Ill give my opinion for what its worth,, please keep in mind, its only my opinion,, im not trying to bash any amp.
I tried a whole sh!it load of boogies before finally settling on the stiletto series,, I owned the ROV and F-50 prior to my Deuce.
Staying on the subject of Stiletto's I tried to like the Ace but just couldnt.
Its a very nice amp but comparing it directly to the deuce stage 2,
I thought the deuce sounded so much fuller, gainier and can get much darker than the Ace which seemed overly bright and brittle to my ears.
I compared the Ace head to my deuce head,, and I thought the combo magnafied the traights I didnt care for. But this may simply be the fact that the combo was only a single speaker.
Im just like you in the aspect that I never play out live, I do play over at friends basements periodically but mostly in my basement.
I know, and knew before buying the amp that it was a bit of an overkill but also realized after owning the ROV and F-50 that even these were overkill for my needs. You must already know this, owning a mark4 and dc3 and only playing at home.
All the amps mentioned here naturally sound better the more they are cranked up, but I also decided on the three amps that I owned because they all sound excellent to me at lower levels,, I would not have chosen the deuce if it didnt,, the ace was nice also but simply not as nice to me as the deuce.
I didnt know this before I spent time with my deuce, but there really isnt much of a difference between 50 and 100 watts. Honostly.
There may be a few decibles of difference comparing both channels completely cranked,, theres just not much difference and I cant ever really imagine cranking either 50 or 100 watts unless your trying to do yourself some harm.
You will notice with the 100 watt option that you can run the clean channel at 100 watts for higher headroom if you choose to play loud.
Anyways id suggest trying both out,, who knows, the ace might just be perfect for you,, many here love them.
I chose the deuce because I thought it sounded better right off the batt and I dont know what the future will bring me,, I may be glad ive got 100 watts some day,, who knows?
And even though most of my playing is at a lower level I do get the house to myself once in a while, thats when I get to make this Fxkxer scream,, and screaming metal she does very well.
