Vox ac15c1 hiss?

S

Studflower

New member
Hey guys,

Purchased a new vox ac15c1 amp this weekend (15% off for Black Friday)...

When I turn the volume up past 10 o'clock there's an audible hiss that gets louder. This is with nothing plugged in.
Is this normal for tube amps? Or should they be dead silent without anything plugged in?
It's my first tube amp.

Thanks
 
Re: Vox ac15c1 hiss?

It could be. Without anything plugged in the input is shorted to ground. Plug something into it and see if that influences it in anyway. Do the little turn trick where you stand with the guitar and turn around to see if that changes the hiss or noise. Of it does, just chalk it up to ground noise. If you have an older house with older wiring than that could cause more noise.

The volume controls the preamp. This is where everything coming into the amp gets boosted. So it makes sense that there is some hiss/noise. You could try different tubes. It may help. But I think there will be a little hiss in the amp anyway.

Tube amps make noise. Some good. Some bad.
 
Re: Vox ac15c1 hiss?

It is under warranty...take it back and compare it to others of the same.
ALL amps have some noise floor. We cannot hear it...so you will have to be the judge.
If it is pretty bad at 10:00 o'clock, and gets worse...it may have a problem...possibly just a bad tube(s).
At any rate...take it back and compare.
good luck
 
Re: Vox ac15c1 hiss?

I have an ac15 like yours. give me 5 minutes to turn it up and I'll tell you if it's normal.
 
Re: Vox ac15c1 hiss?

Man, I just turned EVERYTHING up on my amp (with nothing plugged in) and got no sounds of any kind.

I'm pretty sure it's just a bad tube. Have a tech look at it or google how to troubleshoot.

FYI Vox are self biasing.
 
Re: Vox ac15c1 hiss?

astrozombie said:
Man, I just turned EVERYTHING up on my amp (with nothing plugged in) and got no sounds of any kind.

I'm pretty sure it's just a bad tube. Have a tech look at it or google how to troubleshoot.

FYI Vox are self biasing.
Click to expand...

Absolutely zero noise?

Guess I'm taking this back :scratchch

I purchased this last saturday (2 days ago) for black friday weekend. Turned it on once.

-------------------
Normally, I'd just live with a bit of hiss (or try to look it up in detail on google and try troubleshooting by swapping tubes and whatnot),
but this amp was out on the floor unboxed, obviously played by someone. I asked for a new boxed one from the back and the sales guy came back out and said "nope we don't have any boxed ones in the back. I think this one out here is the new one we had I'm not sure why it's unboxed I don't think anyone played it! don't worry this is a brand new one I assure you" as did 2 other salesman that came by.
It just makes me feel iffy about the whole thing.
Guitar Center...
 
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Re: Vox ac15c1 hiss?

Studflower said:
Absolutely zero noise?

Guess I'm taking this back :scratchch

I purchased this last saturday (2 days ago) for black friday weekend. Turned it on once.

-------------------
Normally, I'd just live with a bit of hiss (or try to look it up in detail on google and try troubleshooting by swapping tubes and whatnot),
but this amp was out on the floor unboxed, obviously played by someone. I asked for a new boxed one from the back and the sales guy came back out and said "nope we don't have any boxed ones in the back. I think this one out here is the new one we had I'm not sure why it's unboxed I don't think anyone played it! don't worry this is a brand new one I assure you" as did 2 other salesman that came by.
It just makes me feel iffy about the whole thing.
Guitar Center...
Click to expand...

I swear, as if the amplifier was all the way off.

you should have gotten a discount as it was the floor model.
 
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