that looks like my set-up: boss gt-8 >> poweramp >> speakers.
i do like my tone a lot, and the gt is really tweakable. my poweramp is a beast, i never tried a solid state because i got a good deal, it is an engl. The cab also does, but it is not as good.
Lately i've bouth a tube preamp and i use it in the loop of the gt but i´m afraid you cannot do that with the line 6.
to me it makes no sense. if you like the sound of the pod stay with it. if you want a tube sound get a tube preamp (to use it for recording) you can have a nice one for round 250$ (like a mesa v-twin for example).
if the problem is that you like your presets but you miss something in them it may be a problem with eq also.
that is of course very reasonable. yesterday i went to my friend's house, he's got a pod 2.0. i don't really like pod (i miss options compared to my gt) but it does sound really good. i started to play with headphones but soon my head started to sweat and i connected to the return effect input of his peavey classic 30, the difference is huge to me.
Of course that is a lot more money involved but a lot more to tweak. The amp, the speaker, the mic.
You could ask a friend to bring an amp, get a mic from another (or use one of yours if you have) connect everything and give it a try. if you like playing with things that is going to suit you well XD, then again you won't be able to record at late night
I have explained things a bit without order, hope my opinion helps.
Jesus