DSL5CR 1x10" 5-watt Tube Combo Amp Review

Do not compromise and do not hesitate

I can't say enough good things about this amplifier. Previously I had a Blackstar HT-5 that had a clean channel that was all clean and a high gain channel that was all full-on distortion. While great for metal, it did not produce the range of warm overdrive that I wanted. This Marshall has it all. Very warm overdrive (with gain turned up on the clean channel or turned down on the… read more high gain channel). Frankly, it's a beautiful sound. I've had several amps in my playing career, and when I got this one and turned it on, I just kept strumming my guitar and was mesmerized by finally getting "the sound" I had always wanted (but could never afford). If you are looking for a "Marshall" sound, this amp has it in spades and is not some small, cheap imitator. And don't be fooled by the "5 watts" - this thing is loud enough to rock out a very large area. The reverb is very serviceable as are the EQs and the effects loop works great. If you are hesitating - don't.

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The amp I’ve wanted for decades.

This amp isn't perfect, that needs to be made clear. The gain levels between the "Classic Gain" and "Ultra Gain" channel's is ridiculously different in as much as the Classic has almost no gain at all even turned all the way up and the Ultra Gain takes a bit of tweaking to get the gain low enough, though it smooths out considerably when the speaker breaks in. However, the Classic… read more Gain channel takes pedals extremely well and goes from clean to scream with a wide variety of dirt boxes, and the Ultra Gain, as stated before, smooths put considerably when the speaker is broken in. It gets all the Marshall sounds I could ever want to get, and the digital reverb is very usable at all levels. Perhaps the best quality is with the power scaling, you can go from midnight in the apartment volume to hanging with a loud drummer at practice, particularly if you plug it into a larger cab. All in all, I'm very pleased with this amp, it gets most of the play time since I got it some 9 months or so ago.

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Close to perfection

I got my first tube amp for home use and I was so happy with it that I wanted to recomend it. (I play it with my Epi Dot with Pearly Gates set, and Squier Mustang. No pedals) First of all the clean channel is fenomenal, very warm with fat bass, clear and open midrange even with humbuckers and the treble is soft. Though the clean channel is called „classic gain" it doesn't break… read more up, the gain knob only makes it warmer, more punchy and compressed. The digital reverb sounds great, very useable, but not an ambient type, more in a spring range but with just different feel. When I compared the reverbs with the spring one on my 2005 marshall mg15cdr I honestly prefered the digital one. But if you like the ambient stuff then there's always the efects loop. The ultra gain channel does exactly what it says, it's either full on saturated goodness or nothing at all. Around 7 it starts to produce that sweet saturation we all love: aggesive, extrordinary for palm mutes, it's like having a roaring JCM 800 in your room, but bellow 7 it chokes, it's undefined and to aggresive for blues, it wants you to crank it. But as I've said, it's only close to perfection, because it doesn't do breakup, like at all, even when you crank up the master it's just more punchy. Sometimes the bass is overwhelming and to loose, the foot switch has a fx loop on/off and nothing for reverb which is absurd and the emulated output is bad (andertones have it in their video) But even considering all those imperfections I know it is still worth it, cause there is simple solution to it: pedals. I'm sure that with a low drive pedal like bluesbreaker or boss od-3 it will fill be the best home amp ever.

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Excellent Marshall sound - nice size for home jamming

I called Taylor Perry at Sweetwater music at 11:00 on a Friday and ordered this. It showed up at my house at 2:00 on Saturday. How does Sweetwater do it.? Amazon isn't even that quick. The amp is great. It has that great Marshall sound that I was looking for, and you get the great sound at a volume that doesn't rattle the house. It sounds great through headphones too! I don't even… read more have that good of headphones and it sounds great. Would definitely buy this amp again. A good friend bought one at the same time and he loves his as well. Thank you Taylor Perry at Sweetwater for making this happen so quickly.

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Skeptical buyer

I won’t talk specs. Everyone here already has searched it out. However the amp and tone can be amazing with both channels. Especially if you have a nice guitar. I play 2 Gibson’s and a fender through mine.cant beat it. Marshall. This thing can handle any genre It’s 1 watt mode is still loud as it can be Don’t let the YouTube videos determine your decision. I give the… read more amp 4.8 of 5. And that reason is they should have put a 12 in it. But the speaker it comes with had plenty of punch.

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