This little marvel is a one-half watt (distorted) powerhouse that will surprise you with its apparent volume. Plug it into a 4X12 (or any 8 to 16 ohm speaker) and listen to it roar! This amp is voiced to deliver classic rock tone, with a very high level of crunch available if it's wanted. Just crank the volume knob around to the level of distortion you desire, from a very quiet (one tenth watt) clean mode to a micro-Marshall (TM) blast when cranked up. I am making myself a little ill (gag!) trying to describe the tone of my Nano, using the same tired old phrases that all the amp and distortion box makers use, but I think it's true... it does a great job of emulating big amps at very reasonable volumes, which makes it exceptionally nice for recording.