The general sound is extremely good for a solid state amp.
There are three features the amp has (that regular desktop speakers don't have): gain, reverb and tone controls (bass, mid, treble).
The gain knob can be a bit sensitive when trying to achieve a sweetspot.
The gain goes all the way up to death metal distortion.
The reverb is noticeable when maxed out, but I recommend getting a reverb and/or delay pedal to get that echo-y sound.