Vox AC4TV

tried the ac4tv, at 4w its pretty loud and the cleans are very chimmy, but it doesn't break up much even when i crank the volume. but at 1w, the it crunch up nicely when u crank the volume. at 1/4w, when cranked its too muddy for my liking.

tried the nightrain too, it has more headroom and it was through the 12" cab, and yes it totally pawns the ac4 but the ac4 has only a 10" speaker, waiting for the ac4 head and 12" cab version to come and see if the ac4 will sound better with a bigger cab.

and the nightrain sounds best at full 15w,at 7.5w it just sounds weak.
 
I've been reading all the replies to the review that I wrote here and I will back up Ized's 2nd last comment. The AC4TV should never be compared with the Night Train. Both these amps are in completely different worlds of their own and its unfair to compare them both side by side. It would be fair, however, to compare the AC4TV against the Epiphone Valve Junior, Blackheart Little Giant and Fender Champion 600 as these are single ended Class A amps.

I hope I clear this up before anyone reading the comments above my post here gets the wrong idea.

sigh....looks like nobody is taking you seriously... :(
 
Ized: Looks like all my efforts have fallen on deaf ears. Sigh.

Ok, I shall say this again and for the last time for everyone's benefit.


The AC4TV should never be compared with the Night Train. Both these amps are in completely different worlds of their own and its unfair to compare them both side by side. I mean, AC4TV has 4 watts and Night Train has 15 Watts. Former has 1 12AX7 & 1 EL84 tubes while the latter has 2 12AX7 & 2 EL84. Now tell me, is it right to compare both these amps if u look at the features of each one of them? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. And besides, the AC4TV has a 1 X 10 inch speaker while the Night Train was played thru a 2 X 12 cab! So there. Speakers make a huge difference.

I hope I cleared it up for the last time. I don't want to see another comment of "the Night Train owns the AC4TV big time". It will surely sway away the keen readers who want to see a review of the AC4TV.

For those who still wanna talk about the NT, I suggest u climb aboard the Night Train and choo choo to ur next destination, guitar gear section, maybe? :p
 
i'd agree with faizal_rocks. Ac4TV will be good for apartments and getting the powertube crunch at lower volumes. I don't think you could crank the NT before the cops starts turning up. I could never get my TinyTerror to go above vol.1 in my apartment without an attenuator.

I have a TT with a THD Hotplate at the moment.
This brings to a question.. should I get an AC4tv? :mrgreen: since I could lug it from room to room.
 
Bro Faizal, have you tried Fender Champion 600? Which one better in term of value for sound , AC4TV or Champion 600? Thanks.
 
floydfloat,I've never tried the Fender Champion 600 but when comparing the features of both the Fender and the Vox, the Vox is a better choice cos of it versatility in controls and a 10 inch speaker, compared to the Fender's 6 inch speaker.
 
Ized: Looks like all my efforts have fallen on deaf ears. Sigh.

Ok, I shall say this again and for the last time for everyone's benefit.


The AC4TV should never be compared with the Night Train. Both these amps are in completely different worlds of their own and its unfair to compare them both side by side. I mean, AC4TV has 4 watts and Night Train has 15 Watts. Former has 1 12AX7 & 1 EL84 tubes while the latter has 2 12AX7 & 2 EL84. Now tell me, is it right to compare both these amps if u look at the features of each one of them? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. And besides, the AC4TV has a 1 X 10 inch speaker while the Night Train was played thru a 2 X 12 cab! So there. Speakers make a huge difference.

I hope I cleared it up for the last time. I don't want to see another comment of "the Night Train owns the AC4TV big time".

I think you cleared it up big time...some people think with their backside not their brains....lol :mrgreen:
 
I had the opportunity to test both the Night Train and the AC4, with their own respective cabs. After going through many amps over the years, both tube, solid state and hybrid, I just wanted to plonk my money down on a low wattage tube amp that can take high-gain pedals. I had that problem with my AC15 and AC30 where once I turned up the gain on my distortion pedals past 1 o'clock, they start to either squeal or shrill. I had an Epi Valve Jr head and cab that could take pedals but now I can't remember why I let it go.

Both amps, though belong in different classes of their own, are really impressive. Of course, like Faizal mentioned before, they cannot be compared with each other. But I figured since I rely on effects for my distortion needs anyway, I wasn't too concerned about the impressive gain on the NT, since it can't be activated with a footswitch. I was more concerned with a nice clean sound as a starting point. At $424 for the AV4HTV and V112 Cab, it was a steal!

Oh, and I don't know...I think the Night Train sounded better through the 2x12 V212BNX rather than it's own Celestion Green cab.
 
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AC4 with a tube change is even more impressive. The cleans have this distinctive Vox chime that dosent break up too quickly compared to most amps of its class.

The Night Train I would say is a better amp if you'r going for a more modern sound. It will definitely have more headroom due to its higher wattage so you can get some clean poweramp tones from it without the amp going into poweramp breakup.

Both are definitely worthy offerings from Vox :)
 
ized, i'm getting one finally.
can you tell me the differences between your modded one and a stock one? perhaps i wont need to mod mine and just leave it stock!
 
ized, i'm getting one finally.
can you tell me the differences between your modded one and a stock one? perhaps i wont need to mod mine and just leave it stock!

its always better to mod if you wanna maximise the potential of anything....For one, the low end will be tighter and Goose will replace the crappy attentuator that kills dynamics with a VVR thats keeps the amp's dynamics there at even the lowest volumes.

I cant comment on the final outcome of these yet though...cos Goose dosent have time to mod my amp for now.
 
sorry to interrupt, but what is VVR? i hate the built in attenuators too... thought of ordering some power scaling kit... any comments?
 
got the ac4tvh + cab today. i must say its a very nice sounding amp. great cleans.
dunno if its just me but the 10 inch combo version sounded very boxy for the lack of a better word as compared to the head + cab version which sounded alot more open. and personally i think its actually abit loud for a bedroom amp. esp on 4W setting. having said that a great amp still. i'd recommend this amp to anyone look for a low watt tube amp.
 
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