never played the atomic 16, but i was seriously disappointed in the astroverb i had. i even put a hot mod in it and it was STILL weak. kinda like the 20 watt jet city amp. i thought that little amp blew ass chunks too.

I have owned both so I think I qualify. I have also owned an SLO100.
One has reverb. One doesn't.
Neither have enough gain
Neither sound even remotely like an SLO or any other Soldano high gain head.
Both sound similar to the Jet City 20
Niether of them have enough headroom to consider them having a clean tone unless you play in your bedroom
Neither of them have an effects loop which is a total drag
Neither of them take pedals in the front end very well.

Hmmmm... Not sounding good so far

I think they're telling you to go with a SLO 100

Yeah... That's a bit much for my application.

I have one and it suits me fine for what I use it for. Here is a pretty decent review:
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...-and-detailed)
In general this is my sentiments on the amp. I dont have an efx loop. I would like one, and they arent to hard to have put in. For a decent amp in the house or small gigs it will fit the bill. It will drive a 4x12 if you need it too. I like mine. Used you can pick one up for 600 or so. I paid more as it was the snkeskin tolex.

Lot's of good information there. Any comparisons to the Atomic 16?

My experience with the Astroverb was that it gets a pretty nice pushed/"dirt" kind of sound with a Strat in front of it but yeah, it's not high gain at all.

The only difference between the atomic and the astro is the astro has reverb, otherwise identical amps.

Any thing to watch out for with these amps? Words of caution? Anything like that? People futzing with them?

I got mine used and the previous owner had replaced the tubes or taken them out and loosened the tube sockets, I called Soldano and the tech had me retention the sockets and it worked great. There is a wealth of info on the Soldano site.

Well. NAD for Me. Picked up a '99 Astroverb just a little while ago. Diggin' the he'll out of it right now.

Congrats! Soldano makes awesome amps.

congrats. They are made well for sure.
Its your ears that count.