Vox AC10C1 Owners Club

[Deneteus]

Speaker Choices

For months now, many of us have been talking about speaker choices for this amp. Up 'til now, there does not seem to be any clear "must have" speaker options. Part of this can be attributed to the wonky chassis arrangement that limits an aftermarket speaker to about 4-1/8" maximum depth without modifying the chassis or leaving the back open. Secondly, the Celestion VX10 is proving to be a very good "stock" speaker for this amp, with several owners even going back to it after trying a G10 Greenback, or similar.

After reading many forums, and speaking directly with WGS, Weber, and Celestion, here's what I have put down:

• No 10" alnico speakers from the major players will fit without modification.
• Anything deeper than 4-1/8" will need to move a transformer or modify the back panel.
• Weber recommends trying their DT10 but ask for the "Blue Pup cone and British dustcap"
• WGS recommends their Retro 10, but they do not provide the mounting depth to confirm it fits.
• Celestion recommends their G10N-40 as a slightly "beefier" option.
• It has been difficult to find the stock VX10 specifications, but Celestion provided them below.
• Many of the 10" British voiced ceramic options share very similar specs., so we may be down to personal preference.

View attachment 345842

I thought about starting a new thread for this, but figured the most owners would see this and chime in. So, please post your impressions, thoughts, and experiences here. The Weber seems to be good option, and they are very engaged with this amp and its chassis limitations. The G10 Greenback has its fans. I have not seen any reports for either of the WGS options, but the Retro 10 looks tempting. Post away and let's see what we can find.

- Bob

Maybe you should start a Vox AC10 Mods/Upgrades thread. For those that are more concerned with more than just owning one. '

And that's not true about one not fitting without modification because the Weber DT10 fits without modification. I just don't know what will happen with the magnet near that power transformer.

Also I would like to know what the Frequency Response curve is for the stock speaker vs the others.

 

[tarheelbob]

Maybe you should start a Vox AC10 Mods/Upgrades thread. For those that are more concerned with more than just owning one. '

And that's not true about one not fitting without modification because the Weber DT10 fits without modification. I just don't know what will happen with the magnet near that power transformer.

That's a good idea about a new thread. If we get a few hits here, I'll start one.

Well, I think my statement is still accurate. You are correct, the Weber DT10 does fit without modification, that's why Weber recommended it, but it is a ceramic magnet not an alnico. Still have seen, nor heard of, a 10" alnico that fits.

- Bob

 

[tarheelbob]

I have the Greenback 10, Not blown away by it, i prefer the stock however i bought the greenback so am giving it a good thrashing

This a very similar response I have seen from others making the swap. The specs of the VX10 and G10 Greenback are very similar, on paper. Would love to from anyone who has tried the higher wattage G10N-40 or the WGS Retro 10.

- Bob

 

[Deneteus]

I'll see if I can find a used G10N-40 to test. I'm not adverse to experimenting.

There is also the San Rafael from Tone Tubby that I was looking at when I was searching for alternatives.



Specifications:
Nominal Basket Diameter 10.2"
Nominal Impedance 8 or 16 ohms
Program Power 40 Wats
Rated Power 25 Watts
Sensitivity 96.4 dB
Magnet Weight 20 oz.
Coil Construction Copper
Coil Former Polyimide
Coil Diameter 1.5"
Magnet Composition Ferrite (Ceramic)
Core Details Vented
Basket Materials Pressed Steel
Cone Composition HEMP
Mounting Information:
Speaker Diameter 10.2"
Baffle Hole Diameter 9"
Mounting Holes Diameter 0.25"
Mounting Holes B.C.D 9.65"
Depth 4.38"
Net weight 5.4 lbs.

 

[tarheelbob]

Tone Tubbies have long intrigued me, especially their 12" offerings. The San Rafael at 4-3/8" mounting depth, though, is going to hit the chassis.

I love my AC10C1, but speaker replacement that is a true upgrade, is proving a challenge.

- Bob

 

[Deneteus]

Tone Tubbies have long intrigued me, especially their 12" offerings. The San Rafael at 4-3/8" mounting depth, though, is going to hit the chassis.

I love my AC10C1, but speaker replacement that is a true upgrade, is proving a challenge.

- Bob

I think the Weber DT10 or the DT10P is more than enough considering the price/performance difference. I think the tube vibration is going to be the kicker because you can move that power transformer anywhere. When my teflon dampers get it I'll let you know how much of a difference it made. I also ordered some of these larger ones.

Shouldn't any of the Fender/Jensen style Alnicos fit? They don't seem to have as much depth.

 

[scrumm21]

(...mods\upgrade thread is a good idea....)

Another Tube Update.... per my earlier post I am trying diff 12ax7's in V1....
Played with stock tubes for a week...then

1st swap - A Tungsol in v1, a JJ in v2, and matched\balanced Tungsol el84s in v3,4. ( Nice all round improvement)
Then after a week i did....

2nd swap - Dropped a Sovtek 12ax7-LPS into V2... def improvement over the jj (imo)
After playing w\this config for 2 weeks, yesterday I did....

3rd swap - swapped out the Tungsol in v1 with a Electro Harmonix - I like it so far, (I have seen others refer to a tube providing a 'creamier' sound...this comes to mind)

I will play this config for 2 weeks then try a swap with a Mullard I have into v1

( I too am interested in hearing any feedback on the G10N-40 speaker )

 

[tarheelbob]

scrumm,

Which preamp tube position are you calling V1 and V2? With the chassis layout, its confusing. I am going to try a NOS JAN 5751 in "V1" in place of one of the Tung Sol 12AX7's, just because I have one lying around. Normally I would consider V1 preamp the tube closest to the input. Is that your experience?

- Bob

 

[Deneteus]

Those are marked as V2 & V3 respectively. From the input jack side to the PT side when viewed from the front.

 

[scrumm21]

scrumm,

Which preamp tube position are you calling V1 and V2? With the chassis layout, its confusing. I am going to try a NOS JAN 5751 in "V1" in place of one of the Tung Sol 12AX7's, just because I have one lying around. Normally I would consider V1 preamp the tube closest to the input. Is that your experience?

- Bob

Bob,
Yes...the tube Nearest the Input plug is your 1st preamp tube... aka v1

 

[TucoTight]

I'll bet that Bogner sounds good with it! The cool thing about getting a new amp is that it redefines the role of all those pedals you already have.

With a Tele-style axe, the Wampler Paisley Drive does an amazing job of approximating the amp's overdrive. Great for bedroom-volume playing or recording.

Interesting. Well, I will give it some time with the stock tubes and that is always an option down the road if I feel it is missing something.

Played with it some more, probably tried about 6 different guitars and a dozen or so pedals. The results were mixed - Tubescreamers and other overdrives like the Wampler Euphoria generally sounded great. Because it's a true tube/valve amplifier (unlike my SCX2, which is mostly DSP in the front end), it responds awesome to boosters and gain pedals that just push it a little further.

Other pedals of the high gain variety (the Wampler Pinnacle, for example), seemed a little less effective. It got really bright and the gain structure was a little messier. Hard to describe, but it was just a different result than I had using it into Fender amps.

What are you guys doing with your EQ controls on the amp when you play direct? I always start at 5 and try to stay close to there if I can, even though there's no practical reason to have to do that. Got some nice sounds with a Strat running Bass at 6.5 and Treble at 6, but it's pretty hard to make it ever sound bad with a Strat.

 

[Scaper2014]

For those that want a size comparison on the ac10 and ac15, heres a pic.

 

[grolan1]

Brown truck just stopped by about an hour ago with my special package. Nice looking amp, even better sounding! Like most of the Vox line can be a bit full on the treble side of things but can easily be trimmed down a bit. Beautiful Vox tones out of it.. being a smaller amp very surprising the tone and volume you can get out of this little beauty. Well worth the price... no rattles, full not flubby bass, mid's full and wonderful, highs that cut through without taking your head off. I can't believe the fullness from the low end to the high.. very well Voxy balanced. If you are thinking about these, I can highly recommend them.

You should hear this amp in a full sized 2x12 16 ohm cabinet... WOW even better... this amp is so giggable it's not funny.

 

[grolan1]

For those that want a size comparison on the ac10 and ac15, heres a pic.

Interested in hearing what you think of the differences between the AC15 and the AC10 since you have both....

 

[Scaper2014]

Interested in hearing what you think of the differences between the AC15 and the AC10 since you have both....

They both sound lovely. The AC10 is no baby imo its pure vox and does it wonderfully.

Build quality on the ac10: tbh i think its a big naff inside the guts, more effort could of been made here.

The AC15: feels a good enough leap up in quality the physical size and look of the amp just screams its own VOX statement. Its flippin gorgeous! It holds its own and the extra size is mint looking. The weight i personally dont see as that bad 22kg is enough but its manageable
Because of the size/shape of the cab/amp

Overall both nice amps, if you want to own something lush/better quality get the AC15.

If you want cute and baby looking and super portable go the AC10

Overall the AC10 can seriously hang in volume alongside the ac15, do not discount it its loud if it needs to be! And bassy when dialed and ridin' it open a bit! The reverb on the AC10 although digital is better/more useable than the ac15. Currently limited in speaker choices. Very simple dials

The AC15: well its an AC15 what needs to be said? Its got more balls than the other. And your not limited on speaker choices. Has a bigger sense of openess.

They are both great amps. The AC10 can do VOX well, the AC15 can do it all

 

[Rowrx1]

Today I swapped out the stock speaker in my ac10 for a Celestion greenback. It does sound better, but not a big difference. A little more definition, clarity. I think others have said the same.
Maybe it will improve as it gets broken in.

 

[Scaper2014]

Today I swapped out the stock speaker in my ac10 for a Celestion greenback. It does sound better, but not a big difference. A little more definition, clarity. I think others have said the same.
Maybe it will improve as it gets broken in.

Give it a week or so, stick the stock back in and you may go "oh wow" just like i did. because the stock is perfectly fine

 

[dbf62]

I ordered a Tan AC10C1 which arrived yesterday. It was used from a GC store up north. I had talked to the store manager and he assured me that he personally had checked out the amp and everything was perfect... ;-)

When I got home last night I opened it up to make sure that everything was in place and to see what was there. It looked as if it had not been opened before - original china made tubes and all connectors in place but I reseated everything just to be sure.

I bolted it back together, pluged it in and turned it on to let it warm up. After about a minute or so it started making a ringing sound, nothing plugged in and all controls at 0. The ringing was very persistent. I found that I could modulate the sound just by touching the cabinet. This was one of the most dramatic cases of Power Tube microphonics that I have ever seen. The whole cabinet was ringing and feeding back through the EL84s.

So I tried a few things to make it stop and found after turning it on and off a few times it stopped. But I found I could start it up again by just touching the cabinet. Eventually after 5 minutes or so it subsided.

So I plugged in my Tele and started playing at low volume. There was an extreme amount of tube rattle and a loud whooshing sound on the tail of most notes. Then it started cutting out a bit - ultrasonic oscillations swamping the whole amp.

On some single notes played on the low E string I get a ring modulator effect and some of them produce 1 or 2 octave down ghost notes. Cool effect but not really what I was looking for.

I don't blame the amp itself - I've played a couple of them over the last few months and they sound fantastic even in stock form. There is no way that this amp was "fully checked out" before it was shipped to me. It has numerous problems all of which can possibly be attributed to the tubes in it.

Now I planned to swap the tubes in it all along so tonight that is my plan. We'll see how it goes. I've got lots of Older US made EL84s as well as some Mullard and Tung-Sol RI, TAD, etc. I've also got a bunch of old and new 12AX7s I've collected over the years. Any of them should remedy most if not all of these issues - at least I'm hoping so.

Worst case, I will take it back to my local GC and get a refund or pay the difference for a new one.

 

[Siddhartha]

I ordered a Tan AC10C1 which arrived yesterday. It was used from a GC store up north. I had talked to the store manager and he assured me that he personally had checked out the amp and everything was perfect... ;-)
.......

Now I planned to swap the tubes in it all along so tonight that is my plan. We'll see how it goes. I've got lots of Older US made EL84s as well as some Mullard and Tung-Sol RI, TAD, etc. I've also got a bunch of old and new 12AX7s I've collected over the years. Any of them should remedy most if not all of these issues - at least I'm hoping so.

Worst case, I will take it back to my local GC and get a refund or pay the difference for a new one.

Let me know how it works out. I too bought a tan from GC and disappointed with the low notes tailing rattle. Tried the Tube Dampers, they had minimal effect. I ordered some JJ's and TungSols, they are on their way and hoping that improves things. Besides the rattle, I love this amp.

 

[dbf62]

Update:

I spent a couple of hours last night rolling known good tubes through this amp. 11 different 12AX7 (Blackburn Mullard, RCAs, Amperex, TungSol RI, Mullard RI, Sovteks, JJs, etc.) and 4 pairs of EL84s (Sovteks, TungSol RI, Blackburn Mullards, TADs). I didn't try every single combination but probably over 20 of them. Every one of these tubes test good and sound excellent in other amps.

Results:

The Power tube microphonics problem went away with all sets of EL84s. The ringing even with volume and gain at 0 was gone. No appreciable tube rattle either.

However, the amp is still having some oscillation problems and there is a very loud crackling and popping in the preamp. This noise (like bacon frying) appears almost exactly the same regardless of which tube combinations are used. It is faint when the volume and gain are at 0 but gets very loud when those controls are turned up. This is definitely caused by some noisy components, oscillations, or possibly bad coupling caps passing DC (the volume and gain pot were kind of noisy as well), This amp has some problems far beyond the microphonic crappy stock tubes.

So this morning I made my way up to a GC in my area that had a tan AC10C1 in stock. I played it for about 30 minutes in the store and it exhibits none of the problems of mine. Actually, I powered it up in a quiet room and was just barely able hear the power tube microphonic feedback via the speaker and cabinet. It is up around 500 Hz and is not normal hum. There is definitely a resonance going on with these amps and having the power tubes sitting 1/4" away from the speaker brings it out. It is really faint and goes away when the amp is touched or even leaned back against something. Again, I plan to change out the power tubes anyway.

The guys at GC were absolutely great - they exchanged my amp for the new one in the store. So I am finally the owner of a working AC10C1 in cool Tan color.

I'll probably replace the EL84s with TungSol RIs (the Blackburn Mullards go back in my Marshall 1974x 18w) and play with the pre-amp tubes a bit to see if there is any significant differences. I may upgrade the speaker at some point but I would like to wait to hear from a few more folks on the Weber DT10/Pup cone...