vox ac4

cheacher · Post by **cheacher** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:55 pm

can anybody tell me about these amps, and about how they compare to the TT? i've seen a few demos of them on youtube and they sound decent. any forum members got 1?

my thoughts are to sell my tt and pick 1 of these up. ac15 is also an option!

Thinline_slim · Post by **Thinline_slim** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:01 pm

The AC4 is a cool little amp but it's just that. A little amp. I had one for a brief period of time and it sounded great in my music room and had a good deal of tonal options for a 4W. But I do practice with a band and gig regularly and there's no way the AC4 would do what I need an amp to do in those situations. You could mic at a gig but it would be cranked and there wouldn't be any clean headroom.

So it would come down to this:

How much clean head room do you need?

What's the loudest situation you'd be in?

For me, the TT kills the AC4 in tone and application. I've also heard great things about the AC15 and honestly the TT and AC15 are very gig worthy amps for me. I'd never replace either of those with an AC4. But I'd consider also owning an AC4 for the cool low key and recordable tones.

cheacher · Post by **cheacher** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:09 pm

ok i dont gig, im a bedroom player, im struggling with the TT simply because its too loud to play. i have cranked it about 3 times and loved it, but unfortunately thats not practical where i live now. what im looking for is decent tones at moderate volumes..... i know the TT is capable of this but its 1 decent tone and thats it. i was thinking ac 4 simply because of its power switching, and the fact it may take pedals well.

mr_william · Post by **mr_william** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:29 pm

i recently picked up a laney lionheart 20 and thats a great amp!... i picked mine up used for £280, which is cheaper than i got my TT for!

it LOVES pedals!

i too am currently confined to the bedroom, however i make do with it...

there is a 5 watt offering, with a 12" speaker which i can only imagine sounds awesome!

there isn't loads of gain on tap but its plenty for rock and blues - a boost works nicely (i've used a catalinbread silverkiss among others and the bass knob on that helps make it sound huge at low volumes!)

they're quite expensive new, however if your patient there could be an awesome deal to be had if your going used.

the other popular choice for features with a low watt is the blackstar ht1 or ht5

Where abouts are you based? i'm right in thinking you're English?

indianDYsummer · Post by **indianDYsummer** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:50 pm

I had a Vox ac4 for a while. It's a nice sounding amp, but even too loud for bedroom use (on .25W setting). It's hard to get it pushed into it's best crunch zone at low volumes. I would shop around and try to find one in a store to test out.

If I was looking for another low cost/wattage head, I may give the blackstar HT-1 a whirl. 1W with master volume controls should be great for a bedroom. The lil night train will probably be more usable at low volume as well.

leopoldbloom · Post by **leopoldbloom** » Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:55 pm

For home practice AC4 is great, but you'd better consider using it with some pedals or a multiFX unit. I found out it is surprizingly good for heavier tones. It's not half as good as a TT IMO. TT has richer organic tone, but if you cannot crank it...

I would also consider a Champ XD if I already had a cab.

the_blue_bomber · Post by **the_blue_bomber** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:09 am

If you need lower volume, I recommend a solid state amp. Tube amps are loud, even at fractions of a watt of output, and most don't sound their best at lower volumes, regardless of the wattage.

jason41224 · Post by **jason41224** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:22 am

or you should grab an attenuator and see if that helps.
also getting a less efficient speaker for the TT (maybe a Greenback) would probably help a little bit.

savage8190 · Post by **savage8190** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 3:09 am

I love Vox...but I wasn't a fan of the AC4. I dunno, maybe it was the single 10" speaker. Just didnt work for me.

I have an AC30, and the master volume works very well, but I dont think any tube amp is gonna work for very low volume. If you REALLY wanna be quiet you could always go the headphone/modelling route.

cheacher · Post by **cheacher** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:54 am

some excellent suggestions guys! never thought about changing the speaker. how would this help? i really dont want to get rid of the TT as i know what its capable of, but i do like the sound of the AC series of amps too. ideally i would have both! TT and ac15/30!!

i actually just picked up a vox "classic rock" amplug, what a great sound off of it. really surprised. also got a drum machine app on my phone and can put it into the amplug and jam away! brilliant!

edit: im in the uk, yes. but not english! i'm scottish!

Les Paul Lover · Post by **Les Paul Lover** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 12:17 pm

The problem with valve amps is that you crank them..... and then you wanna crank them again...!!!!!

I wasn't overly impressed by the AC4 when I tried it - I thought the lowest wattage setting (0.25W?) was poor, the rest didn't make that much difference.
Volume wise, a 2W is bloody loud already.

Got an AD5, it's a brilliant piece of kit, but can hardly recommend that for quiet practice - unless you play it with the volume on 1, totally clean. Push it a hair above that, it start to break up (beautifully, might I add) and is getting very loud.

It'll be good for you depending on wichi room you play in. I'm lucky with the room set up in my house, it causes next to no issues with neighbrours/wife.

Thinline_slim · Post by **Thinline_slim** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:33 pm

If you're really looking for a great bedroom amp I would highly recommend one of the many amp modeling amps out there. I had a Vox AD30vtx (I think) and it sounded great. It's for the most part a solid state amp so you can get great tones a very low volumes, plus it has a headphone jack.

Little amps I would consider:
Vox vtx
Tech21 Trademark
Roland cube series

Those would have many tones with some effects built in.

I have played the crush series with effects but they aren't on par with the ones above, in my opinion.

nguideau · Post by **nguideau** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:44 pm

I have an AC4 (w/ 10" speaker) and really like it.

The 4W setting is too much to crank at home, but provides a nice chimey clean to mess around with a pedal or two and moderate volumes.

The 1W setting is (for me) perfect at home between noon and 2-o-clock on the dial -- but based on the other responses in this thread, I think I'm in the minority here. It's definitely "loud" -- you wouldn't play it with someone sleeping in the next room -- but I can easily play it at home without disturbing someone watching TV or reading in another room. Even when I lived in a flat and had neighbors upstairs, I'd play on this setting so long as it was before dark.

The 1/2W setting is good for if you want to dime it, or if you want to play after dark. Honestly, I find the 1/2W setting to really only be best for playing later when you need it quieter, not for diming it for full on crunch. The attenuation soaks enough of the presence and roundness out of the tone that anything above maybe 1-o-clock on the dial starts to sound suffocated more than anything. A better preamp valve might solve this, but for what the AC4 is, I haven't really cared to experiment with that.

The AC4 is a very affordable amp and I recommend it to someone in your situation. But, I wouldn't recommend selling the TT. I'd encourage just saving for the AC4. The TT is overall a better sounding amp, and on the 7W setting will probably give you more open, bedroom-level cleans to play with than the AC4. Between the two amps, you'd have pretty much all your at-home playing covered, as well as the ability to crank the TT when nobody's home, or if you ever jam with a friend.

EDIT:

Also, if you have the TT head and a cab, then the AC4 head makes a lot of sense. You'll get a more open sound out of the AC4 going into a 12" speaker, the head is cheaper than the combo, and then it makes it real easy to switch between the TT and AC4, more justifiable to keep both.

Daves · Post by **Daves** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 2:17 pm

Matamp Minimat? Hand wired/built, and there is one with reverb and a bit of headroom apparently. There are a couple of different types available, some with more gain stages.

cheacher · Post by **cheacher** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 4:01 pm

nguideau wrote:I have an AC4 (w/ 10" speaker) and really like it.

The 4W setting is too much to crank at home, but provides a nice chimey clean to mess around with a pedal or two and moderate volumes.

The 1W setting is (for me) perfect at home between noon and 2-o-clock on the dial -- but based on the other responses in this thread, I think I'm in the minority here. It's definitely "loud" -- you wouldn't play it with someone sleeping in the next room -- but I can easily play it at home without disturbing someone watching TV or reading in another room. Even when I lived in a flat and had neighbors upstairs, I'd play on this setting so long as it was before dark.

The 1/2W setting is good for if you want to dime it, or if you want to play after dark. Honestly, I find the 1/2W setting to really only be best for playing later when you need it quieter, not for diming it for full on crunch. The attenuation soaks enough of the presence and roundness out of the tone that anything above maybe 1-o-clock on the dial starts to sound suffocated more than anything. A better preamp valve might solve this, but for what the AC4 is, I haven't really cared to experiment with that.

The AC4 is a very affordable amp and I recommend it to someone in your situation. But, I wouldn't recommend selling the TT. I'd encourage just saving for the AC4. The TT is overall a better sounding amp, and on the 7W setting will probably give you more open, bedroom-level cleans to play with than the AC4. Between the two amps, you'd have pretty much all your at-home playing covered, as well as the ability to crank the TT when nobody's home, or if you ever jam with a friend.

EDIT:

Also, if you have the TT head and a cab, then the AC4 head makes a lot of sense. You'll get a more open sound out of the AC4 going into a 12" speaker, the head is cheaper than the combo, and then it makes it real easy to switch between the TT and AC4, more justifiable to keep both.

i have the TT combo 12. you are spot on on what you are saying. i would be foolish to sell the TT as i do really like it. ye i think if i was gonna go for an ac4 i could just get the head and run it thru the TT speaker (i hope).
as far as the solid state amps mentioned, yes that is an option i suppose. seems like a step down to me tho, i know that sounds snobbish but there you go.

oh! shame on me for not considering an ad5! as punishment i will go out and get very drunk tonight!

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