To begin with, this thing is built like a tank. I own a Bugera 6262-212 combo and the casing is a lot more thicker on this small 5W Marshall than on the 120W Bugera combo so you can tell just from this that Marshall put some attention into building this sturdy little monster.
The clean channel is very nice, goes from mild, jazzy tones to crunchy stuff with that classic Marshall ring to it.
The lead channel is where I spend most of my time & it's really something to write home about. I play a Jackson Dominion DX2 (Dimarzio pickups) and an ESP LTD Eclipse (EMGs) through it; the mids are very well defined and the bottom end is very very focused so very good attack & note definition. The treble may get a little harsh on the very high gain settings but that can easily be toned down by the tone on the guitar or the Treble switch on the amp itself.
The foot-switch is metal so not plastic which is a BIG + in my book!
The reverb is also nice (nothing to write home about but decent) but it needs to be cranked up to get the best out of it.
Finally, my favorite feature: the "Low-Power" mode switch. 5 Watts can be very loud so having the option to get this thing to play apartment levels with a simple push of a button is awesome.
This thing can easily do live gigs (seeing how nowadays, most engineers mic up the amps), rehearsals (if your drummer is not crazy loud) and even recording.
All in all, I like this amp very much. It's easy to carry around and very versatile.
Good job Marshall & great stuff Thomann!