Agreed, 100 percent. When I started on the amp modelers and valvestate stuff (ie: had a Fender 1000 Performer amp, which was Fender's first foray into the transtube type of market), it was all just terrible sounding. It wasn't until I stocked up on great old tube amps with old Mullards and RCA's and GE and Phillips tubes did the recording get
that much easier. I like EL34 tube amps.....they usually sound great, and are usually matched with transformers that are underbuilt because they're not trying to push out mega wattage. I've found that it's more easier to set a mic up in a fairly wide range in front of the speaker and get a really good sound from a P90 or parallel wired humbucker setup.
To be honest I found tha Marshall Valvestate 100 to sound pretty darn good (the clean channel could be a bit better though).