Reading through Bogner's thread "What Are Your Favorite Amps To Play," I see quite a few replies stating the Archon. I don't really know anything about this amp, but it appears there have been a few configurations and a US version as well as an overseas version. What, in your opinion is the best version (wattage, combo/head cab etc) and why?
There's no best version, there's only the version that's best for you, and that's impossible for someone else to predict (I'm sure you agree, so I'm probably preaching to the choir).
PRS made two levels of amps in its US factory:
The CAD amps were largely hand-wired with a few circuitboard traces that were made on super-thick boards. They were fussed over a great deal during assembly, and for that stuff, they were pretty expensive amps (The DG30 is still made that way, and Doug Sewell, the amp's designer, told me that it's the most time consuming amp to produce he's ever done). PRS originally thought these amps would wind up being the amp equivalent of a Private Stock, with lots of custom mods and options. These were more or less 'cost no object' builds.
The Custom 50s, the 2-Channel H, the C, and similar models, as well as the US Archon, were made with circuit boards, but the circuit boards (though not hand wired) were populated carefully, and everything was of higher quality than one finds on most amps, down to the circuit boards themselves. They were built by the same amp team that made the CAD amps, and they are very high grade amps, certainly worthy of any studio.
The overseas-built amps were designed by the US team, but are built on a foreign supplier's assembly line to meet a lower price point. This might be a compromise, and might not be a compromise. I make no claim to omniscience.
The sourcing of parts and materials might also be, or not be, a drawback. This might represent compromise, or it might not. I think it's going to take a few years of these amps being used in the field to find out.
The higher the wattage, the cleaner and tighter the bottom end. Amps have the most difficulty with low frequency reproduction. Bigger transformers and more tubes are needed. But not everyone wants or needs that.
When people talk of amps 'mushing out' this is why lower wattage amps tend to do that, unless the design of the amp includes a low-cut filter, like the Vox AC 30 amps. So the right wattage for you is a personal choice, influenced by your own needs and taste.
I prefer heads to combos for a few reasons. First, even though I have to make two trips to the car for a session out of my own studio, each separate component is lighter, and two lighter units puts less strain on my back than one heavy one. Also, I like using different types of speaker cabs.
Another drawback with combos is that the tubes are hanging right over the speakers, and that's a tube torture chamber due to speakers vibrating loudly like crazy in close proximity to the tubes. Most current production tubes can't handle this for very long without becoming rattly, ringy, noisy, and microphonic.
I had a problem with tube rattle when I got my Mesa Lone Star combo. I called their customer service department, and the tech said, "I won't buy a combo for that very reason. New tubes are junk, they keep getting worse, and they rattle unless they're isolated. So I only buy heads."
My personal preference is for the US builds, because I've been to the factory and have seen how they do what they do.
But so what. That doesn't mean my preference would be right for you, or anyone else.