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A glowing, growling box of tonal wonder

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Engaging the top boost mode brings in more gain with an addictive sizzly bite that'll go from a sixties pop vibe through to a more brooding, saturated drive. The tone cut control does the majority of its useful business in the last third of its travel. It works as it does on many AC30s in that at lower volumes it can help round off crystalline highs, but without removing the extra gain and drive the treble pot brings.

As you push the master volume, the extra compression and fatness of the power section means you can go easier on the cut. If you're using the pull master volume in channel one and playing at lower volume, the cut's preset position at 11 o'clock can feel bright: your guitar's tone control is your friend in this situation.

Switching to the 15-watt class A mode, brings a subtle softening of the overall attack and a slight lightening in the bottom-end. It's not a big drop in volume, but it does feel different under your fingers, offering an easier ride at medium volumes when you don't need the extra headroom of full power.

Switching down again to five watts drops the volume significantly and reigns in those strident highs, bringing a much more 'together', spongier, elastic feel with more overtones and harmonics. This mode is a joy for wailing away with abandon, be that when recording or practising.

Channel two's power options have much the same effect as channel one's, though we're dealing with a different set of sounds. Tweed brings to mind some cleaner blues tones for the most part, not too much in the way of scooped mids but still plenty of enveloping bass and sparkling treble to put you in a Fender kind of mood.

The Hi 1 voicing ups the ante significantly, tightening the bottom-end and pushing the gain and mids to a very strident tone, particularly at 25 watts. This is billed as the Marshall-type sound, but it feels more focussed than that, cutting decisively and sending out the single-note stuff so that nobody can miss it. With a humbucker-loaded guitar, classic rock sounds abound – from an Angus -style crunch to more of a modded Plexi meltdown, especially if you knock the power down to 15 watts for a smoother feel.

Through the 1 x 12, it can get quite square and directional when really cranked and it's here you realise you don't have a hulking great power section moving a lot of air. AC30s aren't totally dissimilar in that respect.

Hi 2 feels less visceral than Hi 1, instead with a smother ride in the bottom-end and upper mids; it's a more 'modern' gain feel that'll sing very sweetly if you're preference is for a sophisticated type of drive for melodic soloing. It's the carefully constructed solo to Hi 1's balls-out wailfest.

And volume? We're knocked out with how the TransAtlantic puts those 25 watts across, even through a 1 x 12. Un-mic'd pub gigs, rehearsals, mic'd up on bigger stages… Moreover, back at home the five-watt single-ended class A mode is so much fun. Rather than simply a closed-down, gated version of the full thing: it's near as dammit a different amp at five watts. Extremely impressive.

Yes it's cute and yes it glows blue. In fact a number of people tried and failed to stifle laughs when we sat it atop its 1 x 12 cab, un-mic'd at gigs. But two hours later, they're looking in disbelief that there's no other amp hidden somewhere.

In a straight fist-fight, the TransAtlantic trounces Orange's standard Tiny Terror for volume, headroom and flexibility. It's edgy and aggressive when you want, smooth if you like and offers staggering power delivery for its modest 25-watt rating. It is considerably more expensive than even the UK made Hard Wired Tiny Terror, albeit still less than Bad Cat's Lil' 15; justified for semi pros, less so for hobbyists. A whole new world in micro amps.