Yo Mikeh! Thanks for your kind words. I'm sorry the pictures aren't up to date. I've added a Strat (no-brainer).
Yo Pixel! You're not quite clear on the concept, but you are getting there. Let's review some terms:
preamp- an amp that raises the weak signal of a mic or instrument to line level
power amp- an amp that raises line level to something strong enough to drive a speaker
A guitar amp is a preamp and a power amp designed to accept an insrument input. If it has a built-in speaker, we call it a "combo" amp. Some guitar amps are just amps, and plug into one or more "cabs" or cabinets, each of which contains one or more speakers.
A mixer is a bunch of preamps with options for sending multiple signals to one or more outputs, called "busses". Some mixers also contain one or more power amps. These are called "powered" mixers.
Speakers can be "active/powered" (containing a power amp), or "passive" (need a separate power amp).
So a PA could use a powered mixer and passive speakers, or a passive mixer and active speakers.
In the guitar setup I described above, there is no guitar amp involved, exactly. I use the Pod/Vamp as a preamp. It produces a line level signal. But- I want to use microphones, to record the impact of moving air. So, I need a power amp to drive one or more speakers. I use a specialized power amp (not a guitar amp) that was designed to drive (passive) studio monitors. That power amp drives a speaker cabinet. Then I put up mics, and our signal is back down to that weak mic level, which needs to be raised back to line level so it can go to a recorder or interface. This requires a mic preamp.
The selection of the power amp/speaker combination is critical. The Pod contains a "speaker model" which attempts to recreate the sound of various types of cabinets when mic'd up. This is called "studio mode". Fortunately, I can turn off the speaker simulation . This is called "live mode". This is intendes for a person who is sending the Pod's signal to a big mucking power amp or PA head, and then to one or more speaker cabs, on stage. This is kind of like what I do, on a larger scale.
The difference is- if I send the signal from the pod to a guitar amp, or a guitar speaker, it will add its own character to the signal. What I want is a broad spectrum amp and broad spectrum speakers that produce damn little noise, and simply reproduce the sound the preamp gives them, without adding their own character. I want an amp and speaker that can produce bass, or treble, without adding, subtracting, distorting, or modifying the signal. This is what we call "flat" response.
A small PA works pretty well for this, but makes more noise than is ideal for recording. So first, I got a power amp, in this case, a Carver PM125. Small amps are good for this, because they produce less heat than big stage power amps, therefore don't need fans, and are therefore quieter. Also, amps made for driving studio monitors generally make damned little noise. OK, so I could plug the power amp into, say, a Marshall cab with a Celestion vintage 30, greenback, or whatever. Then I disable the cab simulation, and I will get the sound of a 1X12 Marxhall cab with a Celestion vintage 30, which could be OK. But- what I want is to be able to use that cab model *and* a real cab I can put a mic in front of. For broad spectrum speakers, I got much better results by switching to PA speakers. Problem was, the PA cabs contain different kinds of speakers with different frequency ranges. Mic placement became a pain in the ass. Then I switched to a 10" Fender wedge monitor, which *is perfect*. For anybody planning on doing this, make sure your power amp is bridgable to 8 ohms, it'll drive the 8 ohm monitor much better than the 4 ohms that most studio reference monitors are looking for.
Finally, I plugged the line out of the Pod into the line in of a powered studio reference monitor, and mic'd that. That rocks, but I haven't yet come up with the coin to buy a really good monitor for a dedicated recording amp, and switching all the inputs and outputs so I can listen to what I did is a pain in the ass, so mostly I just use the Carver and the wedge monitor. I also find that because the whole setup is smaller/quieter than a cranked up combo amp, even with distortion, I get better results using condenser mics than the dynamics I would put in front of a loud amp. I've tried a lot of mics, including some expensive models, but keep coming back to AKG C2000B, a basic $150-$200 small diaphragm con=denser. It has repeatedly beat out everything from Neumann KM184 to B.L.U.E. Kiwi to AKG C414B-ULS to Shure SM-7. Beats the hell out of me. What I really want to do is find a deal on just one really good powered monitor, put that in the isolation box, and try that. That should be really quiet, but trick the recorder into believing I've got a cranked up amp.
So what do I get for all this? Sound from a modeler that doesn't suck, at a volume level that bothers *nobody*. It allows the amp model to be reproduced much more faithfully, and can sound shockingly like the real thing. Don't want the pain in the ass? Go back to plan A. Get an amp that sounds good, crank the crap out of it in a good room, put a good stage mic in front of it, and send the signal to the best mic preamp you can afford.
Oh yeah- you said "tube" mic preamp. There are *no* tubes in my Avalon. Note that preamps with or without tubes can be clean or colored, Some tube amps produce almost no distortion. Some solid state amps produce plenty. If you want a lot of distortion, as in a guitar amp, tubes are often preferred. Note that most "tube" preamps don't really have tubes in their power section, just a little tube in the preamp section. Mostly, this is marketing BS, so they can call it a "tube" amp. Good mic preamps that are really powered by tubes don't come cheap, as a rule. Some of the gratest recordings of all time have been made with both types. Keep it coming, Pixel. You'll get it. It's not rocket science.-Richie