Vox AD15VT Valvetronix

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