I can not honestly fault Peavey in any way but one. There is some hiss on the high gain settings. Welcome to the world of high gain. I use a noise gate. NO problem. You should have heard my Marshalls! The XXL is tame in comparison. When I bought this amp I listened to the sound samples on the Peavey website and thought I could tweak it with my pedals. I plug straight in for the first time in my life. The only effects I use are a flanger on the clean sound and a wah on the leads. I bought the XXL because I was having so much trouble with my tube amps. I wanted a solid state amp that would compare to that tone but be more reliable. Boy did I luck out.

Sound
I have owned my XXL for a little over 2 years now. I can say after playing for 25 + years and owning almost all the "ultimate" tube amps that this solid state amp is the best thing I have ever played. I play rock of all descriptions and even do a regular stint in a metal band. The XXL will do Metallica and Megadeth all night long. The direct out on the back is excellent for recording. I have run that path direct into a digial recorder and been pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of the result. At first I ran my XXL head through a pair of home made 2-12 bottoms with an EQ in the loop. I have since gone back to a 4-12 Celestion loaded design and no longer need the EQ. I can say that you should experiment with speaker bottoms. They are the final voice of the amp and should not be… read more overlooked.

Features
What more can you ask? An effects loop with switchabel level, 25,50 or 100 watts, 4,8,or 16 ohm output, 2 speaker outputs, tight medium or loose speaker damping, 3 fully independant footswitchable channels, 3 voicings on each channel. Need I go on? Can there be a feature that was missed?

Ease of Use
Plug and play. If you need a manual for this amp you also need some Kindergarden classes.

Quality
QC rates tops here. No flaws at all. Tolex is so neatly applied I can not find the seams. The chrome knobs are cool. After beating the crap out of this amp for 2 years I can say I trust it more than any amp I have ever owned. My Marshalls have all been sold off. I had so many problems with breakdowns and tube failure at the most inconvenient times, this amp was a godsend. Literally. The maintenace schedule is now 'wipe with a damp rag'. Best feature is the removabel power cable.

Value
For the price, come on! I paid 400 CDN new with warranty. You will never touch that with any amp in the same league as the XXL.

Manufacturer Support
I deal constantly with Peavey. They rule the roost with thier superb customer service. I have had trouble with every major amp maker and lots of smaller ones too. Nobody but NOBODY compares wtih Peavey for service. The times when I needed them(damn few)they have been super attentive and very helpful. Though I have never needed warranty service on my many articles of Peavey gear, repairs have always been speedy and simple.

The Wow Factor
This is very hard for me to rate. I love it but I would never have known that from the way it looks. Cosmetics do not indicate performance. The XXL is not the prettiest, but not the ugliest. Like Forrest Gump's momma said "Pretty is as Pretty does" The XXL is pretty indeed when plugged into a capable 4-12 bottom.

Musical Background:
professional touring musician, amatuer recroding engineer

Musical Style:
rock,metal,blues read less