Vox AC4tv yay or nay?

F

Flores_68

New member
Hello everyone,

I've had a Peavey Special 112 since the early 90's and I like it quite a lot. The only problem is that when I rehearse with my band we use the studio's gear and playing through 160 watts at home can be a hassle. I struggle to keep the volume somewhere between 0 and 1 and I only get it cranked at 4-5. So I bought a little Marshall MG15 because I thought it could solve my problem at home. Wrong. My Les Paul sounds like it's on an AM Radio station, a real nightmare. I only use it because it has the headphone jack which allows me to play on a Sunday morning without waking up my family.

My question, at last: will the Vox ac4tv give me quality at a lower volume? Will the amp break up without being too loud? I want my guitar to sound big even when I play it low; am I asking for too much? I'd appreciate it if anyone has the Vox to give me some real info on what it's going to sound like. The YouTube videos make anything sound great...
 
Re: Vox AC4tv yay or nay?

I gotta say that getting power tube breakup on my 15 W amp set to half a watt is still loud enough to wake my whole family
But I can use it at night with the master volume lower and it sounds very good so,
I think if you like the basic sound of the vox it should be ok as long as you don't expect power tube breakup

It's been a long time since I plugged into an ac4 but I seen to recall playing the 12" and the one with the smaller speaker and that the one with the 12" speaker sounded a lot bigger! It's louder but the tone is much more full in the bass and has clearer treble.
 
The best sounding, small format, tube amp I've played that breaks up at low volume is a Fender Champion 600. If you need quality sound but quieter than that, I would look at emulation/modeling into a small high quality personal monitor.
 
No headroom and not a particularly clean sounding practice amp. You could get an AC 10 or an AC 15 for a little more and they have much later breakup and much nicer speakers. If you want to keep it small, an old Fender Champ or Princeton would also work. You can get Blues Jrs pretty cheap used.
 
I've got the ac4c1, and i adore it. extremely loud for 4 watts. i haven't played the ac4tv, but i prefer the c1 because of the master volume, the bass and treble tone stacks, and the extra tube in the pre-amp (possibly to drive gain, possibly for the tone stacks). the pre-amp has its own volume ('gain' knob) so you can get break-up much quicker. tone is excellent.

I hear/read that attenuators can strain resistors and the like, in addition to sucking tone, although at such low wattage i'm not sure it makes much of a difference. if there's a big enough price difference the tv would look more attractive to me.

whatever you end up with, i'm sure you'll have heaps of fun with it!
 
By the way, could anyone compare the Vox's performance to the Marshall cf15's? I'm afraid of not making much of an upgrade by purchasing the Vox.
 
You got a headphone jack on the Peavey
use that to direct in to your recording equipment

And a little EQ

Done
 
BRHGM said:
No headroom and not a particularly clean sounding practice amp. You could get an AC 10 or an AC 15 for a little more and they have much later breakup and much nicer speakers. If you want to keep it small, an old Fender Champ or Princeton would also work. You can get Blues Jrs pretty cheap used.
Click to expand...

I have the change to grab an AC 15, but I'm concerned about going back to the same problem I have with my 160w Peavey amp... Would the AC 15 be MUCH lower than the Peavey? Can I get it to break up in a room?
 
not unless you want your ears bleeding or live in a massive room. 15w is loud when cranked up. i did plenty of gigs with a cranked 15w unmiked and no one had trouble hearing me. a fender champ isnt much different volume wise than the ac4 but they sound different. both are single ended amps. the vox has a 10" which will probably sound better. the ac4tv is a good little amp if you like what it does. it does not have a ton of clean headroom but you can also crank it and not kill your ears. every ones definition of volume is a little different but i think its a fine amp for home use especially with the wattage control. the ac4c1 is a fine little amp too and has a gain control and master volume plus treble and bass controls (vs just tone) and more gain available, i dont like it as much as the tv but thats personal taste. i dont think one is better than the other.
 
I'd give this a hard nay unless you're willing to mod it

That said, the mods are VERY easy. This amp is in desperate need of having its bright caps removed. It makes it SO MUCH more playable. I was ready to sell mine, but I ended up loving it after after the mod
__PRESENT
 
I never liked this amp when I had one. Check out the Marshall Origin 5 as an alternative. It’s not what people expect when they think of Marshall. I got mine in a trade and it had the tubes changed out. It sounds fantastic to my ears.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I had the night train for about 6 months
Kinda raw and aggressively bright in normal mode, super raw and aggressively nasally mids in thick mode. The overdrive is fizzy even whenywhen really crank the sucker. It is really chimey at times but just not refined sounding to me. Honking fizzy nasal no bass neutered sad vox. Some people make em sound ok but,

I would take an ac15 all day every day before the NT. It's warmer and bluesier but can get chimey and jangly when you need it.
If you need thick sounds from a vox why you either crank the sucker or add a pedal but... The night train was just not for me.

My orange rocker 15 does 60s and 70s rock at bedroom volumes in .5W mode
Definitely look at stuff that goes down to less than one watt I would say.
 
I had a Vox AC15 for a few years. It is loud for room playing, so I don't recommend it. The AC10 is more manageable. Luckily, I found myself a vintage pristine '59 Fender Champ and it's incredible. Also, the Champion 600 is different from a Tweed Champ.
 
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The AC15 is a terrible choice for bedroom use. The Night Train isn't much better, even in 7.5W mode.

If you want a Vox that sounds good VERY QUIETLY, get the Adio GT. If you don't care if it's a Vox, check out the newer Yamaha THR series. There are others, but those would be my first two recs. I've got something being delivered tomorrow that might also fit the bill, but we'll see.
 
I was super strongly considering an Adio air gt but decided on a orange tube amp with power soak for bedroom cuz I do get to crank things now and then
The vox modeler gets great reviews for it's sound but it looks like a nightmare aesthetically!!
 
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