Vox AD15VT Valvetronix

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 10
I don't own one of these. I just played a gig through a borrowed one. However, on the night there was too much choice on offer. I just settled for the AC15 and Marshall Major models and used the guitar's volume control. Pretty responsive.

Sound Quality: 8
Played a rock/ pop gig with it, hence wish for cleanish sounds with a bit of filth here and there. Did deliver it up.
Pre gig did a bit of fiddling around with the other settings and they were nice sounding. The problem I found was that with some of the high gain settings that were meant to model large stacks (like Rectifier and Marshall) it'd sound like you were running a head into a small cabinet that started to rattle around all over the place. The quality of the combo models more than makes up for this anyway, so it's not a problem to my ears. If I had one of these I'd hardly ever use the metal type settings. But buyer beware. If you want the heavy stuff try and judge before you buy.

Reliability: N/A
Can't say over time, but it got me thorugh the gig okay.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 8
Good fun and a useful gigging and recording tool if you need variety. I suppose my experience of playing with this was like the person whose just bought it: You go through a wild honeymoon period, overjoyed and overwhelmed at at the quality and variety of sounds on offer.

As mentioned, I only borrowed this amp so I can't tell if the honeymoon period would last with me. Pretty quickly I honed in on the sounds I needed and stuck with them.
k aod looproduct. I've got all the effects I want and they're better than the generic- but truly excellent- stuff on offer here. I know the key three or four sounds I like and use and this amp more or less delivers them. But I'd recommend that you have a look at this amp if you want a serious 'one size fits all' amp that is superb value for money.

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/05/2006 02:16

Price Paid: 134 (euro) used

Features: 9
Its pretty versatile! Lots of Sounds in this little Cabinet!!!

Sound Quality: 10
Bought this Combo used over ebay. As I had the Pathfinder 15 for years, and knew, that vox is able to build good amps, I was wondering, what improvements vox could bring in such a little
Cabinet. I use a Fender Strat USA Standard, and a Vision Strat Copy, which is very cheap (50.- Euro) I couldn-t believe it first, what I heard. The Vox Valvetronics can do the tube Thing. This is no joke. What I like most, is the AC 30 Model, the clean sound is awesome, and the crunch sounds also. This amp rocks! It has a drive, you will not believe your ears. While playing I always was askin myself:
Can this little Speaker bring out such a full sound? This is a sound Monster! Whitout doubt. I got it for 134 Euro. Its really worth 200.-or more! Its the best practise amp I-ve ever had. Second best ist my
pathfinder, but its not so versatile. The AD15vt is astonishing loud!
The wood its made of, seems not so sturdy. In comparison to my pathfinder 15, which is a very good amp, (bout 130 Euro new) I can say: Buy the Valvetronix. Great sparkling tube Sounds and Clean Sounds you have always dreamed about! I enjoy it very much. Its hard, to stop playing. I-d buy it again in a moment.
wiedema

Reliability: 7
Seems not as sturdy, as I would like to have it.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
It's phantastic. Full tone. And: Its full of Quality tones. Effects
are good and useable. This amp can replace a tube amp. Instead of that you get a lot of tube amps in one Combo. No joke.

Submitted by wiedema at 12/26/2005 07:18

Price Paid: US $167

Features: 8
I bought this new recently (2005) for a practice amp for my daughter and me. It models various older amps, and has built in effects. It has a preamp tube in, but is solid state otherwise. We use it at home, and it's plenty loud for that, but I doubt it would be suitable for gigging with a full band.

Sound Quality: 7
The amp is pretty versatile, as promised. I think most of the settings sound surprisingly good for the price and size of the amp. It has a model setting for "UK 80's", which I assume is supposed to sound like a Marshall JCM 800 of the era -- I have one of those too, and they really don't sound the same, but the Vox does sound interesting and good. I suppose the one tube helps, but it's evident that this is a solid state amp, albeit an unusually good-sounding one. I don't like the effects much, but then I never really liked digital effects, which I assume they are. Some of them are fun, like the "auto-wah".

Reliability: N/A
No real opinion here, because I've only had it a few months, and it's been safley at home the whole time. No problems yet, though.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with the company, or considered the warranty

Overall Rating: 8
This is a great value for a small practice amp, and I highly recommend it.

Submitted by antichef at 12/23/2005 20:43

Price Paid: $450.00 (Australian)

Features: 8
we know that by now

Sound Quality: 6
Good clean sounds but very hard to find a good distortion sound, I am playing Gibson and Fender and the guitars get lost in this amp. The effects are not the best but are useable. The modelling factor is somehow a nice tool for practise at home but I would not gig with it. I still think it's one of the best bedroom amps out there for the money.

Reliability: 7
8 monyh old, so far so good

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 7
As I said, good amp for the money but do not expect too much from it

Submitted by norm at 12/23/2005 17:15

Price Paid: US $175.00

Features: 8
Everyone's posted the features already so I'm not going to regurgitate it back. Lots of features. Takes awhile to get used to the tweaking.

Sound Quality: 7
Sounds are decent. Lots of effects to work with. Headphones to practice without driving people crazy. It's not tube quality but it's decent.

Reliability: 3
Well...it was great for the short period of time I was able to use it. It's weird in that sometimes the amp just doesn't work right away. Sometimes I just have to fiddle with it a bit to get it to work. One day, I went to practice a bit. Whipped out my guitar and plugged the guitar cable in and jammed on it. Afterwards, I unplugged the guitar cable and guess what? The guitar input broke and fell into the amp leaving a little hole there. I suppose I'm going to have to open it up and try and fix it. Cheapo stuff.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't talked to them yet. Going to try and fix the guitar input myself. Otherwise, I'm going to try to take it back to the shop and exchange it but the shop I bought it from kind of stinks. They have a 3-day cash refund policy. I'm not sure what their policy is on exchanges.

Overall Rating: 5
Wasn't happy with the purchase. I guess you get what you pay for. I'm in need of a good practice amp and leaning towards one of those nifty low wattage all-tube amps. Maybe a Little Lanilei, Bumbox, Zvex Nano or Gilmore Jr.

Submitted by MoRawk at 12/19/2005 21:28

Price Paid: US $60.00

Features: 9
this is the latest practice amp out by vox the ad15 valvetronix ..it has one channel 11 amp models from clean , to down n dirty rectifiers, and marshall distrtion...and all the effects you need for almost any musical situation...i walked into a pawn shop to get something else , and saw this little thing sitting down on the floor...picked it up for $60.00 , in almost new condition and took it back to my place.when i plugged it straight into a slave p.a. , and then into a randall 4 x 12 cabinet, i was blown away!!! i thought vox amps were tinny stale outdated brit tone boxex??? this little thing surprised me...

Sound Quality: 10
i use a epihone les paul copy ,and and ibanez les copy , and a epiphone semi hollowbodyw/bigbsy trem...i plugged it in and hid it behind the 4 x 12 cabinet and called some old buddys to come by and jam...played for about an hour before they caught on to this little amp...none could beleive all those amps and effects were coming out of this little 15 watt vox!!! now they all want one!! ive owned many marshall tube amps,carvin tube amps{rule!}, and tons of solid state crap...this thing has some pretty convincing amp models ...most people wouldnt now the diffrence, i would use this live!!

Reliability: N/A
built like all other vox amps , sturdy and kinda dated looking , but.....im in love now! gotta get the advt 60 watt next!!!and the matching 4 x 12w/ celestions!!

Customer Support: N/A
not had to deal with em, hope i never do! i guess korg/ marshall owns them now???!!

Overall Rating: 10
pick one of these babys up at a pawn shop near you!!! okay , i originally bought this for my daughter to play with , but it never made it to her, i got greedy!!!unless your a true tube amp tone purist{snob}, you will be near that tone heaven , and closer to your goal of acheiving the perfect tone with one of these babys!!! check it out man!!

Submitted by big daddy at 12/18/2005 23:18

Price Paid: US $179.00

Features: 10
This little amp has many bells and whistles. It has a tube preamp, but I beleive the power amp is solid state. It's versatile and could be used for virtually any kind of music. I generally use the clear sounds with reverb (surf music style), but it can get a myriad of overdriven sounds (from blues to metal.) I use it for recording and practice. It has a selector for amp modelling and another for effects, which allows for a very versatile sound.

Sound Quality: 10
The sound quality is excellent. I use it mostly with a Strat. I've never had this little amp's volume past the mid-point. It's plenty loud at that setting for around the house, but I've never gigged or used this amp with a band.

Reliability: 2
This is one area I've had problems. In about 3 or 4 months the effects module went out. I took it back to Century Music where I bought it, where it stayed for about a month. I kept getting the run-around with them. I'd call, one guy would say it was fixed, I'd drive 15 miles to get there to find out from another guy it wasn't fixed. Finally, I bitched at 'em enough they just gave me another AC15 VT Valvetronic amp, which I'm still using without any problems for about 5 or 6 months now. The tech was never able to solve the effects problem on the original.

Customer Support: N/A
I didn't deal with VOX directly.

Overall Rating: 7
I've been playing for about 25 years. I own or have owned crap-loads of guitars over the years. If I lost this amp I probably would not replace it, just because of the dependability issue. A friend of mine had a VOX AC30 which was very dependable, so I'm not completely turned off of VOX yet. I can't deny the sound quality of this amp is probably the best I've heard for its size, and it's reasonably priced.

Submitted by RC Phillips at 11/12/2005 22:41

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
Vox 15 Watt modeling amp with a 12ax7 tube in the power amp circuitry for supposed tube warmth & feel. It uses a DSP to simulate 11 classic tube guitar amp models, plus digital effects. This amp is part of the current Vox line up (2005), and sells for $179 new at www.musiciansfriend.com and guitar center.

Sound Quality: 6
Unfortunately this amp fails to deliver on its promise. It lacks the warmth & feel of a real tube amp. I used an American Standard Strat & a Gibson Les Paul Custom to audition this amp. None of the amp models sounded inspiring or authentic with either guitar. I think most people that review this amp have never played through a real classic tube amplifier. The built in effects certainly help to cover the sterile tone. Overall the sound is very comparable with all the other modeling gear out there.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 6
The Vox AD15VT is a cheap practise amp with a lot of bells & whistles. I would not buy it, nor would I recommend it for anyone who is serious about guitar tone. If you have a tight budget check out an Epiphone Valve Junior amp. You'll have to add pedals for effects, but it is a much better base sound to build on. It also looks better IMO.

Submitted by DS at 11/09/2005 10:28

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 10
amp models of the classic fender marshalls etc. im not real impressed with the fender models which make up maybe 20% of the amps but it doesnt matter since the others are soo good.

Sound Quality: 9
i play a epiphone casino and a fender fat strat through it and they both sound great. the amount of tones/styles is amazing. i play mostly rock and mellow stuff. cleans are great distortion is full. the settings i use most are the ac30 amp model with the delay...very nice.

Reliability: N/A
no problems yet after 6 months of almost daily playing

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
ive been playing for 8yrs. and feel this is the most inexpensive /valuable piece of gear i own. i love it. you can seriously create any sound you want no joke. there are those that will say this is o.k. not fit for pro use etc. dont listen to them, many people think that having a $2000 marshall rig makes them jimmy page. it doesnt. if you can play you can get good sounds out of all but the lamest amps. if you want an amp for home, practice,and recording try this you will be impressed. by the way id mike this through a p.a. for shows. i saw u2 and the stones this year both keef and the edge were using amps 30-50 watts max. this is an all around great piece of gear.

Submitted by kevin at 11/05/2005 23:01

Price Paid: US $179.00

Features: 5
See the other reviews. For the price, the level of features is excellent. I wish there were a way to bundle the effects differently (I like to use phase/reverb together which I cannot do with this amp). Also, I wish there were more memory settings.

Sound Quality: 6
In my opinion, better than anything in its price range, in fact, I was really impressed with the range of this under $200 USD amp. This is a wonderful home amplifier. That being said... I really enjoyed this amplifier when I bought it but am now finding the sounds to be a little artificial. The Fender sounds are a bit nasal for example and I much prefer my Blues Jr. (I use that example because I consider the Blues Jr to be a home/studio amp). BUT, that is really not a fair comparison because, first of all, my Blues Jr was 3x the price and second, my Blues Jr is no where as versitile. The high gain sounds are a lot of fun.

In short - I like just about all of the sounds from this little guy, but, there is a certain drynesses overall. That being said, even at twice the price, I wouldn't be disappointed.

****QUESTION: Has anyone swapped out the speaker in one of these - would that make a difference?****

Reliability: N/A
No problems - have owned it for about a year

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 8
I have too many guitars (says my wife) so I have experimented with many configurations. I don't know how else to say it other than I like this amp so much that I wish it were a little better. I honestly don't think you'll find a better amp for the price. Maybe its the 8 inch speaker but overall, the sounds are all a litte dry. The "modeling" concept is a little far fetched though and, in the spirit of truth in avertising, each model should be followed with the suffex "ish"... Tweed-ish, Marshall-ish, Boogie-ish...

Still, if were lost or stolen, for the price, I'd buy another. Great value.

Submitted by D at 11/02/2005 08:47

Price Paid: US $145 used

Features: 9
You get alot of features in this amp. You get many typical FX and 2 channels. Price for this amp is excellent for what you get and the reason it maybe the best bang is the tone itself. Read below. I'd give this a 10 if it came with a footpedal but no biggie.

Sound Quality: 9
Ok, this is where the amp really kix butt. The tone is incredibly good and just knocks your sox off when you hear it. It kills any solid state or modelling amps and is on par with many tube amps. However, unlike many tube amps, it comes with load of FX to go with it. The only negative thing i have to say is a noticeable hiss, even when everything is set to 0 level. If Vox fixes the hiss, this amp would be like so yummy, i couldn't imagine anything could be better. It has clarity, dimension, punch, distortion, and can do any tone from clean to breaking overdrive to even metal.

Reliability: N/A
don't know, i just got it recently and it still works

Customer Support: N/A
no calls to service

Overall Rating: 9
man, i would luv to give this amp a 10 rating because it's so good sounding, but the hiss makes me wanna cry because otherwise, it's so damn good sounding. I would def consider buying this again if it got stolen but i would check out other amps to see if i can find something as good sounding without the hiss. I doubt it tho for anything in this price range.

Submitted by evildead at 10/24/2005 20:53

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 9
Purchased in 08/2005
Paid 179 at SamAsh in Tampa, bought it at the same time with my Ibanez SZ520QM.
15watt SolidState/Hybrid, it has a tube in the power amp section.
Used for bedroom volume/practice, playing classic, progressive, and modern rock. Single channel modelling amp with built in effects, footswitch is optional. The effects are decent, though the only ones I've used are the Comp and Chorus. The only knock against the effects is that the controls aren't exactly intuitive, but once you get used to them they're allright I suppose.
It has all the features I was looking for at this price level.

Sound Quality: 10
Using an Ibanez SZ520QM through this amp and it seems to be a very nice match. I really only use a few of the amp models on the Vox: UK70's(Marshall Plexi), UK80's(Marshall SuperLead), USHiGain(Mesa TripleRect), and Black2x12(Fender Twin). I esp like the sound of the UK70's and UK80's models with my guitar's humbuckers. Has a growl very close to a LesPaul with a Marshall when cranked. I also think the FenderTwin model deserves special mention, sight unseen you'd swear you're playing through the real thing, I'd even put it on par with my old Fender VibroChamp for a clean sound.

Reliability: N/A
Haven't had any issues.. granted I've only had it 2 months, so I'll leave this rating blank

Customer Support: 7
Haven't had any issues.. granted I've only had it 2 months.
One thing I would like to see is a Vox sponsored website with settings for specific tones. Yeah, I know, I can just play with the knobs myself and find them all, but I'd like to work smarter not harder.
I found the patchtronix.com site out there, and it's "okay", but not nearly as good as the Line6 site for their Pod/Flextone/Vetta products.

Overall Rating: 9
I have to say I love playing through this amp. It was exactly what I went looking for: a small, portable, loud, versatile amp that was under $200. For that price I don't think there is any competitor that can even come close to the quality, features, and value you get with this amp. Yeah, I know Valve-Posse, it's not a SuperGainSwirlie1200XL+ tube amp from the 382nd level of the Abyss, it's also not three grand. It's another tool in the toolbox. A 25lb amp I can easily put in the trunk, carry over to a friend's/bedroom/diningroom/etc and jam. If it gets lost/stolen/dropped/scratched/satellite falls on it, I go out and buy another one in a second. It's only 179, yay!
If I was on a gig, would I take this amp? No, of course not, thats not what it was bought for.
But for it's purpose, I don't think I'd have any other amp, I'm very happy with it.

Submitted by Wayne Coffey at 10/13/2005 06:58

Price Paid: US $170

Features: 8

Sound Quality: 10

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
This amp is really amazing!! I have been searching for a good practice amp for some time. I can't stand the sound of many of the smaller solid state amps. Tube amps tend to be too expensive and large (not to mention loud) for practice and jamming with friends.

I thought some modeling would make up for the otherwise weak sound. I tried the Line6 Spyder II, the Fender G-DEC, Crate, Mesa and Marshall. All the small amps souded cheap. Not this one! It has a surprising depth of sound, especially in the cleaner modes. It is loud, but can be played quietly wihtout loosing its warmth. It takes some tweeking to get a good sound, but the point is you can dial in a great sound! My best friend is a recording engineer and a total equipment snob. He couldn't believe how good a sound we got clean on the Tweed 4x10 setting.

It's weak point are the built in effects. The reverb is fine, and as far as I'm concerned I'm buying an amp, not an effects processor. Plus for 170 bones, this is the best equipment buy I think I have ever made

Submitted by R Rhett at 09/21/2005 11:49

Price Paid: 200 (Euro)

Features: 8
Bought this amp in 2004, very pleased overall. Excellent variety of clean sounds, distortions are usable too. Effects are generally excellent, delay and phaser particularly good, chorus a disappointment. I often just select an effect and twiddle with the knobs, you can continually find new sounds you didn't know you could. A major downside is that there are only two assigned presets for sounds you create yourself, which means you sometimes have to sit down and twiddle knobs all over again the next day. Other than that operation is fairly straightforward

Sound Quality: 9
I'm using this with a mid-90's japanese re-issue jaugar, playing mostly alternative rock and grunge, but dip into most styles. This amp is outstanding in that it caters to virtually all these styles, you'd be hard pressed NOT to get a good tone out of it. It is slightly noisy with effects added, for some reason. The clean sounds are fantastic, virtually any sound you want is there if you're patient enough. I really couldn't praise them highly enough. Distortions are a bit disappointing, but with a good guitar like a PRS they're sufficient. If you really want 'metal' sounds I wouldn't recommend this, go get a line 6.

Reliability: 7
This amp is too small for gigging or even jamming, so doesn't get knocked about much. However, the input jack came loose for no apparent reason more than once, which was easily fixeable but annoying. The feel of the knobs is less than confidence inspiring. A bit of a let down in an otherwise excellent overall package.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with Vox directly, so can't say

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing for nine years, and this is easily the best amp I've owned. For the money you will NOT find something more capable and versatile. Before buying I considered a marshall (too basic) or a line 6 (nice distortion, but otherwise uninspiring). I would definitely buy another of these if I lost it, I love being able to get the kinds of sounds which, up to now, I've only been able to create 'in my head'. This is an amp which is a pleasure to play and experiment with, and outstanding value too.

Submitted by Joe at 07/16/2005 08:50

Price Paid: US $150

Features: 10
I got mine about 6 months ago. It's easy to use, and I figured it out without reading the basic manual, but I did double-check the manual to make sure I was right, which I was. The 'edit' buttons for effects might be the only, sort-of necessary part. The amp is easy to use. The manual is nice for its explanation of the concept, though. That's if you care. If your like me, your not too concerned with 'how' it works, as long as it sounds ripping. Which it does.

In a way, I wish it had more fx matching control, it kind of presumes what you might want and leaves you with that. But on the other hand, the TONE is there and screwing it up with digital fx is something you want to keep restrained anyway. I usually leave the fx off and stick with my trusty analog stomp boxes. This amp plays well with them, it really does (more on this below).

Sound Quality: 10
I play many guitars and record with a lot of variety. Not trying to brag, I'm just a struggling player who's poured many hard-earned greenbacks into a schizo obsession with tonal variation. This amp has been a godsend, no doubt about it. I've owned true tubes, SS, and a handfull of so-called hybrids (most underwhelming). The thing is, I've had hyrids that approximated the tube 'scream' of dirt with a passable tone, and sounded reasonable when set for full-on grind, but never heard that butter-rich flavor like this little Vox cranks. And the best part: the cleans are, well, just THERE. A tube-like clean tone seems to have alluded many others, but here it's as good as I've heard.

I tried the "30" version of this when it was first introduced and it didn't do anything for me. I tried this, the 15, at a store only because I wanted to plug in an electric guitar I was considering. I was so hooked I took it home there and then.

At the home studio I unfortunately noticed a floor noise not evident at the store. I was dissappointed, and thought about returning it, but found myself playing it every single night after work. Despite the (minor) hiss, which is only present on certain models, it's got a lot of character, and is otherwise perfect for recording, since it cooks like a tube amp at low volumes and delivers the goods where other hybrids fail (not to dis, but hey, it's true). Real (tube) amps are tough, if not impossible, to record without some measurable (if not obvious) floor noise, so I find this 90% forgivable. If it were DEAD quiet AND sounded so ripping, I'd be in love, though. In a perfect world, I guess. I have yet to have the floor noise poke up in the mix with other instruments, so unless you're doing solo, single-track innstrumentals with no expander or filters, it's a non-issue. If you are, good luck, by the way.

Hybrids equal compromise, but I swear, this is the closest thing I've heard and passes the "blind" test with several tube purists I've played it for. VERY good deal, for less than 200 bones you'll smoke your tracks. I imagine the Crate's of the world being nervous.

The fx are only ok and the simplified array is a little restrictive, but like I said I go with my already road-proven pedal board. With a few other amps I've tried of the hybrid variety, fx in front has been iffy at best, but here I play through just as I would with a real tube. I like the reverb here, a surprise, I usually find digital built-in reverbs unusable. If you tweak it just so you can get a convincing reverb, nice and lush. The others, though, are just ok. The tremolo is not terrible. The tap-tempo is super. The compressor could be better, which, if improved, would be a nice asset. As is it's not so hot. The "ROTARY plus REVERB" is my favorite, very sweet.

Some of the presets are a little out there, and kind of fakey or candy sounding, depending on who you ask. The clean, fenders, and vox's are worth the price alone though. The marshall-y range doesn't sell me, unfortunately. The moderns (mesa, etc) ragers are not going to replace the real mccoys either, but hey it's another option. I use it for gut-busting 60s clean-to-fried Vox and Fender sounds, and it's damn, damn real sounding. And quite tweakable. Gotta love it.

It does, indeed, "Sound Awesome" so I'll give it a 10. A real treat, and I got mine for $150, a steal. I might finally be able to let go of some other amps in my collection now.

Reliability: N/A
No problems. Only had it for 4 months. Light, easy to carry. Might not keep up with a 6-piece power ensemble, but you and a bass player and a "Ringo"-kit-playing drummer could singe the leather of your favorite corner bar's stools. Louder than I expected. Great for pick-up tracking, especially.

Customer Support: N/A
I've never had to call them. Had other Vox amps though, without incident or failure.

Overall Rating: 10
It's perfect for me. Very easy to get the sound I want and lots of variety, perfect for recording rock and roll, and terrific for evening practice and/or tracking.

I wrote this review because when I first tried the "30" version I kinda wrote these amps off, but really I couldn't be happier to have discovered the heavy-hitter that is the 15. The bang-for-buck ratio is unmatched in my travels.

If you try one, be ready to really want one!

Extra points for an actually usable digital reverb.

Submitted by b.p. at 07/12/2005 22:50

Price Paid: US $170

Features: 10
-Brand New
-Very, very, extremely, versatile. Blues to southern to metal to what ever you want to play.
-Very powerful little 15 watt amp.
-Unique valve reactor system, warm tone, or whatever tone you want really it's a modelling amp.

Sound Quality: 10
-Standard Strat, tightly wound pickups for blues.
-Very long range of tones.
-Only noisy if you want it to be.
-Huge variety of sounds, its incredible.
-The clean settings are not distorted at high volumes.
-Distortion can be however you like it brutal, cruch, or a slight burning tone.

Reliability: 10
-I've gigged with it, no problems at all.
-Very reliable.

Customer Support: N/A
-Never needed to!

Overall Rating: 10
- I've been playing since I was 12 and am 22 right now.
-If it were stolen or lost I would definetley buy another, unless I had more money.
-Great price and sound.
-Sounds better than all-tube amps.
-

Submitted by Brad at 07/12/2005 19:41

Price Paid: US $150 shipped used

Features: 9
Lotsa great faetures for an amp that can be obtained for well under $200.

The only reason I don't give a 10 is that the effects controls are a bit cumbersome.

The wattage dial would be nice to have, too...but I guess I should have shelled out the extra $50 for the AD30. If quiet practice is a must, consider the AD30. Yes, the AD15 is only 15 watts, but the entire neighborhood can hear me unless I have all the windows closed!

The tube hybrid system really works!

Sound Quality: 10
I play a modern epiphone dot. I don't like to spend a lot of $$ on equipment; music is my hobby not my career! Styles range from country pickin' to post-grunge feedback. I'm amazed that this amp can do everything I ask of it so well.

I've been playing guitar for about 10 years but this is my first real amp (read: not solid state and/or purchased from a pawn shop). The difference between this and my old 60 watt "Westbury" 80's solid state is absolutley stunning. I gave my old amp away; I never want to play through it again. Chords are so clear -- each note is discernable, unlike the solid-state mud I had grown used to.

I'm not a tone snob, but this thing WILL turn me into one. Suddenly it is all clear...I can get 3/4 of the way to my favorite guitar god sounds with this thing and I don't need a houseful of equipment.

Rather than try to critique or explain the tone of this amp further, I'll just say this: The AD15 is teaching ME what good tone is. If you can recognize good tones but can't get them with your solid state equipment, do not hesitate to try/buy this amp.

If you've been playing through a Matchless since you were 7 years old, then yeah, you may have issues with the sound quality. But gimme a break, I got the thing for $150 delivered (ebay)!

Reliability: 9
I use it purely for practice and in my studio. If I decided to gig again, I think I'd be cool running it without a backup...or I'd just go buy another one.

I've had it for about a month now.

Customer Support: N/A
only contact so far was when I printed the manual from the vox website.

Overall Rating: 10
If this amp were stolen I would definitely replace it. I probably would step up to the AD30 for the wattage control feature, but I don't regret buying this for a second.

I also considered other small tube amps like the Pignose G40, epiphone galaxie 10 and crate v58. Those are all nice, but I found the combination of tube tone plus a boatload of effects all in one package for roughly the same money to be compelling.

These other amps may have the AD15 beat on pure tube tone, but not by much. I chose the Vox for the range of (good sounding) different tones I can make with it. I think this is the best amp for the dollar available today.

Submitted by mike at 07/06/2005 09:06

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 8
The models and effects have loads of tweakability, but most them just don't sound very good. The best effect is the delay. The reverb is hissy and sound empty and tinny at max. Pushing tiny buttons to adjust not as good as having real knobs.

Sound Quality: 7
This amp has some useable sounds for sure, but there are two problems. The amp is hideously noisey, esp, when the reverb is on, which is almost always in my case. The second problem is the refined processed sound. Its very warm, but somehow, it just doesn't sound real or alive the way a real tube amp does. I just got tired of the sound - its like looking at a *picture* of something.

Reliability: 10
No problems here.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 7
I sold mine after a few months of use. I prefer something with an open back cabinet. I'd rather have ONE great sound and use pedals, than have several mediocre sounds. Thats why I replaced it with a 70s Fender Champ.

Submitted by Anonymous at 06/11/2005 11:56

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 9
For the money and compared to other products in this range (spider II, roland cube 30 etc) I am overall very happy with the effects and features. I wish I could pedal switch more than 3 channels (2 programs + manual). And pedal tap tempo would be nice.

Sound Quality: 10
Compared to everything else in this price range, it simply stands out. I don't know if that tube has anything to do with it, but I'm extremely impressed with the warmth and richness of the sound. And I got similar positive comments from friends and people that normally wouldn't care or notice stuff like that.

Fender cleans are very good (but I'd use an overdrive pedal to get a slightly overdriven sound). Vox (u2 style) chiming is just right the way it is (I like to add in a 0.5 sec delay). The Marshal JCM-800 modelling (UK-80s) gets a fantastic singing lead tone--I've been told it sounds like a violin.

It sounds good at volumes that won't damage your hearing, get you evicted, divorced, arrested etc.

Reliability: 8
The jack input seems a bit flimsy. I had a little accident where it fell in the cabinet (I hit the jack while it was in); to fix it I turned the amp upside down to fish the jack input and rescrewed the hex ring.

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 10

Submitted by radwulf at 06/07/2005 18:28

Price Paid: 14,000 (Philippine Pesos)

Features: 10
Probably made in 2003 or 2004. Mine is made in China. No sense in going through all the features as they have been covered. I have a love/hate relationship with this amp and I'm thinking about selling it, not because it's a bad amp, but because of the hate part of that love hate relationship. What I mean is I love the amp, my neighbors and the police hate the mother fucker. It IS an incredibly versatile amp. The boutique clean channel is awesome as are the AC15 and AC30 modes in the preset modes as well as the manual modes, both clean and crunched out. I truly love the modern 80's Marshall mode as well as the American Hi Gain (Peavey) and Boutique Overdriven. They all sound absolutely great. Since it has a tube preamp, it indeed has the tube tone and that's wonderful. There are only a few problems with me for it. One, it only sounds good when you have it cranked to the max and it is FUCKING LOUD. I love loud - but my neighbors fucking hate it and really love getting the cops by to see me when I crank it up. The 30 watt version has a knob that you can use to keep the tone integrity at low volumes, so if you have fucked up neighbors, you might want to consider an extra 40 or 50 bucks for the 30 watt version. I can't get the 30 watter in the Philippines. Again, for 15 watts this amp is VERY FUCKING LOUD and the little 8 inch speaker handles it very well. The second thing I don't like is I can't use any of my pedals with it. This was my first modelling amp and I didn't realize that would be the case. You have to change settings with your hands. Next thing I don't like is that there is no line out for an external speaker. Other than those things, this amp is great. If you don't mind changing the settings with your fingers (which isn't a big deal unless you go from clean to dirty and switch to chorus and wah and stuff like that in a song), don't have neighbors who like to call the cops and don't ever want to use it with external speakers - then this is a great amp. It has a lot of features, and it is incredibly versatile, so I will give it a 10 on that.

Sound Quality: 10
I have a Stratocaster, 3 texas specials, a Les Paul, 490T abd 490R humbuckers, an Ibanez RG270DX with Dimarzio Evolution Humbuckers at the bridge and neck and a hot rail single in the middle , a Washburn KC600, with H-S-S config, a Washburn X-21 also with H-S-S config a hollow body Les Paul with two humbuckers and a telecaster. I play blues, rock, blues rock and hard rock and whatever else suits my mood. It is a very quiet amp, sounds incredibly good on the settings I use. Distortion can be as brutal as you want and on the manual settings you can make the clean break up into a nice crunch, especially on the boutique, AC15 and AC30 modes. Great amp. Again FUCKING LOUD.

Reliability: 10
Yes very dependable, no it hasn't broken down.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with them.

Overall Rating: 10
45 years, too much to mention. I'm thinking about selling it or trading it on a Peavey Envoy so I can have the tone I want at lower volumes and keep my ass from getting deported. I love the amp, just my neighbors hate it. I wish it had what I said before - I wish I could use my pedals on it and I wish it had an external speaker line out.

Submitted by Sarge at 06/07/2005 03:21

Price Paid: US $179.00

Features: 9
This is considered a hybrid amp, half Solid State, half Tube.
I'm not going to go much into the features. You can read the other reviews for that.

It has the basic features you would expect in a small practice amp.
Does not have an effects loop, but most this size don't anyway.

All the amp models sound great, effects sound good, but I'll never use anything but reverb. I use mostly the blackface, AC15, and AC30TB. Hey, it's a Vox. I use it for the Vox sound.

It has as close to a tube sound as you can get without being a full on tube amp. If you have no experience with tube amps, you are not going to get it. Tube amps have a saturated, multi-dimensional sound you just can't duplicate very easy.

This amp can do the tube thing.

The only reason I'm not giving this amp a 10 in this category, is that you can't separate the time-based effects from the pedal type effects. They separate them in the internal chain, but far as selection, you can't do that. Other versions of Valvetronix amps separate the pedal from the time-based effects, but this is a low cost amp. They had to cut somewhere.

We did some research into the amp models.
To avoid copyright infringement some companies are no longer stating which amps they are emulating. So, they give it a
generic title, but put a few descriptive words in the documentation so you can figure it out.

Here is the list:
Boutique CL: Dumble Overdrive Special
Black 2X12: Fender Blackface
Tweed 4X10: Fender Bassman
AC15: Vox AC15
AC30TB: Vox AC30 Top Boost
UK 70's: Marshall Super Lead
UK 80's: Marshall JCM800
UK Modern: Marshall JCM900
Numetal: Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
US Higain: Soldano SLO100
Boutique OD: Dumble Overdrive Special

I may be wrong, but most feel the list is accurate.

Sound Quality: 10
First off, you really have to understand how this thing works. It does not work like other modeling amps where they digitally try to mimic the sound of a tube amp. You just cannot get there that way. There is some initial digital shaping of the basic tone, but the real magic comes later.

It also, does not work like other hybrid amps that have a tube preamp. Anybody familiar with tube amps knows that the preamp is just part of the circuit.

In a full tube amp, you have a tube preamp and a tube power amp. What they do in the Valvetronix is take a 12AX7 duel triode tube and use half of it for the preamp, and the other half for a low wattage power amp. Then in simple terms, they amplify the tube power amp output via a second Solid State power amp.

The simplest analogy is if you took a tube amp and put a microphone in front of it and then amplified it through your PA system. In essence, this is what they are doing.

If your looking for tube tone, this amp can do just about anything you want. I you want anything that sounds like a solid state, then forget it. If tubes are what you crave, then this is it.

With the selection of amp models, you can't go wrong. Any style of music you want to play, as long as it sounds good on a tube amp, will sound great with this amp.

Reliability: N/A
So far, so good. Had it about a month now.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 10
I bought this for my 10-year-old son. Now I wish I had bought it for myself. This is THE practice amp. You need not look anywhere else.

I use a Fender Telecaster made of parts, an American Series Stratocaster. My son has a Squire hot rodded butterscotch Tele, and a black Gibson Les Paul.

I spent a lot of time last year evaluating small practice amps. Marshall, Fender, Kustom and a few others I can't remember. I even pushed into the Fender DynaTouch series, but none had the tone and warmth I wanted for blues, jazz and classic rock.

The hands down winner at that time was the Vox Pathfinder 15R. It sounded so much better then any of the other small maps. However, after I got this amp for my son, I put them side by side, and it made the Pathfinder sound like a toy.

Don't get me wrong, the pathfinder is still a great amp, but the AD15VT is a phenomenal amp. It gives you a huge sound you would only expect in a much larger amp, and I'm not talking about just volume, it is that multi-dimensional tube sound.

The down sides to it are:

* The time-based effects can't be separated, but that is the way all onboard effects are.
* Does not come with a foot switch, but most small amps don't anyway.
* Comes with a metal grill instead of the traditional Vox diamond cloth.
* It would be nice if it had a CD input.
* It belongs to my son, instead of me.

Submitted by Photoweborama at 05/10/2005 03:22

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 5
This review is simply my impressions after spending about a half an hour with this amp, demo-ing it in a guitar store, so take it for what it's worth. It has alot of features, but I'm not sure how useful they really are.

Sound Quality: 5
My general impression was that it's a very cheap amp that sounds pretty good, especially for the price, but after discussing it with the salesperson, I went away very skeptical of the amp's long-haul durability. The sounds were generally good, although truthfully I could only see using two of the amp models. The effects were "okay," but not nearly as tweakable as on your basic stompbox version of the same thing.

Reliability: 5
Salesman told me that he had three returned for repairs in recent memory, two of which with the input jacks fallen through the cabinet.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 5
I think that if this amp was to never leave your house and you wanted a decent practice rig with some easily-attainable effects, you'd probably love it, at least in the short term. And the price is damn attractive for that purpose. But if you aspire to use it for any "real world" applications, my impression is that this will fall short of expectations, especially over time. Like I said, this is after a half an hour of use, so I don't claim to have an in-depth understanding or a detailed experience with this model. I went to the store to buy one, but I left without it, deciding to save a little more cash for something more substantial.

Submitted by Anonymous at 04/19/2005 08:01

Price Paid: US $179.00

Features: 9
Probably made in 2004. Extremely versatile amp. All the features have been covered quite well, so I'm not going to repeat them. You can play any kind of music on this amp. Best $179.00 I ever spent. I keep this amp in my living room but it has more than enough power to play small gigs with if that's what you want it for. Now, for more stuff. I laughed my ass off when I read the one review where the guy says a Marshall MG15 is better than this amp. What a crock of shit. Either the guy is sniffing glue or he doesn't know anything about amps, or both. Comparing these two amps is like comparing apples and oranges, and I also have a Marshall MG10CD, a Marshall MG15CDR as well as a Marshall AVT100 as well as a Peavey Bandit 112. Now, I'm certainly not going to say this amp sounds better than the AVT100, but it IS more versatile and definitely sounds better than my other amps, including the Peavey. This has a tube pre-amp, and while the FDD on the Marshall MG10CD and MG15CDR do make it sound richer than most solid state amps, they still both sound solid state. This AD15VT sounds like a tube amp in every respect. Now there are advantages and drawbacks to tube amps. Tube amps only sound good when they are cranked to the max. At low volumes, ALL tube amps sounds shitty, because they are not made to be played at low volumes. So, because of this, to be kind to my neighbors, I don't play this AD15VT at night. Only in the daytime. The advantage to the solid state amps is that you can play them at low volumes and still get some good sounds, and good sustain, however they still sound like toy amplifiers compared to ANY tube amp. I do know though that some of these young people today with their nu-metal think solid state sounds good. They will grow up someday. Nuff said about that. I am going to dock this amp 1 point for one reason only. If this had a line out for speakers, you could rock a big club with it. Since it doesn't have one, I'll take a point away.

Sound Quality: 10
Man, I spent 30 years in the Army and had guitars before I went in and bought one or two a year the whole time I was in, so I've got too many guitars (more than 60 to mention here). Mostly, I play my Gibson Les Paul Standard, which my father gave me in 1967 and still looks, plays and sounds great, my Fender Standard Stratocaster and Standard Telecaster on this amp. I also have an Epiphone Les Paul Special that I bought for my son, but his tastes turned to things other than guitar, so I play it a lot too. The Les Pauls have double humbuckers and the Strat and Teles of course have single coils. Suits my music style very well, which is everything from country, to classic rock, blues rock, electric folk, native american music, whatever I'm in the mood to play. It isn't noisy at all, and does indeed have a noise reduction feature. Only buzz I ever get is with the Strat and Tele because of the single coils. On that note, that's one big difference between a tube amp and a solid state amp. Tube amps are generally quiet unless you are playing, solid state amps generally have a big hiss or buzz, regardless of whether you are using humbuckers or single coils. As I said above, you can play ANY kind of music on this amp, from twangy country, soft rock to extremely heavy distortion and yes indeed the distortion can be brutal. Some of the clean channels will distort with higher volumes, as they should, giving a nice crunch perfect for Rolling Stones type stuff. I gotta max it out on sound.

Reliability: 10
It's a VOX. I figure it'll be around for 100 years. Yeah, I know I'll have to change the tube someday, and I will upgrade the tube when I do.

Customer Support: N/A
Never dealt with VOX. Warranty I think is 5 years.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing around 35 years. I have what I mentioned above in the review, plus a shitload of other electric and acoustic guitars. As I said, I had several when I went in the service and bought one or two a year for the whole 30 years I was in. I'm addicted to guitars and amps. I love everything about this amp. Nothing else to say......I think its all been said with this review and the others.

Submitted by Mike at 03/03/2005 16:09

Price Paid: US $179.00

Features: 9
Made in 2004. 15 watt tube/digital modeling combo amplifier. Eleven different amplifier models with 11 different preset effect combinations. User-defined sound settings can be saved to two different channels, so that when you find that magic tone you've been seartching for you can save it for instant recall at the touch of a button, or click of the optional foot switch. There are tons of options for tweaking your tone.

One gripe I have is that you can't combine certain effects, like have compression and reverb going at the same time. I also wouldn't mind being able to write more than two sound settings. Even still, there is plenty of delicious tone to be had inside this amp, which is quite a good value at $179.00

Sound Quality: 9
I'm using this amp primarily with a Squier '51, which has a neck-position single coil and a bridge humbumbucker with coil tap. I generally go for a clean bluesy tone, with just a bit of tube breakup when the strings are played hard. It took a bit of experimenting, but I've finally dialed in some beautiful tones using the manual settings.

While the presets are interesting and a quick way to start playing in a variety of sounds and effect styles, I found that there's a lot more under the hood, so to speak. There seems to be an infinite variety of tonal variations between the amp emulation modes, effects modes, and all the adjustments you can make to each, not to mention the controls on the guitar.

The downside to all this flexibility is that it's just as easy to get a terrible, stuffy tone as it is to get that glassy tube sweetness.

I think those who have complained of this amp's terrible sound either played a defective unit or they didn't really take the time to experiment and find the sweet spots.

This amp does a spectacular job of sounding like expensive all-tube units, yet it can do so at living room volume levels. The closed back can make for a punchy, focused sound when the dials and guitar are set right. But if you don't take the time to find the sweet spots, this amp can also sound quite bad, like there is a heavy blanket over top. It can also get quite loud if you need it too, though you may find the bass overloading at louder volume levels.

Reliability: N/A
While the amp looks plenty sturdy, it's still too new for me to comment on reliability. I hope it holds up over time. I may take it out to jam with friends occasionally, but I won't be playing clubs with it, so I would think it should hold up.

Customer Support: N/A
Thankfully, I haven't needed to use customer support.

Overall Rating: 10
I'm primarily a hobbyist, but also jam with friends occasionally just for fun. I own a bunch of guitars and amps [a Squier '51, Fender Aerodyne Strat, Fender Jimmy Vaughn Signature Series Strat, Fender Special Edition Flame-Top Tele, an Epiphone Dot Studio, a custom mahogany-body strat with solid rosewood neck, a Fender Mexican P-bass, a Taylor Big Baby, and a Fender Lead II]. In the amp department I have a Fender Blues Junior, Marshall ValveState V65R, Marshall BassState B-30, a Park G215RCD, Crate practice amp, Gas Can portable amp, in addition to my newly acquired Vox.

To put the quality, versatility, and value of the Vox AD15VT into perspective, if I could only keep one of my amplifiers this would be it. It's like having nearly a dozen good amps in one.

Submitted by Todd at 02/28/2005 10:55

Price Paid: US $140 used

Features: 10
I fought the urge to write this review and lost. I got this amp two days ago, and have played through it for exactly 6 hours and 5 minutes. Five minutes when it arrived, to make sure it was working. Then 3 hours for each of the last two nights at a gig. All I can say is, "oh my stinkin' goodness!" I love this thing. It sounds great, it's got features out the wazoo, it's lightweight, and it didn't cost must at all. Am I dreaming? The only thing I could possibly want on it is a line out that didn't mute the speaker. I was hoping to use it as a stage monitor. But I miked it instead and it worked out perfectly.

Sound Quality: 9
I'm a meat 'n' potatoes kinda guy. I don't have a bazillion guitars, I have one - a '96 USA Strat with DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pickups. I don't have a gajillion amps, I have two - this, and a Pathfinder 15. I play classic rock in a cover band. This AD15VT flat-out blew my socks off. Out of the box, it sounded as good as any live set up I've ever had. No, I've never owned any $2,000 amps or $200 stomp boxes. But I've had an Ampeg Reverberocket and a Peavey Classic 30. The clean sounds on the AD15VT were as good as either of them. The distorted and overdrive sounds were just a tad transistor-y. But they cut through the mix perfectly. I couldn't say the same for the POD and V-amp I ran through my Classic 30.

Reliability: N/A
Just got it - can't say.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't dealt with them; hope I never have to.

Overall Rating: 10
For the money, a fantastic value. I want to sell my Pathfinder 15 and pick up another one of these. Nothing against that amp, because it's great for the price. But for another $50 or so the AD15VT beats it, and every other amp in the same range, senseless. Unless the some of the reliability issues posted here raise their ugly heads, this is one of the best bang-for-the-buck deals I've seen in 30 years of playing.

Submitted by kevin at 02/27/2005 00:57

Price Paid: US $171

Features: 9
This amp is the best NYC amp you can buy. By that I mean an excellent amp both for small clubs and apartment practicing. I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (45 pounds and too loud), a 15 watts tube Marshall (perfect sound but a collector's item) and a Peavey Bandit 60 (too heavy as well and too solid-state-ly ).
I was looking for:
1-small-light amp (no more than 25 pounds);
2-some effects;
3-good sound;
4-no more than $175.
I got everything. This amp is just lovely. At least for a NYC musician.
I tried the roland cube 15 (characterless), the marshall G15FX (very very good sound, but only a marshall sound); and the spider ii 15 (good cleans, too digitalized overdrives).

The effects are great, the amp models do mean something in this amp, the change in character from one to the other is incredible. The eq character changes so much from one model to the other that you believe that there is something wrong with the amp (what happened?), but no: it is just meant to be that way.
You have to do your homework to nail down YOUR sound, there so many good sounds that you really need to tweak to find a good sound that is YOUR sound. Very fun amp. Excellent. I feel very smart at this moment.

Can be loud.
NO FOOTSWITCH? Please VOX. get real.

This was probably made in 2004.

Sound Quality: N/A
I am using two guitars: a Shergold Masquerader and a Fender Strat.
the sounds of this amp are just exquisite. Very very good, smooth. It is just awesome. I am thinking about buying the 50watts for large gigs. This is the best amp I ever had for the money. Period.

Reliability: N/A
seems well built and sturdy.

Customer Support: N/A
N/A

Overall Rating: 10
If it were stolen I would shoot myself and then buy another one. The 15 could have used the wattage knob that the 30 watt has.

Submitted by monxo at 02/21/2005 14:54

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 10
My response to this category reminds me of the age old question:

"If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody's there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

See below for explanation.

Sound Quality: 10
Sounded awesome ....for about 10 seconds!

Reliability: 1
After reading all off the great reviews of this amp (AD15VT), I drove out to my local Guitar Center with my heart set on picking up one of these things, despite the few negative reviews posted here concerning reliability. When I got there to try it out (along with the 30watt AD30VT), I couldn't get a signal out of the floor model. Not only that I couldn't get a signal out of the 30 watter floor model either!!! Nothing. Even with all volume and level knobs all the way up and trying every possible knob and button selection.

Now I know what your going to say, and trust me I wasn't doing anything wrong. I even tried a variety of guitars and cables. Also I have a Bachelor's Degree in Music Production and Engineering from Berklee, and in my day job I work with advanced multimedia technology 8 hours a day, so I think I at least know how to turn on an amp.
To back me up, the Guitar Center kid couldn't figure it out either. We screwed with these things for a good five minutes and finally got one amp model to work by turning the amp on and off repeatedly; the blackface 2x12 (with reverb) on the AD30VT. At one point it stopped giving me reverb and internally switched to tremelo all by itself! To be fair it sounded pretty kick-ass for the few seconds I had it working.

Needless to say I didn't get one of these amps. If a product doesn't even work on the showroom floor how long can you expect it to last once you get it home?

I just wanted to get a little practice amp, so after trying out all of the 15watt models, I finally decided on the Pathfinder 15R, ironically another VOX product. What can I say, I have to admit I liked the sound of it better than all of the other amps of that class. I'm banking on the fact that it will be functional for a long while simply because it doesn't have all of the electronics that can mysteriously stop working someday. I hope.

To sum up, I really wanted to get one of the modeling VOXes, but they just weren't working in the store! Oh well, at least I saved myself 60 bucks on the Pathfinder, and it's pretty good for a practice amp.

Customer Support: N/A
If someone from VOX is reading this, I hope you're there for me when my new Pathfinder breaks down!

Overall Rating: 1
What a hunk of junk!

Submitted by dummy_who_bought_a_VOX_anyway at 02/20/2005 16:13

Price Paid: 230 (CAD)

Features: 8
Extremely versatile amp, however I find myself using mostly the Boutique CL (silverface model) and AC15TB ("jangely" VOX model). I've got an 80 lb silverface 100w at home, but needed a portable practice amp for small jams and in-home portability...this amp fit the bill very well. Regarding the built-in effects: read the manual, especially the NOISE REDUCTION. I see too many reviews here talk about "noise" or "limited controls" on the effects, when I believe all they had to do was spend more time learning how to adjust the controls. The range of feature of this VOX are very good, but I should've got the AD30VT for adjustable power switch.

Of course, after I purchased this VOX I then learned that Fender have a new modelling amp that also does MIDI loops/sounds, so that's why I didn't give this little VOX a 10.

Sound Quality: 8
I use a Fender Strat which seems to pair up nicely with this little VOX. Again, the BOUTIQUE CL is in my opinion as warm and punchy as my silverface Twin. You'd be surprised at the volume you can achieve from this 15W RMS....the cabinet is ported, not open-back so the sound projection is HUGE.

The AC30TB model is just amazing...that pretty much sold me on the amp in the store. Playing any song from AC/DC Back in Black is right on the money for tone/sound. And with the GAIN control and other available models you can go from "edgey" to "death metal" if you so desire.

One critical comment....even after trying to adjust the noise reduction, I still notice a slight "buzzing" noise (on distortion models) during decay/fade-out of any note played, or maybe it's just my imagination (?)

Reliability: 5
I've had this amp for a couple of weeks and played it probably over 20 hours.........once for 3 hours straight. Most of the time this amp performs as expected.

However....on two seperate occasions, this AD15VT has unexpectedly cut the volume and distortion whist I was playing/practicing. The first time scared the crap out of me, as it occured within the first 3 days. I thought I did something wrong while adjusting the NOISE REDUCTION. The second time it happened I was just playing....not adjusting a damn thing. Would I consider giging with it? Probably not. Is it OK for practicing....sure.

Customer Support: 6
I haven't tried to deal directly with the company over this volume/gain cut issue. Their web-site is weird...they assume that the purchaser is either from the US or UK when you want to register online. I guess they don't figure anyone else is important? (LOL) I'll be contacting VOX soon to report the symptom above, once I have more info on the failure mode.

They do have the Operating Manual online (PDF), which is a nice supplement to my hardcopy that came with the amp.

Overall Rating: 7
I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and mainly Strat/Silverface combination. This is a great little practice amp that will give the tube lover that punchy tone that solid state amps cannot deliver. I compared this amp to Tech21 (too flat), Line6 (too abrasive) and Marshall (yeah.....it sounds like a Marshall, what else can it do?).

I am a bit concerned about the reliability (spontaneous volume/gain reduction) and would not recommend it to anyone for gigging based on this alone.

It's a fun little toy that suits the bill for having FUN. But it's not a serious amp for serious musicians. But then again, I'll have to try the new Fender modelling/MIDI amp soon to compare.

Submitted by Kent at 02/19/2005 08:49

Price Paid: 105 (pounds)

Features: 10
Amps are so different these days! built in effects? I wasn't too keen on that idea? but this amp doesn't disappoint! in sound and features, Its very versatile! ive been playing for 14 years and this amp is the most fun ive played with

Sound Quality: 10
I use a 1993 USA Strat Plus with gold Sensor Lace pick-ups (geek!!) anyway, This amp shocked me! is it really 15V? and not just that, its so warm and full of character (or should I say characters?), u can go from Blues to heavy, I don't think the modern metal player will like it so much, its your into classic rock such as Led Zeppelin, Queen, AC/DC, Hendric etc. you must try this amp out

effects: are very warm and above average, I was very pleased to find that the delay does 1486 msec!! its based on a tape more than digital, and the sound DOES go lo-fi on repeats, the Chorus sounds are lush!

I think those who slag this amp off are players (or teens) who are getting too hung up on sounding like their fav artists! bad thing to do! good to be influnced but guitars/amps/effects don't get u those sounds, the guitartist does! its about how he/she uses their stuff, u can get lots of different sounds out of this amp, I personally like to keep myself focused on 1 or 2 sounds, a clean and driven sound, not flick through stuff all the time, get hung up on effects! I bought this amp because I wanted something small that sounded good, I have a Laney TF300 and thats heavy to move about! plus! when I heard this Vox had a valve! I had to check it out, Sounds Awesome, dont worry about power, it has some but if u need more with live stuff, try to mic it up, I hope to do that soon, see how it goes? I avoid effects boxes such as Pods, I like the idea of amps simulating amps alot more and Vox betters this in my books

One last thing, I have my USA Strat plugged into an RMC Picture Wah (seriously decent wah, u must hear it to believe it) then into the Vox, this little set-up is bliss for me, simple and effective

Reliability: N/A
Its a Vox, I expect this to last as I will be looking after it well, if a tube blew, thats ok, their not hard to replace

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 10
I think if you are looking for a practise amp or something with quailty sound! this amp is hard to beat for the price! both Pro/beginner will have fun with this amp and find some serious sounds, I would consider buying another Valvetronix, they look and sound good! buy one if ur starting out and is not sure on what sounds u want, this amp is something great to play with to find some direction, I feel it will really encourage you with learning as well, I can't wait to see what the VOX future is going to bring next?

Submitted by Anonymous at 02/01/2005 09:46

Price Paid: US $179.00

Features: 10
Don't know what year it was made in, but these are relatively new amps, so I can't see it being much more than a couple of years old. I've had it for a year. All the stuff has been covered, so I won't go into it again. This is a fucking awesome amp.

Sound Quality: 10
I have a Yamaha Les Paul Copy, a highly modified Fender Squier Series Standard Telecaster and an Ibanez RG350DX through it. Suits my music style which is basically everything from classic to hard rock and heavy metal to jazz, blues, punk, grundge and country. It's a modelling amp, so you can flip a switch and play whatever style of music you want. Not noisy at all, again since it is a modelling amp it is incredibly versatile. Clean channels don't distort, with volume, only with gain. Distortion on the distorted amp imitations can be extremely brutal, especially on the UK Modern, Nu Metal and American High Gain settings. It's a tube amp, so you have to crank this fucker up to get the most out of it, but don't worry, the 8 inch speaker handles the volume quite well - just keep in mind that your neighbors may not tolerate the volume anywhere near as well as the speaker.

Reliability: 10
Seems to be tough as a tank. All my VOX's have been. I don't gig with this amp, have a Peavey for that, but it is quite loud enough to gig with.

Customer Support: 10
Never dealt with VOX. Bought it through guitar trader and they are great.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing 45 years. Have what I mentioned above, as well as a bunch of acoustics, a Pathfinder 15R, a Marshall AVT20 and a Peavey Studio Pro 112. I'd get another one if it were stolen or lost. I love it - pure and simple.

Submitted by Mike at 01/18/2005 15:42

Price Paid: US $130

Features: 9
See below

Sound Quality: 10
I thought i was really getting a good sound out of my POD and my studio monitors, but this amp has reminded me of what a real amp is supposed to sound like: not a recording of the amp that its supposed to be modeling, but the amp itself. Don't be afraid of the 8 inch speaker. It really pushes enough air for any practice session.

The effects are a mixed bag. The compression and auto-wah are great, but the reverb sounds like its modeled after a very strange sounding spring reverb. Since i'm usually just a reverb man, I had to deduct one point for that. I'd almost prefer a benign sounding digi-verb sound that any cheap effects unit can create. Another thing is the tonal variety. I play a lot of blues and the Boutique Clean sound with full drive and a little compression is almost heaven. But if I was a metal player, I might be a little disapointed with the amp. There is a very respectable Van Halen type sound (British modern full volume and 1/3 gain) but the Numetal settings lose out to my Line 6 and Behringer desktop units/amps. But these are probably petty criticisms for what is otherwise one of the most important things to happen to small amps in a while.

Reliability: N/A
Too soon to tell.

Customer Support: N/A
Haven't had a chance/reason to call.

Overall Rating: 10

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/17/2005 11:35

Price Paid: US $180.00

Features: 10
I guess mine was made in 2004. It's an extremely versatile amp. All the features have been covered so no need to be redundant. I use this amp in my living room and it has more than enough power, in fact, it will get you in trouble with your neighbors. I think it is loud enough to do small gigs with. I know you can hear it over the drums because I mess around in the house with it and my wife plays the drums and you can definitely hear it over them. I guess it would be best to say this amp can very LOUD.

Sound Quality: 10
I am using a very old 68 Gibson Les Paul with two humbuckers, as well as a 70's model, made in USA Fender Telecaster with 2 single coils and an 80's model, made in Japan Fender Stratocaster with 3 single coils. Between this amp and my guitars, I can get any sound I want. My passion is blues and classic rock, but I also get into some hard rock (wouldn't call it heavy metal - more like Guns n Roses type stuff). The amp does great. It is awesome on all the clean channels as well as the AC 15 and AC 30 modes with the single coil guitars. The UK 70's, 80's and modern distortion sounds are great with the Les Paul and the USA High Gain screams for harder stuff, has a nu metal channel for all the metal heads. Great amp, tune sound, nothing I can complain about or ding it on at all.

Reliability: 10
I've had many VOX's over the years including the old AC15 and AC30 tube amps and I also have a Pathfinder 15. I've only had this amp for about 2 months, but my others are still hanging in there (although I have sold the AC 15 and AC 30 they are still working well for those I sold them to) and I never had a problem with any of them. I suppose someday I may have to change the tube, but I think it is reliable as all VOX's are.

Customer Support: 10
Never dealt with the company itself. The music store I buy from always makes problems with anything I have bought from them over the last 30 years good, so I will give them the rating.

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing 30 years. I have what I mentioned before and a shitload of acoustic guitars from various brands, mostly Takamine's for my acoustic electrics and Martins for my regular acoustics. I'd get another one if it were lost or stolen. If you want great tube sound in a small package, this is a great amp. Be warned, it is very loud, much louder than any other 15 watt amp out there. I compared this to several inexpensive tube amps, and it came down to this or the Kustom Tube 12, which is also very nice and half the price but I chose this one because I've always used VOX amps, like the sound and I guess out of loyalty. Great amp for the bucks.

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/14/2005 00:32

Price Paid: US $142.75

Features: 10
this is a great amp for the money...very versatile...i'm writing because i feel that strong about it...and was miffed by the 20 min. tone experts review...this amp has 11 different models that respond very differently to gain and eq tweaks on each setting..i use it for practice and recording...sounds very good direct into or mic'd...with pro tools or analog tape...it's powerful and the tube does make a difference; though i don't always run it hard enough to get the full tube benefits; i maybe should have bought the 30 watt that has the switch to run it on low volume...

Sound Quality: 9
great sounding amp...i like the ac15,tweed 4/10 (tweek with) uk 80's, and both boutique's for something's ...the other settings are great too; but not my thing...the effects are fun and i think the wah is very original and unique...my big complaint with the amp is the reverb...is't sounds very digital to me or fake sounding whatever the word would be....i have had a couple vox pathfinders in the past and the reverb is better on that practice amp...but this is a minor point...for recording i sometimes like to add reverb in the mix anyway....my other thing here sound-wise...i think this amp likes humbuckers better...i can get more good sounds on any model with humbuckers...but i get great strat or tele sounds too...i just have to tweak more...the preset sounds are great jumping points and watching the red light and being able to tell how they are acheived is an awesome function....last point: noise reduction is a great feature...but watch how it's adjusted because at first my notes/chords were just fading and then cut off and i couldn't figure out what was happening and I almost returned the amp! then i read the book as i should of...felt pretty stupid when i figured out that the reduction was up all the way....for this price range sounds unbelievable...my points are minor...

Reliability: N/A
i don't think reliability will be an issue...maybe if i had gotten the 30 or 50 watt model it could be a gig or band amp...

Customer Support: 10
very good...i registered online and sent an e-mail asking what the expexted life of the tube was and if it should glow...they emailed back in 24 hour a nice detailed e-mail...(couple of year lifetime...and compared it to a lightbulb that the lifetime is kind of hard to answer...IT WAS KINDA A DUMB QUESTION ANYWAY...they also said that it probably wouldn't glow much and depended on use and how hard it was working...ALSO A DUMB QUESTION)...but i wonder if a tube change could hot rod this amp at all or upgrade it...it's an electro harminex tube so THATS GOOD RIGHT? -I HAVE TUBE AMPS IN THE PAST AND HAD THEM BIASED CHANGED REPLACED WHATEVER AND HAVE USED TUBE MIC-PRE'S AND TUBE MIC'S...BUT I'M PRETTY IGNORANT ABOUT TUBES...

Overall Rating: 10
I'VE PLAYED ALL MY LIFE...AND HAD ALOT OF ALL THE OTHINGS AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER...NOW I MAKE ALOT OF MUSIC NOBODY WILL EVER HEAR...I WENT IN TO BUY A PATHFINDER FOR A LITTEL PRACTICE RECORDING AMP...I THINK BOTH VOX MODELS ARE GREAT LITTLE AMPS FOR THE MONEY IF THATS WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR...THE PATHFINDER I THINK LOOKS COOLER...THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS HOW IT LOOKS ANYWAY...I DON'T THINK ANY OF THE OTHER AMPS MENTIONED IN THIS REVIEW ARE AS VERSATILE OR THE VALUE THAT THE AC15VT IS...THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE $150 MUSICAL PURCHASES OF ALL TIME...I THINK THE SOUNDS ARE EQUAL TO THE POD IF THAT REFERENCE HELPS ANYONE...AND THIS HAS A SPEAKER...THE BERIHNGER VAMP THATS 50 WATTS AND AROUND $250.00 IS A DECENT AMP TOO...AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE AC50VT YOU SHOULD COMPARE THOSE TWO AND SEE WHATS BEST FOR YOU....THIS WOULD BE A GREAT STARTER AMP BECAUSE OF THE WAY YOU CAN WORK AT TESTING A BUNCH OF SOUNDS AND FIND YOUR OWN VOICE/STYLE...AND IT REACTS MUCH LIKE A TUBE AMP AND A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT AMPS...AND YOU COULD LEARN ALOT ABOUT SETTING GAIN VOLUME MASTER VOLUME AND THEN YOUR GUITARS VOLUME AND PICKING ATTACK/DYNAMICS ECT....I WISH I HAD THIS OPTION WHEN I WAS A KID...CAN ANYONE BELIEVE THE GEAR STARTERS CAN CHOOSE FROM NOW? OLD CRAPPY 4 TRACKS VS. UNLIMITED TRACKS ECT. ECT....BUT OLD PRO'S WILL LIKE THE VALUE OF THIS AMP TOO...

Submitted by LONELY A at 01/11/2005 09:58

Price Paid: US $140 used

Features: 8
Fairly new amp that seeks to emulate 11 different popular amplifiers AND 11 effect/effect combinations. It not so much has 2 channels as 2 seperate programmable presets. Cool look, cool price. I do wish it had a jack for an extension cab, but for how this thing sounds, you can't have everything. This amp reacts a lot like a full tube amp, and if this is how the future of hybrids is going to sound, sign me up.

Sound Quality: 10
This amp has an 8" speaker but trust me its not a real issue. I'm fairly prejudiced against anything but 12" speakers, and I find myself flat out amazed. I am very glad Vox didnt try and squeeze in a knob on the panel letting you select speaker emulation. Give some people to much 'control' over their sound and the whole thing goes to hell. Vox realized that if you give simple folk too many options, the amp WILL sound like crap after a cursory listen. All of the amp emulations are very well tuned to the speaker so unless you're used to a Soldano SLO this is the real deal. The only gripe I can realistically make is the effect combinations seem kind of odd. I would prefer a seperate reverb control independent of the others, but for $140, oh well. I've had 1,000 lb. Twins and this does a damn good version. Make no mistake, this is no little shredder amp you see the 14 year old boys abusing at Guitar Center. It does a good version of a Marshall but the Clean settings are really good.

Reliability: 8
No perceivable cabinet or speaker shuddering, I'm happy.

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing around 25 years, started with metal/rock and am finding my tastes running jazzier than anything else. I would most definitely replace. I love the clean sounds and found the distorted amp emulations VERY accurate. Best job I've ever heard an 8" speaker do In my life. I might just get another and run miked into a P.A. next time I play out. My advice would be to give it a chance. Forget about the chrome and black tolex. This thing is a damn good deal and sounds very very good.

Submitted by Jason at 01/10/2005 20:44

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 8
11 models on tap, digital effects, two footswitchable channels (no footswitch included), bass/mid/treble, and in addition to the gain and volume for each setting, there is a master volume. 15 watts into a four ohm 8" speaker. preamp out does not pass through the power section which employs th 12AX7, so in this design it is not "modelled" fully until it's coming through the speakers. plenty of control considering the pirice and size.

Sound Quality: 9
again, considering it's price and size, it sounds just amazing. i have not played through and compared all of the amps that were modelled in this unit, but there are a lot of great sounds on tap, and it "feels" like a tube amp to an impressive degree. i think the clean models are the better ones overall, through the overdrives are impressive on the whole. looking at it, you would think it's all mids/treble, but the truth is the opposite - it has tons of low end and, if anything, is dark sounding. i wouldn't recommend it if you have primarily dark-sounding guitars for this reason.

Reliability: N/A
only two weeks old - no marks

Customer Support: N/A
no experience with their customer service - no marks.

Overall Rating: 10
if you need a small practice amp that is inexpensive and as flexible as hell, then i can't imagine being unhappy with one of these - it delivers and then some. i have the boutique clean set up on channel one, and the American high gain set up on channel two, and i can't help but smile as i switch between the two... Vox shoots and SCORES. :D

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/04/2005 18:22

Price Paid: 130 (pounds)

Features: 9
11 different type of amps and digital effects - great!

Sound Quality: 9
You must know how to set the settings properly to get good sounds. If set badly, it will sound crap. If it is set properly, it will sound fantastic. You must play around with the tone controls and master volume and volume to get right amount of effects and tones, and this amp sounds like very expensive valve amp.

Reliability: N/A
So far no problems!

Customer Support: N/A
Not sure about this.

Overall Rating: 8
I went in to buy Roland Cube, but for another 40 pounds, this VOX was offering 11 different amp sounds and loads of digital effects. It sounded also quite good, so I thought yeah this is better value for money. I took it home, and play with USA Strat Plus and Telecaster. Sounds great! I also have Fender HotRod Delux, and this one is a killer amp, but it is about 4 times more expensive than ADT15, so it is expected. But for 130 pounds, it is a great amp. I wish I had Marshall 1974X, but it is way too expensive for me. As all yous know, Amp is very important factor in producing good tone, and if you have a shite amp, then your guitar will sound shite.

Submitted by Anonymous at 01/02/2005 02:08

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 7

Sound Quality: 9
LOL!...Kris's review below is pretty typical of a noob. 20 mins of playing and he knows the amp totally sucks. Thats just priceless.

You really have to crank the master volume up around half way or more to get this amp to open up. Yes just like a tube amp. For a 15 watter, I see very little wrong with the tones I hear from this little monster. It gets a great AC/DC crunch and a decent Van Halen tone. That alone makes it for me. You gotta crank the volume knobs for the UK 70's setting to get it pumping.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A
Read the manual and learn how to tweak the effects. 20 mins aint gonna cut it on any modeling amp.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/25/2004 09:33

Price Paid: 14,000 (Filipine Pesos about $250 US dollars)

Features: 10
Well, I'm one of those retirees living in the Philippines that has to put his two cents worth in on this amp. Mine was made in 2004, assembled in China, designed in UK. Won't go into all the details, they have been quite well covered. In short - this amp is FUCKING AWESOME for a 15 watt amp. You cannot beat it for the bucks, shit, you can't beat it for two hundred more bucks. Makes the Marshalls and Peavey's in the price range sound like shit. I won't mention Fender and Crate because all of their little amps suck. This fucker is great for home, but you can gig with it too. The tube in this rascal makes this fucker SCREAM!!! Crank it up and rock. Like the guy before said, it has more voices than Sybil. The schizophrenic or multi-personality disorder amp with a purpose. EXCELLENT!!!

Sound Quality: 10
Well, I use a Gibson Les Paul 56 Goldtop with P-90 pickups, a Fender made in Japan Strat with Texas Special Pickups, a 72 Custom Telecaster with a vintage noiseless at the bridge and humbucker at the neck, and an Ibanez GRU270DX. This amp suits my music style quite well. I play in a variety band with another american, his filipina wife, my filipina wife and her sister. We play mostly 60's and 70's country and classic rock but I like to get down to some hard rock too and this amp does it all. I use this amp at home to practice and I gig with a Peavey Studio Pro. I have taken this amp though as a backup and have used it to gig with and it did extremely well. Extreme wide variety of fuckin sounds here boss - we talking everything from Hank Williams to Linkin Park and everything in between. Distortion can be brutal if you want it to be on the UK 80's, UK Modern and US High Gain settings.

Reliability: 10
I've been using VOX amps for 30 years. No problems ever encountered. This one is as tough as the rest.

Customer Support: 10
Great.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing 40 years. Have what I mentioned above, a VOX Pathfinder 15R which is also GREAT, and several old Gibson Acoustic and Acoustic Electric Guitars. I love this amp. Best bang for the buck.

Submitted by Bear at 12/12/2004 04:15

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 1
This is a short review, 20minutes of playing in a shop.
First, the fx section is very dumb: you must chose between compressor or reverb ! This makes it VERY unpractical.
Connections are very poor if not non-existent, so you're stuck with the sounds inside, read on.

Sound Quality: 1
Bad news here, especially if you consider the price of the thing.
There is a bad flavour always present, whatever the sound you chose, be it clean or overdriven, and it sums up to one sound with more or less eq/drive preselection.
No way to get rid of it. If it were a colour, I would say it dark flat brown. It is always there, as if you had a thick blanket on the amp.
Apart from that, it sounds pretty much the same as my ex-behringer ultraroc 30 combo. Only a bit better on the clean sounds, and a far bit worse on the drive settings.
I found the fx section to be better, fresher, on the behringer.
As for this very one, you have to make use of compressor to have usable clean sounds, and since you also can't have reverb with comp...
A big disappointment, this vox is a fake, it farts more than anything on drive sttings.

Reliability: N/A
It seems to be ok, but who knows. The lack of connections means you don't have much chances to fry something by yourself, though

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 1
I play since late eighties, own a lot of stuff, and my ear is well trained. I can show you a good practice amp, and it is not this vox nor the mentioned behringer. The winner is very clearly the little mg15cdr from Marshall, clever connections and an overdriven sound to die for (please don't forget the price, we're not talking big amps here...).
And if you're more on the clean side, the crate gt15r is better than the vox too.
What I say is: a good trannie practice amp lets you feel what you're actuallly doing, you get a better control of your guitar, and most important: a real tone, even if not loud or sophisticated.
This vox misses it all, I do advise you to spend your money on the marshall and a better guitar and cable.
Thanks for reading, yougsters!

Submitted by kris at 12/11/2004 16:13

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 9
I like guitar. This thing has more voices than Sybil. That's nice. My wife likes the headphone jack. I needed something smaller than my Roland BC-30 to take back and forth to my guitar group at church. This one is smaller, but not much. But, the sound makes up for it. In a big room, it has a big sound. I'd like a lighter amp, but it probably wouldn't sound like this.

Sound Quality: 9
The sound, yeah it's nice. I have a Dean Avalanche, Strat lookalike. I replaced the pickups with Seymour Duncans. I have a Stack in the Bridge, the other two are Alnico Pro II's. My other electric is an Ibanez Artcore, all original. It's pretty sweet, but puts out too much signal for this amp. Sometimes, that's fun. I can't get real carried off about some of the effects since the flanger and rotary are louder than the acutal guitar output. It only took me a few minutes to learn to play the flanger, but hours to learn the guitar. If you're better than me you would probably wouldn't like that. I don't. Effects are okay, but I want to play guitar, not pedals. Thank goodness for a by-pass. The Boutique setting isn't even that bad.

Reliability: 10
So far, it's been solid. I move it at least once a week. It stays parked in my dining room right by the table so's I can play after hours (remember the headphone thing) And is in the target zone for being a spill victim, chair mauled or toe stubbed. It still lights up when I hit the switch. That's cool.

Customer Support: 1
I sure wish I had the original instructions that should have come with it. I hear they're on the web page. The web page won't load up from my computer. I'd like to be able to turn down some of those effects. It's like having a digital watch. You can't use all the features if you don't know what to do. Any body got a copy? So, I can't really reach Vox for help. Ouch, that's gotta hurt. Okay, maybe I'm almost a rocket scientist, I still like to at least have a clue.

Overall Rating: 9
I've been playing off an on for a couple o' decades. More seriously about 2 or 3 years. I wanted to sound like Stevie Ray, but I'm getting a kick out of just trying. And then there's Joe Walsh, Lighting Hopkins . . . I can usually get what I want out of this one. If it were stolen, I'd definitely get another one. I've always been a little leary of Brit reliability. So, I can't say I'm really relaxed that this thing is bulletproof. But until it craters, I'll enjoy it while I can.

Submitted by relic at 12/08/2004 22:26

Price Paid: US $179.00

Features: N/A
I don't know when mine was made, but I assume 2003 because they haven't been making this amp for long. All the features have been covered so no need to be redundant. It is versatile enough for any style of music and for $179.00, I truly believe it is the best valve practice amp out there. Some people on here complain about noise but mine is not noisy, except on my single coil guitars, but the noise reduction knob on this really cuts down on that without affecting the sound. Excellent amp in every way.

Sound Quality: N/A
Well, since a bad divorce in the mid 1990's that cleaned my clock, I don't have nearly as many guitars as I once did. I have a very old, Yamaha Studio Pro, made in 1972, which is one of the original lawsuit Les Paul Copies, which is awesome. When I got my divorce and had to get rid of my Gibson Les Paul or this one, I kept the Yamaha because it played and sounded better than the real thing. It has two humbuckers. Since that was all I was left with, I have been collecting cheaper guitars. I have a Squier Standard Stratocaster with three single coils, which have been upgraded to Texas Specials. I have an SX SST 57 Stratocaster clone, which sounds exactly like my old Fender 57 Stratocaster, and it is stock, with 3 single coils. I also have a Squier Affinity Telecaster, which has been modified to string through body and the pickups have been replaced with Vintage Noiseless Pickups, which are stacked humbuckers. Finally, I have a Washburn X-21 Pro, which I just purchased not so long ago and it has a humbucker at the bridge and two single coils. All of these guitars are fine for my music tastes, each one adding something to my arsenal. The amp suits my music styles very well, which varies. I am a child of the sixties, so I love the old Beatles stuff, Rolling Stones, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Cream, Sabbath and also like 70's and 80's classic rock. I love blues and blues rock as well as rockabilly, country, folk and electric folk. I also have heavy metal moods, as well as punk and grunge moods. This amp handles all of them extremely well. There are so many amp models to choose from that virtually all music styles are covered with perfection. It is a fairly quiet amp, makes a little noise on my single coil guitars, but at the same time, I think this amp really shines on single coils. It sounds good with humbuckers on the UK 70's, 80's and Modern Rock as well as the US High Gain setting, but it really shines with single coils on the other settings. The distortion can be as brutal as you want it to be. The clean channels do distort at higher volumes on the AC15 and the AC30 settings, but then again, they are supposed to. For the bucks and size, and having a tube pre-amp, I just don't think you can find a better practice amp, especially as versatile as this one out there.

Reliability: 10
Seems to be built tough as a tank. I've had a lot of VOX amps over the years and never had a problem with them. This amp is LOUD and I believe it could easily be gigged with, but I still use it as a practice amp at home and gig with my Peavey Studio Pro. I do take it along as a backup and warm up amp though, and like I said, I believe it is loud enough to gig with, especially in a smaller nightclub environment.

Customer Support: 10
VOX has always been good to me. Always answered my emails promptly and always corresponded with me promptly by phone or mail back in the days before computers.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing all my life basically, 50 years. I have what I mentioned above and several Epiphone Acoustic Guitars. I also have a VOX Pathfinder 15R Amp which is great also as well as one of those little Squier SP10 amps which is an ok travel amp. I keep the AD15VT in the living room, the Pathfinder in the Bedroom and take the Squier SP10 when I have to travel (non music related). I gig with my Peavey Studio Pro. I would get another one if it were lost or stolen. Great amp all the way around.

Submitted by Anonymous at 12/03/2004 23:08

Price Paid: US $160.00

Features: 10
Lots of features. 11 amp models, bunch of effects, Noise reduction (you're going to need it). Some ins and outs. 15 watts, 1X8 vox stock speaker. Lots of good features.

Sound Quality: 9
I'm not sure if I reccomend getting this amp (keep reading below), but I have to admit the sounds are pretty killer. I've owned some good amps prior to this (60's epiphone tube, Mesa Nomad, H&K), and I currently own a Peavey Classic 30 (a great amp for a reasonable price). So I guess I have some good comparisions. All the models sound great to me with the exception of The fender twin (kinda weak), and the UK90's (sounds very digital). All the other models are very useable. Ac30 has chime out the . . . wazoo? Bassman sounds great, and the others are all pretty cool as well. Only thing I've noticed is I haven't been able to get a good recording from this amp (when micing). The sound always come out fat and bloated, and I always only have the bass around 8:30 or 9:00. Anyway, maybe that's something to be aware of that this amp doesn't seem to sound near as good once you get down in front of the speaker. Another person echoed this thought in another valvetronix review somewhere on here.

To sum it up, the sounds are fantastic, and I've A-Beed it to my Classic 30, and yes the Classic 30 does have a more three dimensional tubey sound, but I'm still impressed every time I plug into this amp.

Reliability: 4
HEY VOX!! OR MITCH COLBY!!! or whoever actually gives a crap about the reliability of your products. This is my second vox (first was a cambridge 15). Both have had huge reliability issues. What do you guys do there at Korg/Vox? Hope for the best?

My cambridge 15 had volume fading issues as did almost everyone's. Was there a recall? No. An apology? No. What you did was get everyone to take it in for repairs and replace the faulty opticoupler with the SAME opticoupler and sent everyone away with a two month return ticket to the repair shop. Horrible!

And my valvetronix?! Roughly 4 out of 10 people (at least for AD60VT,AD120VT have had issues with this amp here on HC). Was there a recall? No. An apology? No. Did I even get a reply after filling out the customer support form on your website 4 times. Um . . . nope.

And your solution to the valvetronix problems- "just plug a cord in and out of the headphone jack a few times". WHAT!!!!!!!????????? How can you seriously consider this a viable amp? How can you say that to someone with out your face turning bright red from the embarrasment of your amp.

My particular amp is so noisy that I can't even turn the gain up over half way on the AC30 (that's with the NR). I know mine has noise issues, because there is no way that if this was normal to every amp, there wouldn't be complaints all over this page. Also, what the heck were you guys thinking for the placement of the tube?!!! You have to use duct tape to get it out (after taking the amp apart). The Cambridge 15 had equally bad tube placement. One other thing. I've tried three different 12Ax7s/7025s/Ecc83s. None of them will work with this amp. they only produce from 1/4-1/2 of the original power. It will only work with the tube it came with. What gives?

Anyway, in conclusion. Don't save money by letting us test the product. Test it yourself.

Customer Support: 1
HEY VOX!!!!!???? Yes, I want your attention again. With all the problems mentioned above, have I been able to even ask you about them? No. I've tried filling out the customer support form on your website 4 times, and tried emailing my local distributor (Erikson Music), and nothing. You guys SUCK.

Overall Rating: 5
Great sounds, all of the voxes I've played have sounded killer. That doesn't matter too much if you can't even play the amp out though. My prediction? Vox will soon find out reliablilty of products and great customer support goes hand in hand with great sounding products if you want to keep customers.

Submitted by Luke at 11/27/2004 14:02

Price Paid: US $179.00

Features: 10
Exceptional features! Amp has 11 well known amp models in it's preset mode. In preset mode each amp selection is configured in what was deemed typical. These presets/configurations are really good. You can also go to the manual and tweek each amp to your own taste. The amp also features all the necessary effects which I find work great. I will not need a stomp box with this amp. Another cool feature is the tap button which allows you to set the modulation/delay of the effects - a truly great feature. There is no extension speaker jack which I did't expect from a 15 watt amp and no output power adjust that the AD30VT includes. Again not expected. It does have a line output which you can send to a board or another amp. I can't stress this enough...READ the oweners manual! It is very well written and will help you get the most out of this amp.

Sound Quality: 10
This amp rocks! I simply love the sound. I have been playing guitar for 25 years and I can't believe what you can get today for a small practice amp. This amp has every tone you would want and it really sounds great at all volume levels. Remember though that it is a small amp. At 15 watts don't expect to blow away the band. For gigs you can either mic it which I plan to do (I like it better than my main amp) or use the line out to the board. I use both single coil and humbuckler pups guitars. It works very well with both but I really like how a strat sings with this amp. I play classic rock and some modern. I do not play real heavey 7-string stuff so I don't know how those folks would rate this amp. I think it puts out a great deal of distortion and you can tweek it to taste. I have tried several other top name brands but in my opinion, for what I play, nothing else comes close. Do what I did though and take your main axe with you when you audition any amp. That way you know exactly what your getting.

Reliability: 8
Nothing has broke yet and I don't expect it too. It appears to be built like a tank with a solid front grill (which I really like) that protects the speaker and a tough cab. With the Vox name on it I expect it to last for a very long time - we'll see.

Customer Support: 10
Very Helpful! Soon after I bought it I was so impressed with the sound that I wanted to plug it into my main amp for outdoor gigs or where a Pa system wasn't available. I e-mailed coustomer support for advice and they wrote right back......

Overall Rating: 10
A wonderful amp. Way beyond what I expected. I highly recommend it. Again, take your axe with you to a dealer. You've got to hear this baby. The Vox web site is good and has some samples which are fine but you've got to play it.

Submitted by Frank at 11/02/2004 11:16

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A

Sound Quality: 9
regarding what that person said about this amp against a marshall...this a practice amp. it's a good one. but a practice amp. it sound good, does a good job of the modeling & effects. for the low price. I think it's good little amp. I use it w/gibby les paul, two ricks, strat & tele, godin and heritage. and they all sound good for a practice.maybe he just had a lemond from the bunch ? not saying this vox is the greatest thing on earth but as a practice it's pretty good..thanks

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/27/2004 11:35

Price Paid: US LOW DINERO

Features: 10
Y'ALL KNOW THE DRILL

Sound Quality: 10
THIS LITTLE GUY FLAT ASS ROCKS. IT'S SAD WHEN REPS FROM OTHER MANUFACTURERS OF LESSER SOUNDING AMPS TRY TO BRING ANOTOTHER COMPANY'S RATINGS ON HARMONY CENTRAL DOWN. A MARSHALL MCD C'MON AAAHH POO POO IN A BOX. NO TREBLE? MAYBE THEM EARS BEEN TOO CLOSE TO THAT MARSHALL SOLID STATE AND IT DONE MESSED UP THE OLD NOGGIN.NOW A REAL TUBE MARSHALL COMPARED TO THIS LITTLE ASS KICKER IS A DIFFERENT STORY ,BUT THEMS APPLES TO ORANGES HUH. FOR THE BUX LINE SIX AINT EVEN CLOSE EITHER ESP THAT HORRIBLE ATTEMPT AT A BLUESBREAKER. BUY THE LITTLE VOX TWIST THEM KNOBS TURN IT ON UP AND ROCK YO ASS OFF.

Reliability: 10
NEVER EVER GIG WITH OUT SOME KINDA BACK UP-SHIT HAPPENS

Customer Support: N/A
HAVE NOT HAD A REASON TO FIND OUT

Overall Rating: 10

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/23/2004 16:35

Price Paid: N/A

Features: N/A

Sound Quality: N/A
How can I describe this... the AD15VT and all the other Vox Valvetronix amps sound like a real amp would sound if you had it on the floor by your feet - but this is when the AD15VT is its pointing at your head!

The character of all the amp models is there and there are nice effects; but the amp just sounds like I need to take a thick invisible blanket off the speaker.

This is the difference between modelling amps and real solidstate or valve gear, the clarity in the high end. The Line6 amps suffer the same artifact - a total band pass cutting of the high treble clarity.

I repeat my description: this amp, with speaker pointing at your head, sounds just like the amps it is modelling would sound if you were playing them at your feet.

I have owned the larger AD60VT amps and they were the same - very dull sounding in the treble/presence range.

When you audition this amp in the store tilt it back and point it at your head and do the same with a valve or solidstate amp (eg. a Marshall MG15DFX to choose an amp of the similar price bracket). You will see what I mean about the high end clarity. Its like comparing the sound of an expensive pair of hi-fi speakers with cheapo boombox speakers. The boombox speakers may be loud, booming and impressive and you know the audio content is there, but the content is muffled trying to get out. Whereas with the hi-fi speakers you have the clarity and detail (showing the amps warts and all).

I think this is where decent solidstate practice amps get a bad wrap compared to modellers, but at least the frequency spectrum is full and honest on the solidstates. The modellers all seem to lob off the top end frequencies (manufacturers attempt at hiding digital artifacts?). The Roland Cube range is the only modelling amps I have heard that have a full range of frequencies like a real amp would.

I have owned lots of Marshall amps (DSL50, MG100DFX, MG15DFX, Valvestates), Laney amps, Line6, rack and modelling gear and I have been playing 70/80's higain guitar stuff for 10+ years.

The Marshall MG15DFX might have very few options compared to the AD15VT but it is a real guitar amp with all the audio frequencies present.

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Anonymous at 10/19/2004 07:02

Price Paid: US $170

Features: 9
I cant believe VOX packed all these features into a little (and cheap) 15W. The tube/SS hybrid, dual channel amp has 11 fairly accurate models, along with 11 effects. The amp is very versatile and LOUD!!!!!! You can play jazz, blues, rock, metal,whatever. Great for in your room, garage, tiny venues. Not to mention the metal faceplate is snazzy.

Sound Quality: 8
I play a EPI LP Std through this thing and it really sounds great. The amp does get a little feedback when cranked, but it can be cleaned out w the guitar volume controls. The models are great, as well as versatile. (turn down guitar volumes when using the heavier models, they actually give great clean tone)

Reliability: N/A
Haven't found out yet...hope i dont have to

Customer Support: N/A
???? 2 year warranty is all i know and care about.

Overall Rating: 10
Ive been playing for 4 years, this is the best practice amp i have yet to play. I like the idea of the power control in the back of the AC30VT, so i was dissapointed when i found that mine didnt have it...oh well. this is a great amp for noobies. You will not find a better new amp for this price.

Submitted by Luciano at 10/18/2004 15:54

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 8
Hybrid modeler with 11 amp models and 11 effects/effects combinations. 2 programmable channels. Made in 2004. 15 very loud watts into a 8" Vox speaker. Very full and rich sounding. This doesn't sound like a 1x8 combo! No power level control on the back of the amp like the other models. This was a bigger issue for me than I expected. The amp sounds great, but the volume has to be turned up higher than I can live with here at home.

Sound Quality: 9
I have a Strat style and a LP style guitar, both with vintage output AlNiCo pickups. I like blues, classic rock, and hard rock/HM from the 80's. This amp coveres all the possible tones I want. I particularly like the Tweed 4x10, Boutique CL (Dumble clean), AC30TB, UK 70's (Marshall 50w non-MV), and UK 80's (Marshall 2203). All of these are a good representation of the amp modeled. I can't speak towards the accuracy of the Dumble tone, but it is my favorite clean tone in the amp. Very rich/full/lush. The amp does, indeed, set up the tone controls just like the original amp it's modeling. The tones are amazing close to the originals too. The 8" speaker in a closed back cab sounds much bigger. Great bass response! This does NOT sound like a typical 1x8 combo. I kept this amp for 2 days and returned it for a AD30VT, which I have not received yet. The reason for this is that the AD15VT does not have the power level control that the bigger models have. This allows the user to drive the tube output section fully and control the volume after that stage. In my current playing situation (around the house) that is an important feature.

Reliability: N/A
N/A
Seems like it's well built.

Customer Support: 10
Ordered from North Coast Music. I sent this back to North Coast Music in trade for a AD30VT. Gary is a great guy and easy to do business with.

Overall Rating: 8
I've been playing on and off for 20 years. This is a great product. Just be aware that it does not have the power level control like the bigger models. Still, I was amazed at what Vox crammed into this thing. Some great tones and effects at a great price.

Submitted by Leftee at 10/11/2004 00:16

Price Paid: N/A

Features: 9
i submitted the previous post... fonud that the reverb can indeed be tweaked out. I usually dont mess with amps that have more than 6 knobs. This guy has 9 knobs and 6 buttons! Anyway, revised rating is 9. Not a ten bc the effects are just not as organic sounding as the amp models.

Sound Quality: N/A

Reliability: N/A

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: N/A

Submitted by Anonymous at 09/21/2004 21:17

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 8
Nice features but i wish that the reverb was seperate form the rest of the effects or you could change the reverb parameter via the edit buttons. Some effects have reverb along with them (ie tremolo and reverb) where the reverb is fixed in terms of time and hi damp. This can be frustrating when recording as the reverb can a bit too much. The amp models included are exactly what i would expect and want so they did a great job here. The only complaint is that reverb issue but its enough to warrant an 8.

Sound Quality: 9
Sound quality is really amazing. The valve reactor circut that put in there in place of the power tubes is awesome. I actually own some of the vintager amp models that they tried to emulate and they have done a fairly good job. I own a reissue Ac30TB, '71 100W (they model a 50W) plexi, and an 83 100W JCM800. The vox amp models are very accurate. They just sound amazing, and the same goes for the bassman (tweed), and the black 2x12. My compaint is that the plexi and jcm800 moels do not have the treble bite that im used to. The treble seems to get lost a bit in the mids and bass, that said the overdrive characteristics are essentially the same.. roll back the volume and its clean full up and you're in overdrive heaven. They even went so far as to reproduce the EQ/volume nuances of amps as well. The gain on the plexi model acts as a master volume and if you keep the mids at 12oclock on the AC30 the EQ is very much the same. That treble issue isnt that big of a deal but it still detracts form the expierience. As for the effects I already mentioned that reverb problem but the rest of the effects sound pretty good. BTW this amp will always sound better when its dimed. Very little speaker distortion (good in this case)and the nuances of the amp models are really brought out. Also, this has got to be THE loudest 15W amp I have ever heard! One last thing my strat sounds a bit thinner but alot more noisy even though i have installed humbuckers on that too. Not sure what the problem is but it sounds better with les pauls.

Reliability: N/A
just got it so i have on idea. But it does have one preamp tube which will need to be replaced somewhere down the road... not a big deal tho.

Customer Support: N/A
never dealt with them

Overall Rating: 10
I've been playing for a long time and have been looking for a small amp that I could record with and use for practice on the daily basis. This really fits the bill. I mike my amps for recording and this sounds great. I play with a Gibson Les Paul classic, standard, and special HB, and modded Fender strat . All sound fantastic thru this amp (even the thinner sounding and noisy strat). I compared it to the other popular modelling amps from Line 6 behringer and fender. None had the warmth or sensitivity that this amps has. It really does feel like a tube amp. If it as lost of stolen i would probably buy the 30W version instead since it has a cool power level knob that lets you decide how much juice to give plus i would like another 15W RMS available, but this is pretty luod as it is when you run it flat out. For the price you cant beat this thing... at $179 it really is a steal. I sounds just as good or better than modelling amps made by fender and Line 6 that cost twice as much. Also, if the speaker was upgraded I'm sure this amp would blow almost anything out of the water. I'm very happy with this amp despite some of the small complaints I have.

Submitted by Anonymous at 09/21/2004 17:06

Price Paid: US $179

Features: N/A
This is a well built tube/solid state hybrid amp (2004). I play jazz in a swing band, and rock sometimes at home. Will probably get the footswitch for live playing. Wish it had a guitar tuner like the other Behringer V-Tone I had. Lot's of good efects , but I mostly use just the delay and reverb. I barely ever use the flanger, and chorus. I use the amp at rehearsal with a 15 piece 'Big Band'. It's loud enough, though I might get a second AD15 for more power and run my sound in stereo from the Digitech RP3 I use for wah and tuner.

Sound Quality: N/A
I use it with a Seymour Duncan Jazz (SH-2) neck pickup on an Ibanez Artcore archtop. Sounds pretty good, especially on the AC15 and Dumble (Boutique) amp settings. When I first heard the AD60VTX my jaw dropped, couldn't believe what I was hearing. So I gave back the transistor sounding Behringer 30W V-Tone and got this 15W instead. As far as I can tell, both amps are equally loud. This Vox is loud!! This amp sings, period. Nothing better at this price level. Do yourself a favor and get this amp. I was prejudiced before about buying a modeling amp, but you have to hear this amp to appreciate what everyone is raving about.

Reliability: 7
No problems so far. Looks very sturdy and built really well. I got the $20/2year replacement warranty from Guitar Center so I didn't have to deal with any maintenance/repair hassles.

Customer Support: 7
Comes with a 1 year warranty. Looks like there are a lot of service shops all around the US.

Overall Rating: 10
Been playing for about 14 years. And so far, from all the gizmos and gadgets I've bought along the years (Digitech GSP-21PRO remember that one :-), Roland JC 60, Line 6 POD, Fender Princeton, etc) this is the most satisfying sound I've heard. This is amazing technology guys, go check one out. You'll like what you hear.

Submitted by Silver Surfer at 08/19/2004 18:30

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 6
already been posted below

Sound Quality: 8
previous post about this amp is true..the metal grill takes alittle getting used to..I could be wrong but that metal grill add strength to the casing, makes is sturdier, less rattle..maybe(?)..overall a good little practice amp/toy..for $179..I didn't expect much..made overseas, you know what I mean..sounds ok..doesn't rock my world but it's a practice amp.

Reliability: N/A
just got it..if it is not a abused or misused, it should last and still can be sold on Ebay..

Customer Support: N/A
n/a

Overall Rating: 8
good little practice amp..sound alot better than alot of other pratice amps. I would certainly recommend it as a practice amp..overall a good product, fun little thing to play..

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/02/2004 22:42

Price Paid: US $179

Features: 10
made 2003-2004, part tube part modeler i think, 11 amps, 11 or so effects. i probably wont use all the effects or amps all the time, but they are all really good. it has a headphone jack. this amp works great for all types of music, in my opinion. TONS of stuff for pretty cheap.

Sound Quality: 9
So far I LOVE the sound that comes out of this thing. i quite enjoy the ease of changing from effect to effect and amp to amp, and everything so far is gravy. my only issue is there is no foot pedal.

Reliability: 10
the thing is solid backed, metal grilled, and indented controlled, its a TANK. i havnt had it for long, but it seems very durable.

Customer Support: N/A
NA

Overall Rating: 10
Great amp, good price, and it sounds great.

Submitted by Anonymous at 08/02/2004 00:43

Price Paid: US $179.99

Features: 7
View the Vox website for details on features. That said, I think they offer a very fair amount of features, bang for buck is very good.

Sound Quality: 8
Split decistion here. On it's own, very cool little amp....loudest 15 watt amp I have ever heard. Side by side with it's 30 watt sibling, this amp sounds much tighter and focused than the AD30VT. Must be the 8" speaker in this versus the 10" speaker on the 30 watter. Now, as an amp....great sounds, very cool. As a direct out, recording device....eh. Kind of leaves alot to be desired unforutunately. Was hoping with the tube added to the preamp this would be a cheap sub for the Tonelab. Nope...not really even close. Plus it adds a kind of nasty little high end zing that is annoying to recording, that you can't get rid of. So...all that said, don't buy this to use as a direct recording device. But for a cool little amp to practice on , maybe even small gigs...give it a shot.

Reliability: N/A
Only had it a day...no idea.

Customer Support: N/A

Overall Rating: 7
Good value multi-effect practice amp. Most people I showed this to didn't care for the metal grill....guess they want the vintage Vox look, not this new age look. Whatever....coool little amp for the money, not a serious device, but cool toy.

Submitted by Anonymous at 07/31/2004 03:22

Price Paid: US $189

Features: 10
Great amp, loaded with features, just like the larger Valvetronix models. I own the VTX 60 watt Neodog amp with 2x12 extension cabinet, but wanted a baby version of this amp to use in my media room. It's an amp that's simply fun to play, experiment with amp models and loads of built in effects. For an 8" speaker, this thing sure can crank! Fenders do sound sparkling clean, the Marshalls crunch, and I love the Recto.

Sound Quality: 10
I play a PRS, Les Paul, and Strat. All sound good on this little beast. Nice clean tones, but you can layer thick distortion if you want. Sound cleans up as you adjust volume on your guitar, nice. Of course, not as room shaking as the big brother VTX, but this amp sounds so good for something so small (and affordable!). You can't go wrong for the price.

Reliability: N/A
I wouldn't know this, since I just purchased it a week ago. But it's heavy, sturdy, and appears to be well made. Workmanship is pretty good. I wouldn't say it's solid like my Pro Junior, but close. The metal grate on the front is nice instead of plastic, which is what you would think they'd use for this price.

Customer Support: N/A
Again, I wouldn't know, and hopefully I won't know either.

Overall Rating: 10
I have the VTX 60 watt and extension cab, Fender Pro Junior, a small 15 watt Fender solid state practice amp, and a Crate bass amp, and this amp is a great portable addition. Hell, I'd like one in every room of the house! I'd buy another easy if lost or stolen, and for the price, who cares anyways. I compared modeling amps before buying the VTX, and my personal preference has been Vox all the way. This is a great amp to keep near your stereo when you want to jam along with your favorite playlist. A fantastic value. For a bit more $$$, you can check out the 30 watt model, which probably also rocks.

Submitted by menehune man at 06/23/2004 13:09

Price Paid: US $169

Features: 9
Made in 2004. Has 11 amp models, that range from clean to heavy distortion. There two channels in which you can save two programs. There are 11 effect presets, some with two effects. You can also modify the effect settings. The amp uses a tube, along with digital modeling and solid state amplifier, and does result in a tube-like sound. The amp has a headphone/line-out jack and can use an optional footswitch. It is fairly loud, but not enough for gigging.

Sound Quality: 10
I use a Fender Strate and an LP copy (Agile AL3000). There is a lot of variety in tones, allowing it to be used for clean fender-like sounds, jazz-like, rock and heavy metal. There is a nice bluesy overdrive with some of the cleaner amp models and a very heavy distortion with some of the amp models.

The amp does sound like a tube amp and is great for bedroom practicing, etc.

Reliability: N/A
So far so good, but I have only had it about a week.

Customer Support: N/A
So far so good, but I have only had it about a week.

Overall Rating: 10
I played guitra a lot when I was a teenage, and only picked it up again in the last year. I have a Fender MIM strat, a Les Paul copy (Agile AL3000), Roland Cube 30, and Crybaby Wah. If this amp was stolen or lost, I would definitely get another. It is small, with incredible good sounds, can be played at home without being too loud, and has a nice combination of effects. The 30 WATT versions is also great and has a large speaker (10") and the ability to adjust the power to overdrive the tube at lower volumes.

Submitted by Jerry Simecka at 06/13/2004 12:08