Bugera V55HD Infinium

I was in the market for a tube amp and was about to pull the trigger on a Blackstar HT-50 when i noticed something that was present in all the videos of the Blackstar, namely, a cold sterility in the cleans.

I searched high and low, both on and offline, listened to all the usual suspects (Orange, Marshall, Mesa..etc) nothing grabbed me until i heard a youtube video of the Bugera v55. I was floored by the cleans, genuinely moved and inspired by them. you can't put a price tag on that!

Due to Bugeras' reputation, I was still hesitant but after alot more investigating, i can confidently say it seems that Bugeras teething problems are behind them.
I've had mine now for nearly two months and I've played two gigs with it and taken it to about twelve long-hour and intense band practices and it didn't even break a sweat. No excessive heat, no clicks hums or buzzing sounds, just sweet sweet tone!

And speaking of tone, I've been getting compliments on my tone from absolutely everyone! And I'm not surprised. The tone lies somewhere between a Vox AC-30 and a Fender Deluxe Reverb at a fraction of the cost! I play a MIM strat and I've achieved tones like Jeff Buckley and Stevie Ray Vaughn without even trying.

The only slight issue with it is that the dirty channel isn't much to look at. but once again the clean channel more than makes up for it by taking pedals like a champ. Modulation, crunch, gain, fuzz anything I can throw at it sounds like I want it to sound!

And with the Infinium Valve Multiplying Technology there's no need to worry about biasing, it self-biases! There's also the ability to mix and match tubes which is amazing! Tube amps can be fragile things, so having a feature that monitors the status of the tubes, keeps them running at an optimum level and lights up a display in the back to tell you if and when you have tube failure and exactly which tube has failed is worth it's weight in gold!

If you're looking for something with that warm, creamy, vintage tone that is at the same time modern and versatile, there is no reason not to buy this amp.

I played my precision bass through this amp and I liked it but it sounded extremely bass-y played finger style. Allthough the clean channel was crystal clear I had to spend a lot of time messing around with the EQ to get a more modern tone and in the end I wasn't 100% satisfied. This amp shined when I played with a pick but I didn't want an one-trick-pony tube amp. The EQ didn't seem to have much effect on the sound before I reached 7,5 and that was basically the main reason I send it back in the end. If it was a little bit more flexible in the tone shaping this would be an Ampeg killer, but sadly it is not.

As always great service from Thomann: Fast shipping, and no hustle retour!

Simply put, If you want an all valve marshally sounding amp for a fraction of the cost, buy this.
This amp takes pedals well.
This amp does vintage (70's) rock and blues incredibly well.
Clean channel is awesome
This amp does not give a newer metal sound so buy some pedals to get that.
The clean chanel to me sounds like a vox ac30 dialed back, the dirt channel is 70's rock all the way (free/bad company/acdc/black sabbath).
Excellent for anything except modern metal (this can be achieved with some pedals however).

pro's
power can be cut to 22 watts for "quieter" playing/different voicing,
fantastic price
more than loud enough to play in a band over drums with no need to mic up.
awesome sound
valves last ages (infinium technology)
cons
valve amp so sounds okay quiet, but better louder.