Victory Amplifiers VX The Kraken Head

I've been playing on this amp for a few months now, and it's one hell of an amp.

It's referred to as an "all metal amp" but it can do more than just metal. Off course it works best for a heavier style but it can be used for a variety of different styles.

It has 2 different channels. gain 1 is a marshall sounding gain
and gain 2 is a peavy sounding gain.

The first channel is to my ears the best of the 2 gains in terms of variety. You can use the gain on a low setting at 9 o clock and you'll have a pushed clean sound.
roll of on your volume knob of the guitar (or use a volume pedal) and you'll get a clean sound.

It really does get clean, especially using the 50 watt setting.
And it takes distortion/overdrive/boost pedals very well.

The second gain channel is really for the metal players, it starts already with a lot of gain even on low settings and has even more gain on tap.

the only thing that is a little bit tricky is setting up the eq when you are using both channels in heavy gain settings.
Gain 1 is more bass and gain 2 more treble so finding the right balance takes a little bit of work.
this is only difficult as I said when both channels are using a lot of gain.
if Gain 1 is on a low setting then is smooths out in comprising to high setting on gain 2.

It also make a huge difference with the type of cab/speakers you are using.

It is a great amp for it's price, hopefully in the future they make another version of this amp with split EQ.

Oh, and I like the purple LED.

What an amp. Let me give you my backstory to fully understand why I'm so amazed by this amp. Until now I've mainly used my 100W Engl SE which is a true high gain beast. Not only the Engl sounds great it is also versatile and easy to use with it's midi capabilities. But there's a major downside.. the weight. The great sound and the versatility weights freaking 25kg. I've also realised that my sound consisted of mainly 3 - 4 sounds like clean, rhythm and lead which got me thinking if I actually need such a big amp. After a really in depth research I decided to buy:

THE KRAKEN.

Even though I heard only good things I was still sceptical if it can deliver the gain I was searching for and used to by using a high gain amp for so many years. So I bought it, got it, plugged it, put everything on 12 o'clock, gain 2 and ... BOOOOOOM .. What a sound. I've instantly got a feeling like I found the sound I was searching for my whole life.

But ok, you still have to consider few things before buying this amp. This amp is not for sparkling fender cleans or to have any special additional features. This is a small amp that delivers amazing high gain sound. And it does that with perfection. Even with my Engl SE I was using a tube screamer in front of it to tighten up the bass and boost the mids. I don't feel like I need it here. But what I love about this amp the most is that even though it wasn't built for certain things like clean, it still delivers much more cleaner sound that any other amp that was designed for this.

Long story short: EPIC!

It's really nice high gain amp, I've purchased it in order to replace my Jetcity jca2112RC combo. Also considered Engl Ironball but Ironball uses EL84 output valves which Jetcity also has so I expected I wouldn't notice much difference (not sure if it does matter a lot but still wanted to try 6L6 amp).

Pros:
Lunch box sized, only 8kg, but still:
It's built like a tank, really, looks and feels very great.
Insane high gain sound on Gain II, exactly what I was looking for. Palm mutes have a lot of punch, power cords roar like a beast :D Sounds great with E standard tune (mahogany guitar, EMG JH SET pickups) and Drop C tune (ash guitar, Dimarzio Fusion Edge pickups).
Has RMS switch to lower output power (very nice for home usage).
Footswitch and bag included.

Cons:
It's really LOUD for bedroom even in low power mode. However any tube amp is loud, I've never turned master volume over 2 of 10 on my JetCity 20W combo. You will need to purchase an attenuator if you want to crank it up at home.
The noise when gain level is high. But AFAIK any high gain device will produce a lot of noise. Also I'm pretty sure that I have a lot of electrical interference at my home.
Doesn't have clean channel but it wasn't designed for cleans anyway. You can get pretty clean tones on Gain I with low gain level still.
Shared EQ for both channels. I don't use EQ a lot - everything on 12 o'clock is great default choice :) But people in other reviews complained that they can't find a great sounding EQ setup for both channels.

I recommend it to anyone who looks for high amp to play metal/progressive/etc.