Valvetronix + vintage 30's and g12h-30's ???

[tonybologna000]

Hey guys, I've seen that a lot of people on this forum dig the valvetronix amps. I have the 120 watt Valvetronix head and love it, but I've never played it through great speakers. I've recently decided to buy a nice 2x12 cabinet and I'm kind of going between the Vox ad212 cabinet with neo-dogs and an Avatar 2x12 with one vintage 30 and one g12h-30. After doing some research here and elsewhere on the web, I'm leaning a bit toward the Avatar cabinet. Not knowing much about speakers and having no experience with any high-end speakers, I'm hesitant to make a decision without hearing opinions of people who may be more experienced.

Has anyone ever tried the Valvetronix with either of these cabs, or at least one of these types of speakers? What tonal characteristics do these speakers give to the amp's signal? I play a Les Paul with a set of pearly gates, and go for a kind of tight, but smooth and full sound -- rock music between vintage and modern, but probably more vintage. I feel this amp is great, but I would like a speaker that could tighten up the bottom end a bit.

I know this is specific, but I want to give you enough information to help me make the decision. Thanks so much. Any advice or suggestion would be very appreciated.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Valvetronix + vintage 30's and g12h-30's ???

Hey Tony!

I've got the AD60VTH, which is the closed back 112 combo. I've used it two different ways. First, I took out the neodog and tried it with both the G12H30 and the Vintage 30. Both were a big improvement over the neodog, which by itself can get a bit bright IMHO. Since mine is the combo and not the head, what I did was I got an Earcandy Buzzbomb 2X12 with the V30 & G12H30 mix. Together with the neodog already in the combo, which stays on when you hook up a cab, the sound is great and really full. Kind of a 3X12 if you will. However, if I had the head only, I would get the cab with the Celestions. It sounds tighter, fuller and not as "bright" to me. Just remember that the cab will only be 60 watts. Is the head a full 120 watts through one cab or is it 60 watts per side where you would need two cabs? If it is 120 watts straight into one cab, I would get two V30s or maybe some of the Eminence speakers that have that type of sound but the higher wattage. Good luck, that's a great amp.

 

[tonybologna000]

Re: Valvetronix + vintage 30's and g12h-30's ???

Wow, thanks for the awesome reply. You pretty much have tried exactly what I'm looking into. Yeah, I knew about the 60 watt limit. I'm not sure about the AD60VTH, but mine has a built-in attenuator where you can select the output wattage. If i go with the Avatar cab idea, I think I might actually get two separate 2x12 cabs -- One with two v30s and one with two g12h-30s. That way I can decide to use just the v30 cab at full wattage. Then I could leave the lower wattage cab at home for practice during the week, and use both cabs on stage together when I play gigs on the weekends.

What do you think??

I know that's kind of a lot of money, but I just won a big 16 band "battle of the bands" tournament here in Louisiana and now have $2000 bucks to spend on equipment. YAY.

Thanks again!

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Valvetronix + vintage 30's and g12h-30's ???

A lot of vox users also find the Eminence Red Fang's to be very good with the AD120VTH. I personally use vintage 30's and while they are good with the Marshall models, they can be a bit hairy. I'd love to try the Red Fangs on this amp.

 

[tonybologna000]

Re: Valvetronix + vintage 30's and g12h-30's ???

I'll have to look into those red fangs. What do you mean by "hairy" when referring to the v30's?

Thanks

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Valvetronix + vintage 30's and g12h-30's ???

The cab is literally 1/3 of the sound of your amp, and most modelers sound MUCH better on a quality birch ply cab with Celestions.

If you get something like all black Avatars, at least they'll be neutral looking, so any head will look appropriate on top of it.

I use my Valvetronix 60W head on either my Bogner 4-12 or 2-12, and for a crunchier sound, my Marshall cabs. All have Vin 30's. I can get way better sounds than if I'd bought the matching Vox cab. That's my home rig, which I use to emulate all the tones I get from my tube amps.

When I play anywhere besides home, it's always the Ecstasy head. I can tame the volume on it, but nothing like the Valvetronix. I can dial that way down in volume.

 

[tonybologna000]

Re: Valvetronix + vintage 30's and g12h-30's ???

Ok, now I'm REALLY leaning in the direction of the Avatar cabs. I'm really not that concerned that they won't match as well as the Vox cab. Personally, I think the more mismatched your equipment is, the cooler. Thanks again everyone.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Valvetronix + vintage 30's and g12h-30's ???

I'm talking bout the upper midrange and high end. It can be slightly harsh with the Vintage 30's. Not very harsh, but sometimes it would be nice to be able to smooth things out a bit more and I think the Red fangs have better cleans than the Vintage 30's. Either would be good, but I definitely want to check out the Red Fangs in this amp. Those are some seriously killer sounding speakers.

 

[tonybologna000]

Re: Valvetronix + vintage 30's and g12h-30's ???

Thanks Scott. I think I'll call Dave at Avatar to see what he thinks about the red fangs.

Cheers!