Great question, replys are very acurate. Its got its own sound no question. I bought one under the same circumstances. Couldnt play one, loved the videos and reviews. Ordered one. 20th anny, based on the specs of having more gain and a better boost or differnt somehow than the regular Shiva. I had read a post in a thread where someone mentioned it had a certain fuzz to the distortion( fuzz)may not be the best word to describe it. Its pretty acurate tho, in saying its a sound i didnt hear in other amps so that is part of the signature sound.At least for me it was. I had the kt88 verb version. So the clean was really really good. The high gain sounds to me were a very strong low mid voice. Could have been the kt88s. It was a very nice amp ,as good as youll find. I felt it didnt jump out in the mix and i really had to push it it felt like to me. I wasnt sure if it was to much gain( 2 o'clock) or more of the low mid thing or the type of distortion, the Helios seems more in the line of what id feel jumps out a little more as the mids are more aggresive,.not so low mid voiced, or was it the type of gain/distortion the amp is built to produce. Its a gem regardless!!! Glad i had the chance to own it. Wish i could have kept it. I was missing the marshall type mids i love from the helios, friedman,marshall type british distortion. It seems these are more agressive i felt and maybe a bit chewier, meaner. It could be im deaf to some of those frequencies after years of loud rock. Regardless the Shiva 20th is a masterpiece period. Its not my desert island amp but i sure wouldn't frown plugging into one either. Hope this helps.
