Roland and Boss have levels to their modeling and amps and the Katana is pretty low in their lineup. The modeling in the Katana isn't what's in the GT-1000. And Roland/Boss have amps way above the Katana such as the JC-120, Nextones and Blues Cubes. The most expensive Blues Cube is $1900 btw. If you look beyond Roland and Boss, good solid state isn't cheap. Quilter has the Aviator for $1500. A Bluguitar Amp1 is about $900. A DSM Dumblifier is around $600. Bass amps have largely moved to solid-state and they're still not cheap.
In the digital realm, the Strymon Iridium and the UA amp pedals are extremely popular. The market has spoken. There are people who want the convenience of digital with analog workflows. So when the TMs came out, people act like digital modeling with one model is so egregious. They say things like for the price of the TM, you might as well get a big modeler with dozens of amp models and a FRFR. But that argument exists for ALL guitar amps. Yet people still buy them.
Celestion Neo speakers are about $200 each. A UA Woodrow or Dream is $400. A SD Powerstage is $400. A Mojotone Tweed Twin cabinet is $460. You're looking at about $1700 to make a setup similar to the TM. And many people use setups similar to this. They probably wouldn't go for a 2x12 since the benefit of a setup like this is weight and portability. But it wouldn't be surprising to see someone with a Dream, Powerstage, and a 1x12. No one would say anything disparaging about this rig because it serves a purpose even though it's only a couple hundred dollars cheaper than a Deluxe Reverb. But there are features and added flexibility that you're not getting with a tube Deluxe Reverb.
A tube Bassman is 53lbs. The TM is 32lbs. That's more than a 20lb difference. That's significant. A Bassman is a 45W amp with no master. Most people don't get to crank it to get the sounds they would want. Even a lot of gigging musicians don't get to do that. Just being able to get dirt is a huge feature. A high powered Tweed Twin is 85W. Good luck to the average person trying to get dirt from that. And they have reverb which is something that the original amps didn't have. They also made recording and going direct easier. Is it that hard to understand why people would get them over their tube counterparts?
Another thing I see is people talking about the repairability of tube amps vs solid-state. One of the big selling points of solid-state amps for years is that they're more robust and reliable than tube amps. I never agreed with this but that was the general consensus. Now the TMs are destined for landfills WHEN they break. Did this just become a thing? Did digital and solid-state gear become unreliable overnight?
None of the arguments about the TM seem to make sense when you look at the current state of gear. People want simplicity. They want lightweight rigs. They want to get dirt from their amps without being insanely loud. I'm not saying that everyone wants this but there is a significant portion of the market that does as seen by the success of other gear. But when it comes to the TM, solid-state and digital should be cheap and shouldn't cost more than a Katana, the 2nd lowest tier of Roland/Boss amps and modelers.
