NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

[radekvitr]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

looks like a cool amp. do the 12ax7's run at real voltages or are they starved plate tone modifiers?

According to Anderton's description the tubes run on 60V, so it's prototypical starved plate as far as I can tell.

 

[jeremy]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

60v is higher than i would have expected and that might add more flavor than running lower

 

[ErikH]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Yeah, that's a lot higher than I would have thought. I emailed Korg USA but never heard anything back.

It's a fun amp, that's for sure. We have another gig this Saturday. Gotta have a quick setup so I'm going to run the Soldano model this time and use the guitar volume for lighter saturation sounds.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

I would like to hear a couple of the higher gain channels pushed into overdrive. All the review videos I have seen only demo the clean and crunch tones.

 

[ErikH]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

I would like to hear a couple of the higher gain channels pushed into overdrive. All the review videos I have seen only demo the clean and crunch tones.

I'll see what I can do. I don't have a great recording situation but I could probably put something together. Might take me a few days or so to cram it in between work and evening commitments. I'll ask my wife to record a little from my side of the stage this Saturday on her phone and see how that comes out.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Hi guys...Love the new Vox Modeling series amps...Nice Erik! I play through 2 AD30VTs in stereo at practice alot and love them..I've gigged with these amps at small venues too...

I still have my Blue series Vox VTH 120 setup since new..Love the Valvetronix stuff...Hope you guys are well? It's been awhile since I've posted.Still kickin though! LOL

 

[ErikH]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Hey, John. Good to see you are doing well. My bandmate has one of the AD30VT's. When I had my AD50VT, I would use his AD30VT at practice so I didn't have to lug mine back and forth. This AV30 is way lighter and sounds so much better.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Hey, John. Good to see you are doing well. My bandmate has one of the AD30VT's. When I had my AD50VT, I would use his AD30VT at practice so I didn't have to lug mine back and forth. This AV30 is way lighter and sounds so much better.

Hi Erik...Actually I have been running the AD30s in stereo and what a great setup...Both cabs have been insulated as it tightens up the tones and gets rid of the boxey tones I felt the amps had..In one I replaced the stock speaker with an Eminence Rajun Cajun and 2 HG Chinese Golden Dragon 12AX7s for the VR circuit...Love the Vox stuff..I'm intrigued with the amp you bought and the Marshall Code series.

I do prefer staying lighter on the amps,though I still do own my tube Fender and Marshall stuff.

 

[ErikH]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Hi Erik...Actually I have been running the AD30s in stereo and what a great setup...Both cabs have been insulated as it tightens up the tones and gets rid of the boxey tones I felt the amps had..In one I replaced the stock speaker with an Eminence Rajun Cajun and 2 HG Chinese Golden Dragon 12AX7s for the VR circuit...Love the Vox stuff..I'm intrigued with the amp you bought and the Marshall Code series.

I do prefer staying lighter on the amps,though I still do own my tube Fender and Marshall stuff.

When I had my AD50, I swapped the stock 7080 Celestion out for a Classic Lead 80. Made a huge difference. After trying several different tubes in it, I liked the EH 12AX7 the best in it. One thing that helps those modelers is turning off the noise suppressor or setting it at the absolute minimum setting.

The weight of the AV30 is nice. The handle is more towards the front so when carrying it there's better balance on my body. I still have my Marshall head too but rarely use it anymore.



My wife got a couple clips on her phone of my new AV30 amp at our gig Saturday night. I need to go through them and put something together to post. It was set to the Soldano model the entire night. Stay tuned.

 

[radekvitr]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

I now have the combo too. I LOVE the Clean 1 and 2 (Clean 2 has sweet overdrive), and I enjoy the combo's heavily modulated ambient sounds, and those are just built-in effects. It's just fun to play and sounds great, a huge, huge upgrade from the Champion 40 I used to have.

 

[ErikH]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Clean 1 is a Twin style. Clean 2 is a Bassman style. I like those too. My main setting is OD1 though I did play an entire gig on H.Gain1 which is a Soldano. I will have clips up. Just got them of my wife's phone.

 

[HiFiRebel]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Nice! I was thinking a 15 watt Orange for the next amp, but this Vox may be it for me. Back into British without breaking the bank (or the back).

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

The 1x10 sounds like a 1x12. No joke. Even on the amp stand I'm getting a big full sound. Clips to come as time allows. I'll want to open it up to get a really good recording.

1x10s seem to be getting better in that regard lately, at least from what I can gather from my limited experience and what others have said.

Congrats on the cool score Eric!

 

[ErikH]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

OK, here's some short clips from our last gig. The crowd was rowdy and we were loud so it is what it is. We had a great time. My wife recorded this on her iPhone pointed towards my amp but off to the side a little as she was sitting at the board running the FOH so it's not perfect and a lot of everything is there but I'm heard. In the Play That Funky Music clip I'm doing the main riff from the intro and my evil twin is playing the chords. I bring that up because you can really hear us playing two different things so clarifying that. For the entire gig I was on the H.Gain1 (Soldano) setting, as mentioned in previous post.

These are m4a format and should play right in the browser. If not, I'll convert to mp3. Enjoy.

CLIP 1

CLIP 2

CLIP 3

CLIP 4

CLIP 5

 

[ErikH]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Here's another clip I cut last week at the house with the amp mic'd up. This is totally the H.Gain1 model.

CLIP

 

[radekvitr]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Today I played with the tube switches and found out that I like the sounds much better when Reactor is on "More", it makes a huge difference to me. Clean and dirty channels. The amp feels more alive and responsive with it on.

The BIAS switch made it feel more quiet, as in no actual difference, but my ears heard it as subtly less loud.

I also play with the Fat switch on, but that's becuase I play a Tele (granted it has a Phat Cat in the neck, but it's still a tele).

 

[ErikH]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Here's what those switches do:

The Bright and Fat switches are preamp, the bias and reactor are poweramp.

[table="width: 500"]
[tr]
[td]Switch[/td]
[td]Function[/td]
[td]Position[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]BRIGHT[/td]
[td]Adds some brightness.[/td]
[td]Left=off, Right=on[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]FAT[/td]
[td]Adds some low end.[/td]
[td]Left=off, Right=on[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]BIAS[/td]
[td]Changes the bias setting of the waveform.[/td]
[td]Left=modern, Right=vintage[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]REACTOR[/td]
[td]Changes the degree of damping of the power-amp.[/td]
[td]Left=flat and tight, Right=dynamic and loose[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

 

[Christian Zaccarias]

Re: NAD: Vox AV30 Combo

Hello I am from Argentina. I have a Vox VT100x and wanted to sell it to buy an AV30 the idea is that I want it just to play at home.
Do you think the change is right or is it crazy going from a VT100X to an AV30?
Greetings.