Vox AC15 vs Vox AC30

[Gr8tfulEd]

Okay Class "A" tonehounds,
I know next to nothing about Vox amps (being primarily a Fender/Rivera guy),
but have caught myself eyeing the AC15s and AC30s of late.

However, I'm unclear (other than wattage) what the difference is between these two amps, especially tone wise. I'm primarily a blues, jam, Dead, some country kind of player. I use mostly single-coils.

Any comparative notes or recommendations between these two animals?

Thanks!

 

[Paul in Colorado]

I own an AC-15. What I love about it is that it breaks up as it gets louder, but in a very smooth way. It's a great sounding lead amp when I turn down the master and crank the preamp gain. The AC-30 has more headroom but has the same kind of voice. I think of it as an Alt. Country amp.

I play a lot of the same music as you and also have a Rivera and Fender amps. When I play in jam bands or play Dead music, I tend to use a Bandmaster Reverb or Dual Showman Reverb with a 2 X 12" cab with JBL's.

One night I decided to bring my most "un-Jerry" rig which was a P-90 Les Paul, a Space Echo and the AC-15. It was totally different sounding, but the guys I played with loved it. I've done a few gigs with a DR and the AC-15 using an A/B box to switch, but it's usually too much effort or takes up too much real estate on stage.

 

[KC]

haven't played an AC15 much but I did pick up an AC30 when they were blowing out the 1x12 version last year ($629 shipped!). It's an awful lot of amp for the money, pretty versatile-sounding, a lot of tone-shaping options and the master volume / half-power switch makes it usable at lower volumes.

That said, though, it's kind of a beast, pretty big, loud and heavy. Sounds great when you can crank it but it's pretty loud when you do. I'd play any kind of gig with this. But for home, practice, small gig use, the AC15 might be a better choice.

 

[JohnnyCrash]

1. They're not exactly true Class A. They are biased hot though.
2. The AC15 will have more compression and grit than the AC30 with less headroom.

 

[Low4]

It can depend on which AC15 and AC30 you're talking about, too. I've had a UK AC15 TBX for seven years. At the time, the UK AC15 used the "brilliant" channel of the AC30, had reverb and a master volume, and a 5Y3 rec. The AC30 of that era didn't have reverb or a master volume, and had a GZ34 rec. The super-spendy handwired AC30's Korg put out a couple of years ago had a master volume and reverb, if I remember correctly.

With the current AC30 and 15, I think they each have reverb and master volume. I think I read someplace that the current 15 has both 16 and 8 ohm speaker outs. I'm sure mine's just got the single 8 ohm out.

I yanked the reverb out of mine. It's plenty loud. The variety of sounds you can get out of the amp simply by playing with the preamp volume, master volume, and interactive treble and bass control is amazing.

Greg

 

[Wayne Alexander]

If you're talking about the current-production AC15CC and AC30CC amps, assuming you get the Celestion Blue speakers in both of them (a must for the normal, classic Vox tone and feel), then the core tone is pretty similar. The AC15 has two less power tubes and less headroom, is good for a small to medium club unless you need to play LOUD and CLEAN. The AC30 has, aside from more headroom and bass response from more power tubes, speakers and a bigger cabinet, a lot of tone-shaping options that the AC15 doesn't. You can switch between higher and lower filter cap values, and hotter versus less hot bias, you have the normal channel (darker, cleaner) and the top boost channel (that's louder and has tone controls, the same channel that is the only channel on the AC15). Both have very good master volume controls, ok reverb that can be improved greatly by swapping the reverb tank to an Accutronics ($25), and pretty good tremolo. The AC30 also has the cut control, which darkens the overall tone, handy for adjusting the amp to a particular environment. If you just want great Vox tone, at moderate volume, and you'd rather have the smaller lighter (50 pounds) amp, the AC15 is spectacular. If you want the additional tone shaping and headroom of the AC30, go for that. It's very heavy, over 70 pounds.

PS: Later this summer Vox will release the Heritage AC15, which is handwired (both the CC's are circuit board amps, though very good ones), and has two channels - one is the early circuit with the EF86 preamp tube, very gainy and rich sounding, the other is the top boost circuit (12ax7 based) like the current AC15CC. I don't think these will have a master volume, but they're a very good deal for a boutique handwired amp.

 

[Gr8tfulEd]

Thanks all for the input. From everything that's been said, I think I'll focus on the AC15. The new AC15 that Mr. Alexander mentioned sounds interesting. Hmmm. Is it g.a.s.sy in here, or is it just me?

 

[telerocker5150]

my vote is for the ac30. the ac15 dont get very loud and arent punchy enough for me.

 

[Tim Bowen]

As per usual with this subject, Wayne nails it.

My comments are in reference to the KORG reissue AC30 and AC15 that I own, both of which are about ten years old.

Firstly, my opinion is that these amps are less than they can be with anything other than Celestion Blue speakers; unfortunately, these are expensive.

The wattage/output/headroom thing has always been a bit of a dilemma for me with classic British EL84 designs, but I'll try to cut to the chase: regardless of the type of music I'm playing, an AC15 has never been enough amp to fill the bill for needed range of tones and headroom for me (and neither has been a Fender Deluxe). When I gig an AC15, I usually pair it with a brown or black Deluxe - the combination is more than plenty, and it sounds fabulous. On the other hand, an AC30 is a behemoth, it's quite loud. I need a large venue or an outdoor affair to justify carrying this amp. It sounds anemic at low volumes, but when you can open it up a bit, nothing's finer.

A couple of other thoughts about my KORG amps. I find the trem on the AC15 to be infinitely more useful than that of the AC30 (the classic 30 circuit has a specific trem/vibrato "channel", whereas my AC15 incorporates this effect more like a Fender amp does). My AC30 doesn't have a reverb circuit; the reverb on the AC15 won't make Dick Dale and Ventures freaks jump up and down, but it's decent and useful. I'm not a fan of master volumes on amps, but the master on the 15 is among the most useful that I've played; the gain taper is smooth and predictable, and because the amp doesn't have loads of bass response anyway, you don't get the anemic lower volume tones that you do from a 4 x EL84, 2 x 12 master volume amp.

Not that anybody asked, but a few thoughts on matching VOX amps up with dirt pedals. They're quite picky, particularly if you require higher gain. The best combination that I've personally found has been to push the amp toward mild breakup and pair it with either a Prescription Electronics "Germ" or a Crowther Audio "Hotcake". I will say that I've found VOX amps to be more forgiving and less difficult to mate with additional gainers than some of the boutique offerings that are inspired by or based upon this circuit, such as Top Hat and Dr. Z.

 

[Gr8tfulEd]

Excellent information ya'll. Thanks!

 

[marshman]

Great stuff. And I have been gassing an AC of some sort for a few weeks now. But I've had a few questions.

First--if there is one word that EVERYONE uses when describing the AC30 it's "LOUD". I know the power output ain't there, but are we talkin' Twin loud here?

Second: What the blue blazes is up with Vox and the Blues? I can order Blues from several sources for @ $250, why is it a $300 upcharge to get them in a new CC? Are they trying to drive people away?

 

[Wayne Alexander]

As to volume, an AC30 with the Blue speakers won't play as clean as the twin, but at full output (the AC30 will have glorious overdrive, the Twin won't) the AC30 is close to the same volume.

As to the speakers, who knows? If you want, buy an AC15 or AC30 with Wharfedales, sell or keep them, and buy the Blues from Avatar.

 

[marshman]

I guess it just seems to me that Vox (Korg, yeah?) is asking us to pay for the Blues, AND the Wharfdales AND a US$50 surcharge to get the Blues installed.

Or am I just being unreasonable?