The best bass amp?

What do bassists see as the best amp, the holy grail of bass amps. And is there a pedal, or plugin, or a piece of gear that is like the klon, and is viewed as divine, and is rare, and expensive.

original ampeg portaflexes are holy grail studio bass amps... the B15 is best known, but the B18 is a rare old bird and prized by bassists who know...

my favorite bass amps to use when I played bass were:

fender bassman 50 or 100 thru a 4x10 or 2x15

fender blackface dual showman through an 8x10 or straight 4x12 with bass cone speakers

ampeg B25B thru a straight 4x12 with bass cone speakers

Tone wise, it's up in the air.

Older guys stick to Fender and Ampeg reguardless of tone due to all their heroe's playing them.

Burgantino, Dingwal, and Dumbal are used by a lot of jam musicians and jazz players. Usually if they own a Porsche 911... they also own one of these.

New age buys love Mesa Boogie, SWR, and MarkBass.

Personally, MarkBass is the greatest tone I've ever actually played through. I don't remember if it was Trace Elliot or GK but one of the green ones didn't sound bad either.

I love SWR tone at lower volumes. They sound tinny and high pitched when pushed but on lower settings I dig them.

Hartke has the greatest customer service and Larry Hartke himself is not unknown to call customers personally, handle returns personally, and give you a free amp if you arent happy. He goes the extra mile to make a reliable product but also to keep their reputation up. He also make's the cheapest 1000 watt Bass Amp.

No bass players that I know like anything with a B in it. B-52 and so on. Ampeg is probably the most commonly owned though.

my uncle switched to bass from guitar at his church and got a fancy Eden head and cab that he loves. I think it sounds pretty good, but I prefer the family B15 ampeg that's in his basement. Its in really good shape and sounds way less vintage than you would expect.

I have never personally played bass through a markbass, but I have played with guys who had their big head and cab setups and they are really great for a modern bass tone. They sound wonderful. I also really liked the Ashdown MAG300 that briefly belonged to my band. I liked it more than the bassist did! Old sunn amps are fabulous for bass. I like the tube bass/general purpose models with no verb and trem (200S, 2000S) but have never owned one. They are very hifi, deep and punchy but with a nice tubey sheen when they have been kept up well. But holy grail? I dunno. I have heard bassist talk up Sunn's 70s solid state bass heads, but I've never heard one in person. They're uncommon on the east coast. Believe it or not I am NOT a huge fan of the SVT. Its a classic tone, but in huge tube bass heads I prefer the discontinued Mesa bass400. 400s can be ahd pretty cheap and they sound fabulous, though they cost a fortune to retube. Never owned one but I have borrowed them. Too much power for any of the bands I played bass in, but if you lust after the best loud, tube bass sound I say mesa 400.