Vox Valvetronix amps

[johnn]

I got a Vox AD30 VT. It's small but powerful with a 11 amp sims and 11 effects. The ax7 output tube seems to be it's key to my leaving my Marshall slx 900 at home.

I have wished it had more foot control options for live, but now they have released a new version in October. It has more foot control and more sounds available. I haven't seen their new larger watt amps for sale yet. I'm thinking I might upgrade.

[DarkReality]

I gotta say! After purchasing this amp, I'm not a fan. I've owned it since March '08 and I've never been able to get good tone out of it. I'm pretty convinced that it's my guitar's humbuckers that just aren't flattering the tone. And after my research, the 10" speaker inside the amp is very unstable on all EQ spectrums. The highs are too harsh, sometimes fizzy on the hi-gain amp models, and the bass is just way too unruly and unfocused. The is decent but tone is obviously not only made of Mid. At the moment I'm looking into the Peavey Valveking Half-stack as my next amp or a Mesa-Boogie. But overall, I wish I had tried this amp in stores before just buying it online. The effects are quite cool though and are versatile enough. And a clean channel on this amp barely exists. But then again maybe it's my guitar. Just my opinion.

[P.P.T.]

I find them harsh sounding.

They also have too much mid-bass which muddys up the tone.
Many people take off the rear panel to let the speaker breath and they say that clears up the low end.

As usual, sound is personal.

[DarkReality]

I took off the rear panel on mine and even raised the speaker, and angled it, to be at ear level. Still not getting great tone myself. I find them really difficult to record with too. Sometimes when I feel I've gotten somewhat decent tone it's hard to find a good spot on the speaker to mic. So as was stated earlier, I'm not too happy with this amp. I've heard that if you get the AD50VT, it's a better investment. You get a 12" Celestion speaker and it comes with an external FX Loop, which would allow you to run an EQ pedal through.

[Meelo]

I can vouch for the AD50VT, though it has it's drawbacks just as well.

First off, no effects loop.
Second, if you intend to use it for high gain sounds - don't. It simply never, ever nails it.
Third, you do need to take the back off and bring it to ear level to get it sounding really 'right', but that's not much of a drawback as it is a requirement -
but then again, if you're looking for clean/crunch or have an external distortion pedal that does that high-gain for you, it's a brilliant amp.

The effects are all very usable, the tube is very well implemented in the system, it's very flexible and definitely carries it's own weight in a band.

I suppose you could go better with a genuine tube amp, but of all the vintage-cloning SS amps out there, this is by far the best i've tried.

[Jamie Garner]

I found there are a couple of things you can to to really turn the valvetronix's into much better amps-

First, ditch the speaker. They should be outlawed. An eminence 'lil buddy' hemp cone or copperhead will make it sound 100% better instantly. Remember to break the speaker in before passing judgement on it- except for the original speaker; judge away.

Second, replace the 12ax7 with a 5751. You can even spring for a NOS g.e. or sylvania for $20. I used to get the fizzies too, and by swapping to a tube with a lower gain stage the problem cleared up. If possible, get a balanced tube, as the vox is using both power sections of the tube.
If you can't/won't spring for a 5751, you can safely run a 12at7. It has the same result in regards to fizzies, is easy to find, but may reduce the gain too much for some people.

[Will Chen]

These amps seem to be hit or miss. People seem to love or hate them. I personally couldn't bond with the 30 watter I auditioned. Not a bad amp, the Vox models weren't too bad. Just definitly not for me. After a week of playing with it, it went back to the store.