AC15C1X 1x12" 15-watt Tube Combo Amp with Alnico Blue Speaker Review

Great amp

I've got a vox ac30 clone and this amp blows it out of the water. no comparison. So I saved money over swapping the speaker and re tubing the base model. I couldn't stop myself from adding a beam blocker metal corner covers swapping the reverb tank and adding an attinuator. Now my amp can do it all at any volume.

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AC-15 Alnico Blue is the best

Absolutely love my new VOX! Used it for several occasions and it absolutely sounds great. Gives that classic sound and the true VOX chime I have loved. And when paired with my VOX AC-15 Greenback via an A - B switch the sound is unbelievable! Both classic and chimey with the warmer sound of the greenback give it an awesome combo!

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Living Engine

Can get Very loud, crystal clear with a Telecaster or Les Paul. I use to practice in house and smaller gigs - excellent. Would sound perfect at large gig through house audio. But- if you play outdoors on your own, Get the 30W if you have pedals and plan to play louder than what a drummers volume would be. The 15 will break up just above a drummers volume (playing clean relying… read more on pedals for distortion). Love this amp though - had a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for ten years in 2000s, blue alnico is entirely its own animal. Check one out and call Ryan Springer for your inquiry. V/r Greg

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Best amp ever

This VOX amp is the best amp I have ever played, it sounds awesome, like Brian May, George Harrison, etc., and the tubes are very reliable, FYI. Toni, (our sales engineer,) was EXTREMELY helpful. I would highly recommend this amp for anything; very versatile. The sound is very amazing, it sounds like nothing you've heard before. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Beautiful, chimey Vox cleans OoB...Excellent crunch with pedals

Don't let the small wattage fool you especially with the Alnico Blue speaker. This is a excellent tube amp through and through that can get loud enough for small venue gigs (>110dBA) and can still work well at home as a practice amp if you keep the master volume under 10 o'clock (~70-75dBA). If you need the tubes to really work at low volumes, make sure to turn up the channel… read more volume controls and you would not be disappointed. Two independent channels (normal and top boost). Normal doesn't have EQ controls; only the boost channel does. Tremolo and reverb works for both channels as well as the master volume and tone cut. Out of the box, with no pedals the amp just sings on cleans as any great Vox should. If you like Fender clean sounds and have never heard Vox tones, this will just take you to another ethereal level. Try one in the store of you can and I doubt you would want to leave empty handed. Contrary to want many other forums have said about pedals with Vox amps, they do take certain pedals very well but you will need to do you research for the sound you want. My preferences right now are the Timmy, EH Crayon or Hot Cake for a nice rock and roll crunch on the Normal channel. Make sure to dial the tone cut clockwise (past 2 o'clock) to the right to cut the treble to get more crunch. In general the normal channel has more overhead for pedals because it doesn't have the gain from the amp's boost channel. If you want a more metal sound, you can opt for the Pro Co Rat on the Top Boost channel but in all honestly you are better off getting an Orange or Marshall amp for those tones (which are still fantastic amps!). In the end, if you are looking at the Vox, you are likely looking for clear lead tones that can break away from the rest of you band ensemble rather than heavy fuzz. The spring reverb is great but I do agree that the Fender spring reverbs might just edge Vox's ever so slightly (but only just). If you have a reverb pedal, stick it on the effects loop and you are golden. Voxs are known for their tremolo circuits and this amp has the effects built in. I am not a huge fan of the tremolo yet but it might come in handy if I ever do a dry-wet setup. It definitely isn't for everyone and you can always turn it down or switch it off with the foot pedal (which annoyingly must be bought separately). Might think about picking up the LED version of the foot switch later on. Just wished Vox include it with their amps like most others do. Speaking of the foot switch, note that if you do plan on getting it, it will only work to turn on/off reverb and tremolo. Even though the amp has two channels, you have to either manually switch them or plug in an A/B switch to save you the hassle. Finally, as for Alnicos versus the Green Backs, I opted the Alnicos simply because they genuinely do sound better though most will brush off the differences as subtle. Again you have to try it in a store to really appreciate the subtleties. You can definitely hear the difference in the cleans when you crank the amp. However, you likely won't notice too much difference if you have high tone cuts heavy overdrive. If that is your thing, go for the Green Backs to save some money. But if you have the money, Alnicos are the way to go with Voxs... period!

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