I talk about gain a lot, and probably get associated with that, but I'm really primarily a strat player, using a fat clean and plexi type tone most of the time.
My main prerequisite for an amp is a tight and big sounding low end, and highs that breakup smooth, not ratty. If an amp has a farty low end, it's the last time I ever plug into it. Marshall type amps tend to have tighter lows than Matchless, so I try hard to get the Matchless sounding great......with tubes.
Once that's done, there's almost no clean amp that can equal it.
If you create an amp like that, just focus on getting the lows to stay tight, no matter what the tonal character is like, and it'll be a great amp.