VHT Special 6

JonEthan

New member
I bought this little amp last week and i thought I'd share my view, in case someone else is interested in it.

http://www.vhtamp.com/avsp16h.html

Features:

I got the head+12"cab set from Davis Music for $300. Not to be confused with the Classic 6 (which is about twice the price), the VHT special 6 is a 6-watt single ended Class A tube amp with a 12AX7 pre-amp and 6V6 poweramp tubes. The head comes with a matching closed-back cabinet with a 12-inch, 16-ohm VHT chromeback speaker, and a footswitch for gainboost.

It's a very simplistic amp with just the following on the faceplace: 1 switch for power ON/OFF, 1 switch for HIGH/LOW/STANDBY, 1 Tone knob, 1 Volume know, 1 input jack for HI, and 1 for LO. The High-Low switch lets you switch between 6-watt and 3-watt (low power) setting. The Tone knob increases your mids, trebble, and presence. The HI input is used for most electric guitars, while the LO input injects more bass and decreases the volume abit, meant for high-output guitars.

The built is outstanding and very classy.

Raw Sound

First off, let me tell you that this amp is LOUD! Even on the low-power setting (3w) with volume at 3'oclock position, my wife is giving me the look. I'd say this is meant more for practice than in the bedroom. And with the gain boost ON, it is hella loud!

Ok, I've tested this out on my Ibanez S320 w/ PAF PRO neck and EVO bridge.

My first impression was, it was too bassy for H-H guitars. No wonder they always use single-coils in those video demos. But as I played with the volume and tone knobs, i've found some sweets spots that worked for me.

With the Tone at max and volume at 12o'clock, and guitar at either 4 or 5 position, it gives a very chimey tone reminiscent of Fender Amps. And with the Tone on 10 o'clock and Volume anywhere past 2'oclock gives a great VOX tone. Somewhat middy/trebly and has a crunchy mild distortion when you hit your strings hard. Great for classic rock and blues. And it cleans up well if you pull back on your guitar's volume.

Sounds w/ Effects

While the natural distortion is sweet, it is not possible to get hi-gain rock tunes out of it without your effects. So, i've plug in my Zoom GFX5 in front of the amp, the only effect I have right now. The GFX5 helps me lower down the bass a bit so I can play power chords on my neck PU without causing my glass divider to rattle.

At clean setting (EQ ON: bass G=2, Mid=1, Tre=7, Presence=7; all other effects OFF), the guitar sounded great. Chimey yet full. I feel though that it breaks up too early.

At midly driven (EQ ON: same as clean, DRIVE=Modern OD, Gain 5), the love the sound right at the point of break up. very warm and crunchy. Fit for blues!

At high distortion (EQ ON, DRIVE=Modern High Gain, Gain 15; REVERB=hall, DELAY=ON). When the amp is really cranked up, it gives a very open-sounding bass and brings out the harmonics. It could be the effect doing it, but I AB-ed it against a 25w solid state up and this sounded much nicer. Warm, smooth, and natural. Even my wife commented that it didn't sound harsh at all.

Conclusion

An all-tube stack at $300, great sounding cleans, warm drive, very simple controls.
Great for those just starting with tube amps.
More suitable for single-coils, but with an EQ effect, H-H will fit in well.
 
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oh and I forgot to mention that the board is eye-socketed (made in China) and hand-wired (in the US). It is great for modders.

Also, the head has 3 output sockets, 4ohms, 8ohms, and 16ohms. The cabinet also has another 16ohms output that you can plug to another cab.
 
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