Vox AD15VT Valvetronix

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