I'm specifically looking at the Bugera BC30-212 (which is apparently somewhere between a Vox AC30 and a Matchless DC30). the V22 Infinium (which is a Vox AC15 ish amp apparently) and the V55 Infinium (which is a Fender Hot Rod Deville kind of amp).

Bugera is the Behringer valve tube amp range, and I'm only reading good things about them, but would welcome some views.

I don't expect full Vox, Matchless, or Fender quality or sound, but it's only for own home/hobby use, so if 75%+ of the way there, then it's worth the savings for me, as I preve the Vox AC, Matchless DC, and Hot Rod kind of amp sound that have that warm tubeness in the sound, but can get crunchy if needed (I prefer to use pedals for the overdrive into a clean tube amp).

 

I'm not a guitar player, so I've never had one in my personal use, but I've seen several of them in rehearsal studios. They sound very good. The only gripe I have about those Chinese amps is the longevity of the components, especially if they have PCBs and stuff like that. If they are all analog and old school in build, that's easy and inexpensive to service/upgrade. If they are all digital and transistorized electronics, that could be a recipe for trouble along the way.

 

I was at Long & McQuade when a guy brought in a Bugera 333XL Infinium 120 watt 3 channel amp head to have the guitar guy check out.
It sounded incredible. At least as good as my EVH Iconic.
Thought about buying one but L&M stopped selling and repairing Behringer and MusicTribe gear.
Won't buy a guitar amp without local warranty service.

 

Never owned one.
I know the main problem is repairing them when they fail (under sized components, average PCB ...)
BUT they don't fail that much at home/small gigs once a week.
So it may suit you.

Take a look at Peavey Classic 30 too : you can get them for around the same price second hand.
Just need to check the tubes are good

Classic 50 (similar apart power)

Peavey Classic are a LOT more reliables

 

Just don't buy one of the original releases. They were notorious fire hazards.. The Infinium models are the 'good' ones. Known a couple guys that had the larger Marshall heads. For the price they were a pretty decent 'ballpark' Marshall Superlead sound. Based on some of their other gear I own, I wouldn't gig with it and expect it to last long, but keep it at home in the studio, great cheap clone action. Just like their synths and pedals. (The switch inside my HM300 Boss HM-2 knock off broke just sitting around my house doing nothing so there's also that..)

I've never gotten to hear the Vox ones. I wanted to check one out for a smaller 'bedroom amp' about 10 years ago but nobody where I lived had that shit to try out, ended up buying an actual AC15 instead hah.

 

i have a bugera v5 infinium. and i LOVE it. i went to guitar center to demo some of the smaller "bedroom" amps a few years ago. i wanted a micro terror or micro dark. i tried voxes, some fender, katana, etc. and then the bugera. it was no contest. i really loved the sound right away. it's tubes and that's preferred for me. i play at home only so far and it can get PLENTY loud. when no one's home and i crank it i'm delighted... i play doom, so i wanted dark and chuggy. some people complain about the darkness of the speaker but i don't notice it. i don't move it to gigs so its reliability hasn't been an issue for me either. (those are the 2 main complaints people have with it: dark sounding and unreliable construction). it breaks up nicely on it's own at volume. it has a built-in attentuator and does .7W, 1W & 5W. i use pedals on the clean channel and it takes them well too. i've recorded with it - mic-ed it with a condenser mic and got some PHENOMENAL sounds. i do wish it had an efx loop. and the reverb isn't anything special, but those aren't a deal breaker for me. hope this helps...

 

Never used one. Like you, only read the rave reviews. For a pedal platform, this is great too: VHT Special 12/20 head.