Real owners lean toward the Marshall DSL40CR: 86% of 44 owners recommend it, vs 53% of 85 for the Positive Grid Spark 2.
Verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube owner comments — affiliate reviews excluded. Sample sizes differ; judge accordingly. How we score
The Spark 2 and the DSL40CR appeal to overlapping budgets but pull in different directions. Spark 2 owners love its endless app-driven tones, portability, and all-in-one extras like a looper, Bluetooth speaker, and battery power, though they flag a buggy app and firmware, hardware reliability complaints, and a sound that can go boxy at louder band volume. DSL40CR owners describe a versatile tube amp with an excellent clean channel that over-delivers for its price and holds up reliably over years, with few gripes beyond a weak onboard reverb and a divisive low-volume and distortion voicing. Home players who want a portable, feature-rich practice amp with near-endless tones lean to the Spark 2; gigging and band-practice guitarists who want real tube volume and feel lean to the DSL40CR. The call hinges on practice-focused features and portability versus tube tone and stage-ready volume.
“Sounds awesome, I’m sick of those digital amps with millions of presets that take hours to go through.”— @way2sh0rt07grad on YouTube
“When it first arrived, I couldn’t stop playing the CLEAN channel for well over an hour!”— @michaelyolch on YouTube
“Way too much treble.”— @marvinmartin3438 on YouTube
“The Spark wins all around. Sonically, functionally, the form, the support... the whole ecosystem just works.”— @ArmandoVegaTV on YouTube
“One can not describe the enormous sound of the Spark without being in the room with it, very amazing, I have let a lot players hear mine and they are genuinely impressed once they hear it in person.”— @RandyRocker56 on YouTube
“the Spark 2 which had many issues that were eventually fixed through firmware updates... it clearly wasn't ready for prime time when it first rolled out their doors”— SherbetUnusual199 on Reddit
The Spark 2 and the DSL40CR appeal to overlapping budgets but pull in different directions. Spark 2 owners love its endless app-driven tones, portability, and all-in-one extras like a looper, Bluetooth speaker, and battery power, though they flag a buggy app and firmware, hardware reliability complaints, and a sound that can go boxy at louder band volume. DSL40CR owners describe a versatile tube amp with an excellent clean channel that over-delivers for its price and holds up reliably over years, with few gripes beyond a weak onboard reverb and a divisive low-volume and distortion voicing. Home players who want a portable, feature-rich practice amp with near-endless tones lean to the Spark 2; gigging and band-practice guitarists who want real tube volume and feel lean to the DSL40CR. The call hinges on practice-focused features and portability versus tube tone and stage-ready volume.
Owners point the Marshall DSL40CR at players wanting one versatile tube amp on a budget, and gigging and band-practice guitarists needing real volume.
Owners point the Positive Grid Spark 2 at home practice players wanting endless app-driven tones, and beginners learning with backing tracks and a looper.
The most-cited downside of the Marshall DSL40CR is loud, low-volume tone divides owners. For the Positive Grid Spark 2, it's buggy app and firmware, including the AI sometimes failing to load.