JVM205C 2x12" 50-watt 2-channel Tube Combo Amp Review

Awesome combo amplifier

I spent many months looking for a smaller 50w unit that had crisp cleans and high gain to accompany my Mesa Dual Rectifier 100W half-stack. After searching high and low and watching a lot of YouTube videos I found this little jem. This amp is fantastic, I can't say any more. At 50W its plenty loud and has enough juice to power its own speakers as well as my 90's JCM900 1960B cabinet.… read more It has 2 channels (clean/crunch and OD) with 3 separate gain stages. The "green" mode on the OD channel is supposed to replicate a hot-rodded JCM800 and the orange and red are much higher gain. The "red mode" on the clean/crunch channel is essentially the same as the "green mode" on the OD channel, but allows you to make some fine tweaks to have 2 separate crunch channels. The OD orange and red are awesome (though not a huge difference between them), giving that classic high octane Marshall sound. The clean channel is crisp and glassy but can be a little bit of a pain to set the volume to match the OD channel volume without making it crunch. I use the master vol 2 setting (essentially a boost channel) to equalize it out, so it really isn't that big a deal. It has a silent recording feature, series/parallel effects loop and midi capabilities as well. Interestingly it comes with 2 different speakers a 12" heritage and vintage celestion which sound noticeable different from each other. I wish they closed the back to improve the low end response, but its still pretty good. Its a bit pricey for what you get compared to other brands and resale is a lot lower (seen used for 50% less), but would definitely buy again. Shout out to Joe Perrone, he was very helpful and responsive.

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A great combo amp that really delivers.

The Marshall JVM205C is a compact 50 watt powerhouse that is like having 6 amps in one. From super clean to searing overdrive this amp has it all. Two reverb controls and two master volume controls make it so versatile Two twelve inch Celestion speakers with extension speaker capabilites and effects loop. It's an incredible amp. I love it!

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From zero to LOUD!

This amp produces that great Marshall sound even at lower volumes, and it will crank it up alos. The emulated out for silent recording is a great feature. I run it to my mixer and then out to my Mackie powered speakers. It produces a vintage cabinet sound, and in the room I'm in it's loud enough with the speakers on 2. Sweetwater service is nothing less than outstanding. I emailed… read more Tayor Perry about a problem I had just over a year after I purchased this amp. He put me in touch with the outstanding tech department, and they determined the amp had to go in for repair. Sweetwater fixed it and shipped it back. The only cost out of my pocket was the shipping to Sweetwater. The amp came back and is performing like new. Outstanding service. I was sure happy to know that Sweetwater adds a year to the warranty of almost everything they sell. Unbelievable in today's world. Believe it. I have purchased 2 Marshall amps, 2 Fender amps, 2 Les Paul guitars, and a Fender Strat from Sweetwater. I won't buy my gear any place else, and they have a competitor within a 15 min. drive from where I work.

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High Octane Marshall

Great Cleans, High Gain, and everything in between. My sales engineer Ryan Murphy showed me the light on this one. No turning back now. This amp is killer for all hard soft and metal tones. Great for blues and pretty much everything else. Great amp. Not sure how the other new Marshalls stack up but I'm very happy with my JVM. I thought this one was a bit expensive but then again… read more based on all the amps I have had to buy and sell because of lack of satisfaction. IT is worth every dollar!!! IF your a hard rock, metal, or blues player pick one up for optimum tone.

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Versatile amp with modern amenities

I was needing a pro-quality amp with channel switching and switchable master volumes and I picked the right one. It does everything from a high-headroom sqeaky clean to a triple gain-stage searing lead, with four steps in between. The footswitch programming can be a bit confusing at first but I prefer the default setup. The effects loop can handle both -10dBv or +4dBv so you're… read more good to go with stompboxes and rack effects. It also has non-buffered line level power amp insert but I haven't experimented with that yet. This amp will be able to grow with my rig. If it was stolen I would cry and be withdrawn for a few days but once the tears dried up I would work, beg, borrow, but not steal until I could buy another. This is the first high gain amp I've owned so it has taken a bit to learn how to use it. WIth that said, the tone knob is your friend. This amp has a great top end and can cut though but might be too much by itself. The amp is pretty quiet until you kick in that third gain stage it gets pretty noisy and needs a gate.

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