Vox AC10 C1 vs. AC15 head

My vote goes for either the 15 or 30 head. You’ll be recording silently with it, so go ahead and have all of the options.

 

By the way, I’ve never used a 10. But I’ve used a 15 with impulse responses and it records really well. Voxes just sit in a mix so well

 

The AC15 tremolo is a thing of beauty — and I like having the Normal and Top Boost channels to choose between. So it would be AC15 over AC10 for me all day every day.

 

I haven't played the AC10 but I have often thought about selling my Ac15c1 to buy the ac15h or Ac30h.
I really like my Ac15c1 but the convenience and versatility of splitting the weight and using different sized cabs for smaller/ bigger venues would be great.

Edit: I almost always use the Normal channel (better with most pedals IMHO) so only having the TB channel would be a downgrade for me.

 

I love the AC10. It's a top boost only amp, if that's an issue. It is very sparkly and has a wonderful digital reverb. I sold my other amps when I got it. It sounds that good.

 

I'm selling my AC15C2. An AC10C1, while not a sure thing, is top of the list

 

This is purely my own opinion and experience and offered solely to put in your mixing pot for thought.

I have gigged, jammed practiced, and recorded with an AC30CCH (Head version) AC30 CC2x (Combo with 2x12 Cel Blues), an AC30 CC2 (Combo with 2 x 12 Wharfedales), and an AC4C1-12.

I have owned an AC15CC1x (Combo with 1x12" Cel Blue). An AC4TV head and TV Cab and I test drove relatively briefly an AC10.


- I REALLY didn't like the AC15, it had a doggy mid-crunch that just set my teeth on edge, sounding NOTHING like my AC30, and was onsold very quickly. Which may or may not be a great, sit in the mix type sound but I suspect not as good as the AC30, which is much more neutral to my ears and will sit in much more easily than the AC15 I tried.

- I back-to-back tested the 2 x AC30 combo's. With 2x12 Wharfedale and 2x12 Cel Blues. With a slight tweak of the tone knob they were virtually indistinguishable, so I sold the blue combo as it was worth considerably more money.

- The AC4TV was its own sound. Kind of like a nasty (50/50 good/bad kind of way...sort of cheap ac30) pretty boxy sounding. Probably sit in a live mix quite well if you could get it loud enough but too much of its own nasty character to be as neutral as an AC30 in the mix of recording. I liked mine until I got the AC30. Suddenly in comparison, I didn't.

- AC4C1-12, Is slightly boxy sounding but quite AC30 like apart from that. It plays well in a live mix and cuts through using the boxiness to its advantage. For recording the boxiness is a slight negative. However, I just recently ran this through my 2x12 speakers and it was WAY better and very AC30 top boost like. Probably work REALLY well with Cel Blue type IR's. I was gearing up to sell it but now I'm kind of torn, I REALLY liked it. When I finally get a Boss TAE I think it will work pretty well for recording.

- Ac10. I was really surprised how loud it was, it also seemed kind of too bright, very close to my AC30 but harsh bright and loud. I ended up thinking I may as well just keep the AC30. Admittedly it was new so the unbroken in speaker might have some influence. But it was to loud to be my "baby" AC30!

- My AC30CCH is the one that kills transformers if you use the standby switch so this and the fact they run "hot" making rectifier tubes only last a year two (apparently true to vintage form) gave them a bad name but lately I see a swing back towards them as being a bit more vintage sounding than the later C2 (factory fitted with Greenbacks), AC30 C2x (Cel Blues) and some of the handwired ones.



My suggestion is lookout for a used CC head or combo (Bloody heavy). They should be pretty cheap as they aren't sought after yet (if ever). Replace the rectifier tube up front. NEVER use the Standby switch (leaving it always on) and just turn it on and off with he power switch and you have a killer 2 channel amp with a great tremolo and reverb.

As I say, all my own opinion and I'm sure many will have alternative versions and experiences. Sorry for the length.

That said, I do get pretty bloody close with the HELIX so it seems silly to have the amps as well but nothing beats turning real knobs and cranking it through the 2x12 on occasion

 

No longer gigging, and the 2x12ac15 seems to be an amp that works best at a good volume. It's a bit lacking in bass for a home situation. I tried an ac10 about a year ago and it was fantastic at lounge room levels..

Might end up with something quite different though, won't start the search proper till I sell the 15.

AC15 has a killer tremolo in my opinion, I'll miss that

 

Bought an AC 15 Head last year in March, for satisfying my Beatles obsession.
At first I wasn't so impressed after about ten years if Princeton bliss at home.

But I really love it now. The build in attenuator with the middle position of 1,5 Watt is perfect for my home - playing.

Didn't use the Tremolo much, because my Line 6 Tremolo has so much more possibilities to offer. But Top boos and normal channel give a real range of options.

Sadly I haven't found a a way to really adjust the shape button, still working on that one.

From my Position as a Fender/ Marshall guy the AC 15 is a wonderful amp.

 

@Mad Kiwi, yeah those AC30CC amps were nice. I regret selling my a bit, but I couldn't afford to keep it with other amps coming in. Sold it pretty cheap, too - it wasn't an easy sale.

 

I really like having two channels on my AC15. The normal is perfect most of the time, but some guitars like the top boost channel (my Les Paul for example).

Plus, the two channel setup is surprisingly useful for guitar + vocals at a very small gig!

 

Good suggestion, but I am completely useless with anything hi tech. Computers and I don't get along so not gonna head down the IR path. Also, I don't want to throw too much money at any new setup for now, so spending AU400-500 on a used AC10 etc is all I'm planning on for now.

 

Hmm but what does all that plug into? I'm so clueless..