Marshall DSL1CR

Just to be clear - in my case, this amp is used as bedroom practicing amp. Tested with both singlecoils (Fender Vintage '52 Telecaster and Stratocaster with noiseless pickups) and humbuckers (Duesenberg Starplayer Special).

First notable thing - compared to limited 1W edition it's slightly smaller, which is understandable considering it's 8" vs 10". As much as I can see myself (and also stated in official Marshall documentation) it's having 3 valves in total, not 5 as stated in product description.

Sound is actually way better then I expected it. It's not 'boxy' as I thought it's going to be (having 12" external speaker as well) and there's definitely not same level of headroom compared to something bigger than 8", but that's also to be expected.

On clean channel, you can turn it up to max and still enjoy playing inside your bedroom. 0.1W is of course welcome in case you are using humbuckers at midnight, but even in that case it's very acceptable for my taste. If you are telecaster fan then you are really going to enjoy clean channel with it. That's 'the' sound as I imagine it when I think about telecaster.

On OD channel, you can play a lot with both gain and volume. 1W there can be little bit loud, specially with humbuckers, but I think 'the issue' here is just perceived loudness since I was still able to talk over it, specially if you are not really sitting on it.

Footswitch is quite simple, it's letting you only to change the channel, not to turn on/off reverb or fx loop as advertised on other models, so don't be confused on this.

All in all, this looks and sounds really cool, and I'm quite sure I'm going to keep it.

Bottom line: this amp kicks ass, it’s more brutal than the 1 watt-8 inch speaker might make you think.

More elaborate:

I hadn’t played electric guitar since a while, but decided to pick up my Tele again.

Since I don’t own an amp since a long time, and since I live in an apartment, I was looking for something small, affordable and preferably good sounding. Other features I was looking for: headphone and aux in ports.

This amp checks all of these things. I considered solid state amps, like the ones most of us start with. But having a full valve amp seemed tempting. This thing looks almost exactly like the 15 watt transistor Marshall that was my first amp, they weigh pretty much the same, but the quality of the sound of this DSL1 is just so much better, incomparable in my opinion. From the moment I plugged it in my Tele I was getting good sounds of it on both channels.

I was a bit concerned that it would not have enough headroom to stay clean, but you with single coils at least it takes a bit on the first channel before you enter crunch territory. The cleans even sound really quite good in my opinion.
On the second channel I’m able to get slightly crunchy tones to roaring high gain. This thing really is a tube Marshall.

Some users are a bit critical of the included reverb. In my opinion: it’s nice that it has a built in (obviously digital) reverb, I rarely like a fully dry guitar tone, but its true that it is not necessarily the best sounding one. And also: there’s just one control knob for the reverb, allowing you to dial in more or less reverb. There are no other reverb parameters you can change. So chances are I’ll be getting myself a reverb pedal, but as said, I still find it a nice touch to include that reverb which I still find useable for home practice.

Another nice touch of Marshall: this amp comes with a footswitch. It doesn’t allow you to engage or disengage the reverb, but you can change channels by foot. Nice that this is included, and the footswitch is pretty well built by the way.

Another nice feature is the attenuator that allows you to go from that brutal 1 watt to 0.1 watt. I use this feature literally all the time and even then, I find this amp to be pretty bloody loud for apartment playing. Don’t let that 1 watt fool you: if you live in an apartment with thin walls, this amp might not be for you. It’s obviously far from being loud enough to keep up with a drummer, but still. Also: I find the amp sounds as good in 0.1 watt as in 1 watt.

The good thing is: despite this being a full valve amp, there’s a port for headphones. All you need to do is disconnect the amp from the speaker, plug in your headphones and you’re good to go fully silent. Now, all of this ain’t of the greatest quality. Maybe it’s my headphones, but there is some noticeable noise when playing through headphones. And the built in cab sim is perhaps not the most convincing. But it certainly is good enough for what I use it for, and if you just wanna have some fun in the middle of the night I think it should be good enough. I haven’t tried recording silently using this port yet, but that’s another thing one can do.

I do wish that Marshall placed the headphone port on the front panel instead of in the back. Kinda the same for the auxiliary input. But then again, I’m already happy that it has that 3.5mm input, which allows me to plug in anything I want in a straight forward way, so I’m able to play along with music and backing tracks without the need of fiddling around with Bluetooth, adaptors or other stuff.

I haven’t tried out the effects loop yet, but it’s nice that it has one.

And then this still: I find that 8 inch speaker sounding not that bad at all. You can hear immediately it’s not a 12 inch but somehow it sounds bigger than it is. Depending on the guitar you’re using, you might wanna tweak some EQ settings. But definitely a pretty nice speaker for an 8 inch, no regret there.

To conclude: I think this is a brilliant practice amp for people who want a small package with a sweet, warm tube sound that’s drenched in a Marshall sauce.

There’s plenty of choice in this price category and this could be a good one.

I'm a house guitarist, not performing or touring. This is my 4th amp and my second Marshall. Before that, there was a transistor Ibanez, a mini portable Marshall, modeling a Vox combo amplifier. I'm used to playing Vox. When switching to the Marshall tube, I realized what an attack and sound production are. Who is afraid that 1 Watt is quiet, do not worry. It's louder than my Vox GT 15 watts. For the house- more than enough. I don't have a music store, but I have several different guitars with singles and humbuckers (Epiphone SG, Epiphone LP, SQ Fender 3 singles, Ibanez RG). From everything I got a new feeling from playing the guitar. From clean to heavy enough. I highly recommend it for development - I really liked this amplifier.

Well it's a marshall, sounds like a marshal although it has a very small speaker. Bought this to warm up back stage preparing to gig. It's a valve amp, sounds and feels like one, but not loud enough to keep up with any kind of live performance, (not even backing tracks on a live venue). The "emulated" out sounds awful!!! It was one of the factors that made me buy this little amp, and It's totally unusable, sounds fizzy and after a short while using it, i always have an headache even using with top notch in ear monitors... the manual says it's a "high quality emulated output using Softube-designed studio cabinet"... but it sounds like rubbish... couldn't find a way to use it. Still a nice tube amp.

One of the key advantages of the Marshall DSL1CR is its power and versatility. Despite its compact size, this amplifier has enough power to be used in both home and small concert venues. It also offers a wide range of sound, from classic rock to heavy metal, making it a versatile tool for musicians of various genres.

In addition, the Marshall DSL1CR delivers high quality sound thanks to its innovative technology. It features two channels (Classic and Ultra) that offer different tonal possibilities to create a variety of soundscapes. With its built-in digital effects such as reverb and modulation, this amp also allows musicians to expand their sound and experiment with different sound effects.

Just as importantly, the Marshall DSL1CR has a stylish and elegant design that blends well with any interior or setting. Its compact size makes it easy to transport, and its high-quality materials and construction ensure reliability and durability.

If you want a tube amp and can only play in an apartment, this is the one for you.

Frankly, 1W is too loud in my place, even with the 1/10 switch (I doubt it really takes the amp to 0.1W, but hey). On the other hand, I don't think I could use it in a band setting - but those days are behind me. I'd probably get the DSL40 for [rock] band practice/concerts.

The FX loop is an excellent though unexpected feature at this price point. I expect it would help in the future when I buy an equalizer - mostly to be able to reduce the volume. But in any case, that's where you put your modulation effects, post preamp.

The reverb is alright I guess, but I'd have preferred a master volume instead. A volume pot on the clean channel would have been a useful addition, but then there wasn't any room left on the panel. Hey, at this brand name and price point it even comes with a foot switch.

Build is excellent. Noise is minimal. As a con, perhaps the gain on the hot channel could have been tweaked to kick in at a higher setting.

I have 9 tube amps, among them 6 are Marshall amps. Including the DSL20HR and DSL40CR.

I bought this for a young musician getting into electric guitar. He is very happy with it and is delighted he went with a tube amp and not a digtal amp which he wanted as that is what his friend uses. I taked him into getting a tube amp. Digital and solid state have their place, I like alot of soilid state amps. But if you can have a place you can play a tube amp loud. Buy a tube amp. You will never regret it. Even a super cheap one like the DSL1CR.

As to the amp itself, if you like the Marshall sound, for the money its unbeatable.

I was excited to see how such a small tube amp deliver the chug we expect!
The clean channel is pretty cool as well as it gets more and more interesting the more gain you add.

I loved this amp and the only reason I sold it, was because I needed something louder to cover lives and gigs...I mean it can be miced and be as loud as you want, but a tube amp the higher the volume, the higher the gain and eventually you end up with a not very flexible clean channel on hi volumes. Other than that, if you use it only for practice at home etc, there's no better TUBE little amp than this!