I would say Acoustic b600h is powerful and has a really clean sound... The price is not bad either... It has an easy EQ and passive and active inputs...
Yes, which is it, a bass head or a power amp? If power amp, any will do, but you'll need a preamp as well. If bass head, there are hundreds of choices.
No, there really isn't a "go to", there are many excellent choices out there. Depends on what your wish-list of features is, too; for example in my search for the smallest form factor, I found that bypassing the preamp on a GK MB500 makes it a very good power amp.