These words are printed in the onwer's manual for my Vox VR15.
And they ain't kidding.
I got my replacement Friday via UPS after getting a bad one from MF for Christmas. I've been playing it daily since then, and am utterly amazed at the sound of this smallish amp.
17.5 Lbs., 14" wide by about 15 1/2" high. 15 watts, 8" Vox speaker.
First off, this amp is freakin' LOUD. Way louder than you'd expect. I am starting to believe modern electronics are getting close to bridging the gap between tube and SS volume. I'd like to A/B it with a Blues Junior, and will be doing a comparison with my modded 24 watt Traynor YGM-3.
It sounds great, more body and fullness than any 8" amp I've heard to date. It has two channels and two OD choices on channel 2, like an HRD. The way it's designed, the clean channel can be run very hot with almost no breakup. The OD channel has a crunchy setting and a Metalmania switch (called OD2, the metal comment was mine ;) ), both are controllable with gain.
It uses the same technology as Vox's AVT amps. The 12AX7 is coupled to a very small tube amplifier which is in turn run into a 'transparent' SS main amp. The result is very tube-like sound and feel. This is not a tube preamp/SS main, or visa versa. It is unique to Vox.
I had my buddy bring his Pathfinder over to A/B, since that's the reason I decided to try one of these out. The result is that they are two completely different animals. I would've suspected they'd be closer, but not at all.
The Pathfinder has a boosted bass and sounds warmer, however, the bass will fart when the boost is engaged. No way you could use it with 'buckers. The VR15 is brighter and punchier, no bass fart. I suspect in a band situation it would cut much better.
The Pathfinder has 1 channel and a boost. As previously stated, the VR15 has two channels and 2 OD choices.
The Pathfinder has reverb and trem, the VR has neither. This is unfortunate, I would've liked to have reverb.
They both do clean very well, the crunch on the VR15 is better, probably due to the tube. But when you get into pure distortion the difference was negligible.
If there was any difference in volume it was impossibe to tell.
Neither amp won, both did well. Both are loud enough and sound good enough for small gigs, rehearsals, and auditions.
Now, back to the title:
I plugged this little guy into my Marshall 4-10 cab this morning. HOLY CRAP! The volume increased 2-fold, and the tone...(I hate that word, but...) was incredible. This setup was plenty loud enough to use at ANY gig, I am not exaggerating. If you need more than this, you need to mic up anyway.
And the final word:
$89 on closeout.
Go check one out before they're gone. This is the sleeper of the year.