Engl E633SR Fireball 25 LTD Red

ENGL is not a newcomer to the low powered amp niche of the market, but - as far as i know - this is one of the very first amps in the 15-30W range featuring a depowered section of "big" 6L6 valves instead of the usual EL84s - like the PRS MT15.

the result is, to all extent, a proper Fireball mk2, just in 25W format.

very much like its bigger 100 W brother, the Fireball 25 is a very straightforward 2 channel amplifier, with controls for clean and a lead gain, a shared 3 band EQ, presence and (unlike the FB100) a single master volume, with a footswitchable master volume boost to give it that extra punch for solos.
the clean channel lacks the bright control (that means it lacks the option to turn it off) and the depth boost (a feature i always found completely overkill on the already bass heavy FB100).
it keeps the footswitchable mid boost (that i always keep on), the noise gate and a footswitchable fx loop (a feature i really love in ENGLs, i wish all amps had it...)

an exclusive feature of the 25W version (taken directly from the 20W ironball) is the power soak, with 3 steps (full, half, low) and the option to turn the power amp off, using the line output.

soundwise it's very, very similar to the full power Fireball - i found it lacks just a bit of gain, compared to my FB100 - but we're talking about A LOT of available gain nonetheless!

now, if anyone has doubts about its live useability, 25W are more than enough for any kind of gig, assuming there's some kind of stage amplification. otherwise i'd reccomend it for smaller venues, to avoid pushing it to the point of losing headroom and clarity.

This amp has pretty much everything you need. Great clean sound, great edge of breakup sound and of course all the gain in the world. You can play pretty much everything with it. I play in a Zeppelin, Deep Purple, early Whitesnake cover band and also a stoner,punk,grunge, progg band. This Engl covers it with ease.. I love the noise gate. Works really well. Keep in mind it only works on the drive channel.
It takes most pedals well. Some fuzz and distortion pedals will sound thin tho.
There´s not much not to like. For this price it´s perfect.