My amp of the year last year out of all the units I reviewed and took on stage and the one amp that I couldn't get out of my head when taking any other amp on stage (yes even the Mark VII).
There's just something about the voice and structure of this amp that works SO well on stage. The top end cuts clearly and cleanly but not harsh or abusive, the low end is full and fat but clear and not boomy and not thin or lacking and it's REALLY quiet on stage with hardly any hiss and no feedback even when pushed extremely hard. For the style of music we play and my own tonal preferences, for a multi-channel amp, it sits in this Goldilocks area of sound.
The cleans are big and open with tons of headroom and can be squeaky clean or gritty/crunchy. The crunch channel can cover anything from blues to high gain modern rock, takes a boost pedal really well and the lead channel has tons of great modern high gain metal sounds on tap without being harsh or abrasive.
The tiny size and carrying case is great for gigs too .
I loaded it with a pair of KT77's and got it biased up and it made the amp sound even better. It's more open and a bit clearer at stage volume and also a bit louder as well when comparing the factory 6L6's recordings back to back. The 77's are about 2dB's louder.
Anyways, I've got the 50w 5153 (non stealth) and the Kraken V4 pedal amp hopefully coming soon to review and compare with this. Really interested in how that comparison goes.
