You could buy this power amp based upon those words above and have no fears, but I'll elaborate for the cautious consumer.

I bought this power amp to finally get some real punch out of my 4-ohm Acme B2. I had previously been powering it with a Gallien-Krueger 800RB, which delivered 300 watts into 4 ohms. The Acme boxes are notorious for being power-hungry. I certainly could hear myself at high-volumes with the GK, but sometimes I had to accept "woolly" bloominess for punchy lows, especially when using effects with big peaks and valleys in level like a Mu-Tron. Even of more concern, though, was that my GK was so hot after a gig that I couldn't pick it up sometimes. This wasn't good, especially considering I don't play that loud.

Finally, I decided I would get twice as much power as I needed. This way I would have clear-sounding power amp headroom for no matter what crazy peak transients I was generating, whether it be from overdrive, envelope filters, octave pedals, etc.

The Stewart seemed too good to be true (one rackspace at 1200 watts (4 ohms), almost as much power as the Peavey 1400x for half the cost? Come on!) but the testamonials I had read were good. I bought one sight unseen from Bass Northwest (very helpful people, by the way, check em' out,), and tested it on a gig with a 5-piece rock/funk/blues band (a Sans Amp RBI as the preamp).

VERY clean full lows. I barely turned the Stewart up halfway and was able to provide very full support without competing for volume. Yet I wasn't "too loud," just amazingly clear This amp is very well-suited for electric bass applications. The sound is very transparent and warm and made everyone in the band smile.

The one rackspace is a slight misnomer, though. It has vents on the top and radiating fins on the sides instead of a fan to cool itself. Very deep units should not be installed directly above or below it.

All in all, a fine poweramp that's gig-friendly in both and transportablity (only 11 pounds!). I recommend it without hesitation. These guys at Stewart are geniuses.

Construction	100%
Clarity	100%
Volume	100%
Value	100%
Overall	98%