Hi,
So im thinking on changing my amp into a Vox Ac15 or Ac30, i wanted to get some advising. it is very difficult for me to go to a store and try an amps (there are just a few Vox sellers in mexico city and they will only have 1 or 2.)

Im looking for an amp that can go from a clean bright tone to a nice overdrive and a sort of jazz eq/tone. I would also want an amp that can react well to fuzz pedals (fuzz factory, fuzz face) and any other pedals.

I would be using it mainly in my home, so if the volume needs to by very high the crank up the tubes, that might be something to think about it.

I would appreciate any kind of advise (:

I second that. I picked up an AC4 earlier this year because I wanted to leave my AC30 at the practice space, but still have a tube amp to play at home. I run my AC4 at 1/4 watt setting at home and that works great. It really sounds great recorded as well. I'm not sure if I'd play out with it (it is pretty small), but it is quiet enough to play at home and still sound good. I wonder if it could be loud enough to keep up with a drummer. Have to try sometime.

The sound quality is absolutely different between the 15 and 30. They're both very good in their own right. Since you said you may be gigging, they could both handle that depending on the size of venues you'd be playing.

If you're going to play mostly venues that will put a microphone on your amp and mix it into a PA, I would go with the 15 - it'll still sound great and you won't have the sound guy tell you to turn it down all the time. If you're going to play medium to large venues without putting your amp through a microphone, I would go with the 30 - that will handle almost any situation very easily and still feel you have room to turn it up a little more if you have to.

If you're going to be gigging and putting the amp through a microphone, the 15 and 30 can sound very similar. Without a microphone, the 30 gets a fuller sound. I've gigged with both and the 15 always left me wanting more depth. I will admit, I've never tried a twin 15 - that might give a similar amount of sonic depth at a lower volume.

Another big difference is with the 30 you can jump the normal and top boost channels together. Basically, the 30 just has more tonal possibilities and more headroom. With the master volume, you can still get great tone at any volume (though you have to give it a little more to hit the sweet spot with the speakers).

Like rwk said, you also have to consider how much weight you're willing to carry to each gig. I personally feel it's worth the workout to have a 30 on stage with me. Others may have other opinions.

My favorite AC30 sound demo (pretty good player too): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJzjHrJqOcw

colchar

Whats the point in using the master volume on an Ac15 and turning the sound low to use in the home when you can buy an AC4 for a fraction of the price? The way I look at it master volume only works so well.. Those tubes are meant to be pushed!

BTW, Voxman, I liked your video demos. My Zep post (sound demo) wasn't in response to your posts. I just happen to love that video and thought of it. I wasn't trying to be snarky. It seemed that way after posted it and reread the threads. Didn't mean it that way, if it looked it.

Alonsoroman, have you had any more thoughts?

i thought the difference between ac15c1 and ac15c2 was the blue alnico and not a twin speaker.

Voxman, I probably can't tell when I am and aren't snarky anymore.

Alonsoroman, thanks for the update! If you do play out, you will have a good amp for that. Volume-wise, that 15 watts will be loud enough for anything. I have a friend who had a 100W Marshall half-stack and it sounded great, but it was loud and if you play a show big enough to warrant that amount of power, you are probably mic'd and don't need it anyway. BTW, the tone on that link you posted was great. Kind of an interesting band, have to check them out. Thanks for the post!

I still hear the same vibe of an AC30 from my AC15, I A/Bd my AC15C1 with an AC30TB from the 90s and the voicing was exactly the same, the AC15 was just a little brightier due to the smaller chassis and single speaker and have much less headroom, end of the differences, those who say the AC15 is a completely a different amp compared to an AC30 is probably referring to the previous series and so on, the AC15C1 really resembles a smaller AC30 now, having the normal channel and the tone cut, and as for the loudness the AC15 is only 3db quiter than the AC30, not so much difference.

And for the guy who justifies the use of an AC15 at home just because it has the master volume I remind you that a low master volume really takes out all the sweetness of this amp, there's really no point unless you're just after a very clean tone, but personally what I like about vox amps is tube distortion.