Carvin SX200

This amp has a wight limit, by that I mean it is not for heavy distortion.
It's too bright and the speakers are lacking.
But all other kinds of music it is a wonderful amp; The clean channel is amazing.
If you are captain crunch this is not the amp for you.
So, let's talk about the Carvin SuX200

pros
this amp sells for $300 now
It is a solid state 100-watt amp..... with the price of tubs now (you know)
it has a send and return
It is louder than dog balls
The built-in effects are really nice I find this amp can achieve amazing sounds
The reverb is ok not going to mistake it for a spring but its ok
it is a tough amp I have never had issue one with it
Acoustic guitar sounds amazing through this amp

Cons
Okay so the big 2 issues I have are
The A/B channel sounds so high range even with an eq and an effects board I struggle to get a decent sound.
The distortion is not so distorted
The other big issue I have is the way the cabinet is built there are dead spots in sound. it's like the speakers are aimed at each other.
you will notice it when playing with other people...An amp stand helps out. Something about angled it at 15-degree pitch not sure why but it does seem to help.

Final thoughts
This is a beginner's amp not meant for beginners.
If you want to play old school country or blues this is your B
But anything else same money get a Marshall mg 100 or Vox Valtronix
Line 6 Catalyst or to a lesser degree line 6 spider anything.
They are all good amps and loud enough to gig but the reality is....
Amps are a thing of the past
if you are going to gig get an amp sim and jump on the house PA
at home get a spark 2 or any of the tinny amps that sound amazing.
Amps are awesome just not practical

I got this amp directly from Carvin.com. It cost $440 with $30 shipping. The list price was $795, so in theory you get more for your money. I needed a gigging amp, because all I had was a 20 watt Rogue amp, which is embarassing.

I like the volume especially, its extremely loud for a 100 watt. Its solid state, so I didn't expect a wonderful sound, but with the tube emulation it sounds amazing. I like the built in digital effects alot too. It has Echo, Reverb, Chorus, and Flanger, which all work very nicely. If you want real high quality effects though, you shouldn't be looking for the ones that come with an amp. Not only does it have a reverb effect, but it also has a reverb button that gives off an auto reverb so you can use it with any of the other effects. The channel sellect is great because you can set the effects on on the clean channel, and off on the overdrive channel(and vice versa) and only have to push one button on the footswitch to get exactly what you want. Not only does it have a mean and beefy overdrive, but there is a "blues" button that gives you a jazzier distortion which I like alot.

The only thing I don't like really is that the distortion is either way too raunchy, or not raunchy enough. If you play with settings long enough you can basically get anything you want, but a distortion pedal is a good idea.

This amp is pretty beefy. Its got strong metal corners, and its not made of any partical board (all plywood). The two button footswitch that comes with it is massive, but very very durable.

I play mardcore(yes, Mardcore) punk rock, and I needed something powerful to blow people away. Although its just a solid state combo, it does all I could ask it to.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com