I'm a gear nut. I buy new stuff every year, trading in the old for the new, always looking for the perfect tone. This is the first thing that has survived my rash buying habits because it has smoked everything that I've played against it. A/B'd against an Ampeg SVT-Classic, Mega/Boogie 400+, and an SWR SM900, it remained the winner.

Construction: solid, top notch. Two fans that blow air IN instead of out means that it stays cool.

Aesthetics: powder blue and a VU meter on the front - the coolest looking piece of musical equipment since the Echoplex.

Sound: Deep, round, vintage tone. It has all the tube character of the Boogie and tube SVT but much more definition and actually greater lows. A/B'ed: slightly less mids, but they can be dialed in with the extensive tone controls. One pre-amp tube with a variable selector switch and give you more tube compression and growl if you want it. And lots of power; I've never turned it up halfway, and I play against 2 Marshall/Boogie half stacks and a power drummer.

Your control over the sound is essentially a well-placed seven band EQ. Low/Mid/High knobs (50Hz/660Hz/7kHz) with four range knobs that adjust cut/boost for 180Hz/340Hz/1.2kHz/2.6kHz.

The input has a VU meter to show you how hard you're hitting it, but it's padded well (a complaint I had about the Ampegs), so you can hit it hard.

Octave switch has a built in Octaver that is clean and can be used modestly to fatten up any bass.

What I have a hard time trying to explain is how this thing gets all the warmth of the vintage sound with all the punch of the modern sound. You just need to hear it for yourself and see if it's "your sound". This is truly a remarkable piece of equipment, the only one that I've been happy with for more than a year. Amps tried against a/b in the store: Ampeg SVT3-Pro, AmpegSVT4-Pro, SWR SM-900, Eden WT400, Ampeg SVT Classic, Mesa/Boogie 400+, Ampeg SVP with a Crest 900VS power amp.

Who is this not for? Maybe slap players, who would want something a little more transparent. People who hate vintage sounds and want an ultra-clean, flat tone.

Cosntruction	98%
(Hand built.)
Clarity	95%
(Clearer than the Ampeg SVT-CL and Boogie 400+, warmer than the SWR and Eden)
Versatility	90%
(How can any amp be for everybody? But this is close.)
Volume	98%
(Mucho headroom.)
Customer Service	98%
(Not a huge company, but were responsive via e-mail and the phone)
Value	95%
(It's a thousand bucks, it sounds like a thousand bucks.)
Overall	98%
(I never say anything is perfect. But this is as close as it gets.)