Carvin SX-300H Head

I'm assuming this amp was made in 2005/'06 (At least that's when I bought it!) This amp is a dream! I have never ordered an amp before from a mail order catalog and/or the internet. I usually like to get me hands dirty with an amp before I buy it, to verify it lives up to my standards. Well this one does! My setup goes like this:
Squier Standard Stratocaster w/ Seymour DUncan APS II's in all three positions - DOD 6 pedal pedalboard (Noise Gate>>Octave>>Fuzz>>Octave>>Metal Distortion>>Phaser) - Jim Dunlop Wah Pedal into amp. When I fired this thing up I noticed the absolute silence of solid state, no hiss, no buzz, it was amazing! Then I strummed a few open chords on the clean channel, and it was so smooth, and glass-like that I had to check to make sure they didn't send me a different amp by mistake! I switched to the second channel which is a "gain" channel, and it rocks! I hardly had to use the other "Hi-gain" channel! But I sampled it anyway, and I tell you there's Metallica/Anthrax/MegaDeth tones in there! It all depends on how you E.Q> the amp that you notice a big difference in the sound of each channel. When using that hi-gain channel I try to remove as much mids as possible without going "scooped", then on the 2nd gain channel I kick in the "Blues" switch and I'm riding down some dusty road near Beale Street ,Mississippi! It absolutely sings! Then getting crafty I use the fuzz pedal, along with the effects on the amp and I'm back in the 60's man! The reverb is smooth, and is available on every channel, and the chorus is amazing, not bad for a solid state amp! I've played quite a few all tube amps that cannot compare to the pristine sound this amp gives.

The best thing to compe along in the world of solid state technology since the advent of the distortion pedal! If I had to pick a favorite channel it would have to be the 2nd gain channel, with the "blues" switch, it's the most versatile for the style of music I play, which is a mix of Hendrix/B.B.King/Metallica with this channel and my pedals I can cover all the bases, and not sweat wether the amp I'm using will have the guts to go the distance.

Well put it this way, I had (not intentionally of course!) left this at a friends house, he lived about 3 hours away from me, he also had a very energetic 8 year old, who loved to touch things, and I found out only 3 weeks later that my amp had been knocked down, and had mysteriously "fallen" down the basement (concrete!) steps, but as far as I'm concerned it works just fine!

Never had to deal with them, but if their repair department is as good as their amp building department, then I'm assuming it's a definite 10!!

I have been playing guitar since I was about 16 years old, (I'm 36 now!..so I guess you could call me a veteran!) I've been doing it since before MIDI ever existed, or at least since it's early stages, if it were ever stolen or lost I wouldn't just replace it, I would get a second and third as backups! If I hae to pick one thing I love the most about this amp, it would have to be it's sound and it's looks, it has a refindew look to it, sort of like Humphrey Bogart, and it also isn't that heavy!

??? Power amp: 100 watts - THD less than .1% at 50% power, Freq. Response: 20 to 20k Hz
??? True 3 channel design - clean, lead - blues drive, lead - high-gain
??? "SX" Classic Tube Emulation with overdrive control - turn down the overdrive channel for 2 independent clean channels
??? Active 3 band EQ for each channel--Bass, Mid, Treble
??? DSP effects--Chorus, Reverb, Flanging & Echo
??? Optional foot switch for channel & DSP effects (On/Off) switching
??? Effects Loop (send/receive)
??? Headphone & Pre-amp output jacks
??? Light weight - no particle board.
??? Covered in thick black vinyl
??? Dimensions: 24.5 inches wide x 9.5 inches deep x 10.5 inches high
??? Weight: 16 pounds
??? Made in San Diego, California

The amp has two gain channels and a clean channel. The two gains are virtually the same but can be separated by two opposite modes which can add more gain to one channel and a "bluesy" sound to the other.

The clean channel is pretty decent for a solid state amp. It has a wide range of usable tones from a warm bassy sound to a shrill tone.

The overdrive channels are where this amp falls apart. The second channel is decent for SS. It can achieve some decent crunch, but lacks any low end. The "Blues" button attempts to emulate a bluesy type of low crunch overdriven clean channel. It didn't find this very usable, since it was too harsh sounding for blues or a weak distortion.

The heavy overdrive channel is just terrible. Soundwise it suffers from a the same problems as the second channel with absolutely no bass response, but also bears an incredible whine. This is the noisiest channel I've ever played on any amp, including tubes. I found it to be unusable on anything but a weak gain setting as the squeal was so abominable. Maybe it just didn't like my Duncan JB but I simply couldn't use it. Needless to say, the hi-gain switch was rarely engaged.

The digital effects were decent and the reverb sounds good. The loops also handled my pedals well. More parameters would have been nice, but the inclusion of DSP effects at all seems like a marketing effort to compete with solid state makers like Crate and Line 6. They seem mostly unnecessary.

One thing that was correctly advertised: in attempting to emulate tube technology, this amp actually does sound better the louder it gets. It's just unfortunate that it doesn't sound very good to begin with.

Bottom line, this amp is incapable of anything but a few classic rock tones. I play metal so the amp was a total waste for me. I get the feeling it was intended to be something better, but just failed in so many areas. Perhaps mine was just broken. It would be interesting to hear it with a OD pedal on the clean channel.

Despite the atrocious tone, I have gigged with it and it held up just fine considering the above listed limitations, but being solid state, that's probably to be expected.

One problem that was common for my amp's generation of manufacturing was that the input jack would easily come loose. Sure enough, it happened to me. Not just wiggly loose, but lose it inside the amp loose. Now a nut holds it in place and it hasn't really been a problem. Perhaps this is a contributer to the noise, but I have no idea.

Carvin has always been pretty great in my experience. This doesn't directly involve the amp, but I bought it as a package with their 412 cabinet. On arrival, UPS had kicked in the grill so that it was touching a speaker. I called Carvin about getting it repaired and they sent a totally new grill free of charge.

I've been playing for six years and have played in a few bands. I mostly played through this amp with a Gibson LP and various Agile guitars.

This amp seemed pretty promising for a solid state, but in truth it pales in comparison to amps like the Peavey XXL in virtually every aspect.

I don't hold it against Carvin, however. I just bought a V3 and it's the best guitar related purchase I've ever made. I love every sound that comes from that amp.

As I said before, I think this amp was intended to be something different. Either it wasn't thought through well or Carvin's techs hadn't played a SS amp for 15 years. It comes out unusuable and not up to Carvin's standard quality.

If you're in the market for a cheap SS head, then the SX-200H might be the way to go. An OD pedal in front might make that a great SS head. It's hard to recommend a three channel amp for that purpose, however, especially since the main attraction doesn't even work.

I've done other reviews on this site, mostly with other Carvin heads like the MTS3200 but also solid states like the Randall Cyclone and Mastertone pickups. I'm guessing this is a 2005 SX300H. The amp is probably the best amp I've paid this amount of money for ($289 USD on Ebay), and definitely the best solid state that I have. It's versatile enough to play the death metal I like and also has a pretty decent blues channel. Amp has the usual; 3 channels (high gain, midgain/blues, clean) effects loop, line out, footswitch jack, etc., but where's the adjustable presence? I haven't used it very much but as I'm a Carvin fan I like the way it sounds. I've always felt that while that company doesn't make the best stuff there is, they definitely make great stuff for the money. Controls are laid out very logically, although some might get the effect and amount knobs confused (presumably one controls the volume of the effect, the other the intensity). What I don't like again is the lack of a dedicated presence knob and the lack of an independent drive knob on the clean channel.

I played through this head with my old standby; a '96 Japanese Jackson Kelly Standard Professional with EMG 60/81s. I like the amp because I think it is a jack-of-all trades, master of none, and can do metal pretty reliably. It doesn't sound as brutal as the Randall, but it also only costs $300 and is a lot more flexible. The amp is noisier when the high gain button is engaged, but it does add a little more gain saturation and high end sizzle to notes. The amp goes from a fairly saturated crunch to a run of the mill solid state Marshall/Crate sound, to a really nice blues sound when the button on the 2nd channel is engaged. The amp will definitely do Metallica and might do Napalm Death if recorded properly; distortion saturation and brutalness are a matter of taste. My main problem with the distortion is that it tends to be very bassy and somewhat sterile; I keep my bass and mids on 5 and my treble on 10 with the presence engaged. However, some tube amps with too much touch, I feel, weaken the sound by making everything very AC/DC and brittle sounding; so perhaps that sterility is a good thing when you want a really focused, consistent attack. Pick attacks sound great, but I also use a metal pick. I feel it does high gain leads better than my MTS3200. But the clean and the digital effects are the best part. The clean is absolutely gorgeous, especially with chorus and reverb, but I found the flange to sound more like a tremolo or vibrato effect as opposed to the EVH panning phase that I anticipated (I was running the amp mono, however). The clean is the best part of the amp.

Haven't had the amp long enough to find out.

Carvin's usually been great to me before, although it seems sometimes their stuff breaks conspicuously close to when the warranty runs out.

I've been playing for 10 years and am GIT educated. I own a BBE Sonic Maximizer, Carvin MTS3200 head and cabs, Randall Cyclone, and now this SX300H. I have a variety of Jacksons with EMGs and Mastertone pickups, as well as an ART SGX 2000 Express preamp, which I might replace for clean/lead sounds with the SX300H. I like how versatile the amp is; however it has the main limitation of all solid states in that it is missing something in the distortion department and the clean isn't very warm (although that can be affected somewhat by increasing bass and mids). I don't like the lack of a dedicated presence and drive knob for every channel. For the money paid, it's one of the best amps I've owned; the Randall sounds better for metal, but that's *all* it does, and cost me 700 bucks used. This amp doesn't do quite so well, but it does more, and at only 300, so youll have to make the call. I like all of Carvin's stuff pretty much, and this is just the latest piece of gear I've added to my collection. The amp is very light and portable (you can carry the head with one hand), does a lot quite well for the money, and I think would be a great first amp for a young player. It definitely sounds better than my old Crate GX130C combo, which also included distortion and stereo chorus. I think this amp would work well for a lot of jobs and Carvin generally set the price pretty accurately for that great-value amp. It's a better amp for the money than the Randall, and does more than my old MTS3200 standby, although it doesn't sound better than they do on an individual basis. I plan to keep it in order to create a variety of sounds in the studio and as an inexpensive backup/live amp. I like it as a complement to all my other amps.

Manufactured mid 2005, only had the amp for a few days, seems to be suitable for any style music., well suited for blues and classic rock, definately a 3 channel amp as stated, the effects are good for what they are you could definately get by with them, plan on using the effects loop. On channel 1 there is the high gain switch most likely will never use that. Will use this amp live more than enough power, solid state very solid, made by carvin reputable company.

Currently using a Gibson ES137, Les Paul Classic, and Mexican Strat, suits style very good classic rock Amp is a little noisy, on high gain but mess with eq and no problems.. cold be noisy if you realy cranked gains but I leave them at 5 not an issue, very wide variety of sound, thing I like about this amp it gets a very very good marshall tone, gets that glassy tone..especially with presence on
this amp is loud... distorion is very managable

Would depend on it, very solid head itself is light very light, solid state no worries

Always nice whenI have spoken w/them on other thing

Hvae been playing 28yrs, own a fender stage 100 similiar amp, like th carvin for the almots near marshall tone, if this amp was stolen would definately buy again. All around well balanced amp as far as noise as stated in other reviews it just depends on how much you wnat gaind but amp doesnt really all that much gets a great sound and tone

This is an update of my previous review, which is right below me. Features will move from 8 to 9 because now I know about the Active EQ and how it works.

If you own this head, and have noise problem, this is critical, if you read nothing else read this because Carvin will not tell you unless you know enough to ask. Most amplifiers that you have used probably do not have active EQ, meaning you cannot boost, only cut. This means that when you boost bass or treble to 10, it is the equal to 0(no cut or boost) on a graphic EQ. With the active EQ, 5 is equal to 0, 10 is boosted, and 0 is cut. Basically what it means is that if you are used to boosting your bass and treble to the 8 or 9 range, only boost it to 3 or 4 here. If you are used to keeping mids down to 3 and 4, keep them down to 1. I am now only boosting my bass to about 3.5 and treble to 2, and that seems to give me the same effect as before. If you boost anything to far above 5 in this EQ, you will get a ton of noise. This amp still has noise to deal with, but at least it will be manageable.

I gave it a 5 before, but now I will boost it to 6. It still cannot get brutal distortion on its own, it is not a metal amp without a pedal. With a good pedal though, the sound coming from this amp is a solid 8.

Solid state, built like a tank

Here is what sucks. This company is not customer oriented. They make good products, but treat customers like idiots. BTW - I am an engineer, and they still treat me like an idiot, so if you are treated badly, don't take it to heart, it is not you.

If they would fix this, they would probably sell a lot more equipment. I mean when I first contacted them about my noise problems on the amp, one of the first things they should have asked me was about the EQ settings.

Well, the thing I do like about Carvin amps is they are versatile. I good get a Marshall or Mesa, but they are a one trick pony. One sound, and that is it. I think if I had to replace it, I would buy a Carvin MTS 3200, a tube amp. They are jerks at Carvin, but they make good equipment.

This amplifier is very versatile, and you can easily find yourself spending many hours becoming familiar with the many "sounds" this amp is capable of.
The amp only gets an 8 for the following reasons:
1. This amp only will not satisfy the heavy metal guitar player as advertised (Does everything else very well though).
2. Could use a graphics equalizer, compression, and/or some sort of noise suppression circuit.
3. Reverb could have been better.

This section is difficult for me to rate, as I am trying to be honest here.
The good:
First the good stuff. If you are not a heavy metal player and you do not need the high gain circuit, this amp is for you. Blues, jazz, rock sound fantastic through this amp. The second channel can get some fairly overdriven sounds, and for a blues player sound great. I can get a lot of 70s rock sounds here. The clean channel is crystal clear, with plenty of warmth.
The effects are not bad, but I do not use them beyond a little reverb or chorus here and there (again, reverb could have been better).
The bad:
I am frustrated with this amp, because I cannot get the heavy sound I want from it. Part of the reason is the overdrive just does not get that heavy no matter if you are looking for an 80s metal sound, or a 90s nu metal sound. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of gain, but it does not equal the sound I am looking for no matter what settings or EQ I use. The second problem, and biggest complaint I have here is the noise. You have already read other reviews about this noise, but this is no joke. This amp is noisy as heck on the hi gain channel. It is virtually unusable. For example, if I dial the gain on just 6.5, and volume at only 3, I hear banshee wail. I don't have to dial up to 10, and the distortion is not so thick here at 6.5 as to be useful to me. If you want to play metal, prepare to buy a distortion pedal, maybe an EQ, and noise supressor and do a lot of tweaking. By the time you are done spending the money for all these little things, it adds up and you could have had a higher end amp that worked right out of the box (Crate Voodoo, 5150, etc).

I am giving the sound only a 5 because Carvin advertised this as capable of heavy metal sounds and a good choice for my style, and it is not. If it were not for the other channels sounding so good, I would give this a 1.

I have only owned the amp for 6 months and I have not had a problem with it. Seems sturdy enough...

Well, when I addressed these issues with Carvin, I did get good response time from the technician, and I tried everything suggested, but none of it worked. The fact is, Carvin pretends this problem does not exist with this model, and that is the most irritating part about this problem.

I have been playing on and off for 17 years now. I played semi professionally about 8 years ago, but now I am just a hobbyist.

I also own a digitech distortion pedal of some sort (I forget, but it works well), Behringer V-Amp Pro (2?) rack model (this thing is awesome, and the reviews are correct here, the Behringer is a POD killer for a fraction of the price), Behringer 12 channel mixer.

I would not buy this amplifier again. I purchased this on reputation alone, and that was a mistake. I have already noted what I like and dislike about the amp.

I also considered a Crate 1200, and a Marshall 100MG series amp. I purchased this amplifier mainly because it was in the right price range. I have played combos in this price range that sounded better.

Finally if anyone else is in the same boat as I am, drop me a line, maybe we can compare notes and equipment. I am NJ/Philly area.
gimpyacy@yahoo.com

This is a new head, had for 3 months. This is a true 3 channel head. It is 100 watts. Each channel has it's own full set of controls. Channel switching via footswitch, which also turns the "smart effects" on and off. They call it smart effects because it is supposed to remember your effects settings when you turn the amp off, although mine never seems to do that. It does remember each channels effects setting though, while you are using the amp. Channel 2 (rhythm channel) has a "blues switch" which is totally useless. Channel 1 (lead channel) has a high gain switch which I don't see the need for either. I'll never use it. Heavy Metal shredder guys might like it. Channel 1 (clean) sounds great because the EQ tone controls on all channels on this amp are active, not passive like on most amps. This gives you incredible tone range and response. It has all the basic stuff like headphone jack, effects loop, voiced line out, speaker cabinet ohm selector etc. Unfortunately, there are no led's on the footswitch which there should be. Also lacking is a master volume which would be very helpful with a 3 channel head. You could then adjust only one volume knob instead of 3. There is a separate reverb on/off push button but it needs to have it's own level adjust knob. My suggestion is go to Carvin.com and see it and read about it to get a better idea of the effects set-up. The effects are reverb, chorus, flange, echo with 2 parameter controls. This is a solid state amp and one nice thing is it only weighs 22 pounds according to Carvin but it feels like less than that. Ok, enough about features, lets get to the good part - Sounds.

The tones that comes out of this amp are AMAZING! I'm playing it through a 2x12 Mesa closed back rectifier cab. with celestions. It sounds incredible. It is one of the best, if not the best, sounding amp I've ever heard. I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and I've owned and heard a hell of a lot of amps - both solid state and tube. It sounds better than the 2 tube amps I own now, one of which is a Mesa Boogie Mark IV head and the SX-300 is 1/4 the price! Another plus for the solid state with active EQ is the amp sounds really good at low volume which is always a problem with tube amps. They have to be turned up to sound good. I use a '72 Gibson ES-355, an Epiphone SG and a Carvin DC-135 which is like a Strat only much better quality with a one piece through the body neck. I'm not a big fan of bolt on necks. It has a Carvin humbucker at the bridge, a Carvin single coil in the middle and a Fender lace sensor at the neck. There is a coil splitter for the bridge pickup and 5 way selector switch. My style is bluesy, jazzy, fusion stuff, some rock. All 3 guitars sound great through this amp and I can't imagine any decent guitar not sounding good through this thing. The effects are good. I'm not a big effects guy and this is all I need. Reverb sounds very good. I think this is a very versatile amp and could suit most any style. The tones that come out of the rhythm and lead channels are fantastic with great harmonic overtones and just a sweet, full, fat sound. Very clear and crisp, not dirty and muddled. Carvin is factory direct so there is no retail mark-up. You get a quality product for your money. They have a money back guarantee. You get a full 10 days to try it out.

I haven't owned it long enough to know but I own 2 other Carvin amps, one I've had for 10 years and one for 4 years, one is tube, one is solid state. I've had no problems with either. Personally, I would always have a back-up amp just in case. You never know.

There is a one year warranty. The only time I had to deal with customer support was to return the first SX-300 head I bought. It had a problem and I sent it back during the 10 day trial period. They were good about it and paid the shipping, too.

I want to say the amp cost $360.00 + another $40.00 for the footswitch. I think they had a deal on free shipping at the time. If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another one.

3 channel, 100 watt solid state amp, made in 2003. "True" tube emulation, digital effects. Clean channel with presence switch, two independent gain channels, one with a "blues" midrange boost switch, and one with a high gain switch. Effects loop, headphone jack, 4/8/16 ohm selector switch, cabinet voiced direct out, 2 speaker out jacks. I play rock, classic rock, old school metal, virtuoso guitar in the styles of Becker, Yngwie, etc. I use this amp with my old school metal/melodic metalcore band. This amp is very versatile, and allows me to cover all those styles of music. Although, I wish there were more control on the separate reverb, effects loop on/off, and led indicators on the footswitch.

I use this amp with a modified Fender Fat Strat, and through a Carvin Legacy 4x12 with Celestion 60 watt Vintage 30's. The clean channel is very clean, but seems somewhat "flat" and lacks body, compression, and character that tube amps carry. But its still a nice clean sound, almost acoustic-like, it will not get muddy or distort when cranked. The two gain channels are identical to each other, but channel two includes a "blues" switch, and the third channel includes a "high gain" switch. Without any of the switches acivated, this amp produces a very nice, saturated, thick, harmonically rich distortion. It is very tube-like in feel, not fuzzy at all, and cleans up well when you turn down the volume on your guitar. The active eq controls are useful, but it might take some time to dial in. With the blues switch activated, it boosts the midrange on the channel, giving a very SRV-ish blues tone. I personally find this function no use to me, but it sounds very nice. On the third channel, with the high gain switch activated, it officially has the most gain I have ever heard. The distortion retains the tone of the channel without the high gain switch, but adds more fluid, searing gain. I never put the gain on this channel more than 7. But, this this is a VERY noisy amp, on the gain channels, and especially high gain. It hisses and crackles louder than any amp I have ever heard. I will probably invest in a rocktron hush or a boss noise suppressor to tame the noise. Sans the noise, this is a very nice sounding amp.

This amp is light as a feather! With its lightweight poplar plywood(not particle board or MDF) construction, it weighs a mere 21 pounds. I have gigged with it twice, and it has yet to break down on me. its lightweight sometimes scares me, but it has held up like a rock. And its solid state, so no worries.

I originally bought the SX-3412 half stack, but decided to return the standard Carvin 4x12 loaded with Carvin speakers to go buy a used Legacy 4x12 I found at Gutiar Center. As opposed to many horror stories I have heard with Carvin customer service, they were very prompt and fair with the transaction. They even paid for the shipping.

I have been playing for almost 5 years. Although that may not seem very long, I am not a single minded teen who thinks peavey bandits sound wicked. This amp is probably one the the best deals for the money. Overall, it is a great amp.

Solid state 3 channel 100w head. Clean, dist w/ "blues" switch, dist w/ gain switch. Speaker compensated out, effects loop, basic effect processing. A lot of sounds available from this amp

Running thru a 2x12 Carvin cab w/ Gt-12's (Really good cab & speakers). Warmoth soloist with mahagony body & neck, "real" Lawrence pups. I think Carvin really needs to re-evaluate their advertising for this one. "No one will know your not using a tube amp." B.S. I did not expect a perfect simulation, but I did hope for at least some dynamic capability. This amp only sounds good loud. The clean sounds good, but lacks any "life," the second channel & third channel appear to be duplicates, save for the 'blues' switch & the high gain switch. The blues switch is not instant SRV, but it is definately the best sound on the amp, actually getting close to Carvin's claim of tube sim. The high gain sounds, I compare to an average distortion pedal. "Ratty" is the sound that comes to mind. The lows are fuzzy. I believe there must be multiple gain stages, because when I rolled back the volume, I didn't expect it to clean up like a tube amp, but I also didn't expect to hear the gain stages kicking in & out. Again, no dynamics. I think if Carvin experimented with a hybrid tube-ss preamp, like a Hughes & Kettner Attax or something, they'd have a real monster on their hands. That was really the most frustrating thing about this amp. I heard real potential that was simply not realized. I believe one tube in the preamp would've solved a lot of my issues.
The effects. Drop 'em. Sounds like one of those $99 multi-effects floor units you can buy.
The recording compensated output was very good, however. Recorded output sounded very similar to speaker output. This by itself rates a 9.

Solid state, so it either works or it doesn't. Only had it a week, & I'm returning it, so no rating here.

Carvin has improved greatly here. I delt with them back in 1998, & they wouldn't even give me a schematic, all the while being huge *ssholes. Seems like good people answer the phone now. Were very professional even when I called to get info about returning the head.

I've been playing for 22 years. I like the idea of the amp, but it feels like it's just not quite done yet. I bought this amp based on ratings from other users here, and Carvin's own claims. I was really hoping to get a superior solid state amp, and get out of the "tube junkie" state that I'm in, & I really tried hard to like this amp. Unfortunately, Peavy's transtube series is even better than this, & I don't like that either. You might think I expected too much from it, but really I just wanted it to do what the advertising said.

This is a review of the 2003 Carvin SX-300H. As you probably know it is a 100 watt guitar amp head with three channels and effects. A four button footswitch is available for an additional $40 and allows you to switch between the channels and toggle the effects on and off (it should just be included with the amp). While this head does offer a significant number of features for a very good price, it is not quite as versatile as many of the modeling amps that are out nowadays, including products from Line 6 and Behringer. However, what this head lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality.

I utilize a variety of guitars with different pickups including stock Wolgangs, MusicMan Axis, Les Pauls, Kramers, and customized Ibanez guitars. I enjoy playing classic and modern guitar rock, especially Van Halen (as if you were unable to tell by my selction of axes), Ozzy, STP, Sound Garden, Creed, and also enjoy messing around with Steve Vai and Eric Johnson (those guys are phenomenal!). I was really amazed by how good this amp sounds. I have a Line 6 Flextone II XL, and a Peavey 5150 head, and this amp consistently sounds better than both of them for the most part. I have channel one set for my high gain lead channel, ch 2 is my crunch, and ch 3 is clean. The clean is great, as I knew it would be. Carvin's clean sounds are legendary. What really surprised me, though, was the distortion. Ch 2 and 3 can sound identical if you want (same gain structure) unless you enact the Blues switch. I tried this but did not find it useful in my playing as I found it really cut the bass response and made it sound too thin. So on ch 2 I backed off on the gain and boosted the mids and was treated to a wonderful Marshall-like crunch with a glassy top end. On ch 1 I dropped the mids back to 4 and boosted the gain to 9 and Whoooaa! I had a rip-roaring distortion reminiscent of a modified Marshall Plexi. I was able to nail the sound of classic Van Halen as well as cop Zack Wyldes awesome tone. What I was most impressed with was my ability to clean up the sound by simply backing off my guitar's volume knob. You can generally do this with a good tube amp, but this amp is 100% solid state. Don't let that deter you, however. Many people rave about tubes, but here's the real deal. While tube amps do have some desireable qualities (such as a thick sound, and ability to clean up the distortion by adjusting the volume), they are also very finicky. They often will sound different depending on the power source they are plugged in to, and many only get a decent distortion if they are cranked ALL THE WAY UP. I don't know about you, but sometimes I want to jam so I don't disturb the neighbors. That's where this amp shines. I have owned the Marshall TSL-100 head, and I think the Carvin SX-300H sounds better. I can get a great distortion on this head with the volume on 1. By the way... This is a LOUD amp. I don't think I have had the clean channel past 3 yet and I keep overpowering our drummer. The lead channel needs to be pushed a little harder, but setting it at 4 or 5 will be all you need.

My only complaints are the noise (which you will read in other reviews). The lead channel is noisy, even without the "high gain" feature. Speaking of... The amp has plenty of gain without using that switch. It doesn't really add additional harmonics or usable distortion. It just makes the sound a little grainier and more noisy. My second (sort of) complaint is that although this amp gets a great Marshall-esque sound, it doesn't produce a sound that would compare to a Mesa-Boogie. I guess I am being a little picky on this one, but there on those songs that I need that Mesa-Boogie type sound, and I just can't get it out of this amp. Ideally, I would set one channel up for a Marshall sound, and the other for a Mesa-Boogie, but I guess that's why they have modeling amps!

I have had this amp for 3 months and have not had a problem. I also own an older SX model, an SX-100 combo from '97 that has always worked perfectly. They must have worked on the preamp for the latest version, because the gain is much better on the SX-300H. I was not able to get artificial harmonics out of my old SX-100.

Carvin has always been great and knowledgable whenever I have contacted them.

This is a great amp for the price, and I'm very happy I decided to give it a try. I was also considering the Peavey XXL and the Marshall AVT-150, but this one blew the other two away in price and features.