Those two speakers have the same high perceived loudness. I would not put a v30 into a vox as they're already bright amps. The bigger nighttrain comes with a greenback cab. The g12h30 is like that but louder and has more treble and bass. Between those i'd go for that one on a vox. Of course the real vox speaker is the blue but you didn't ask that?

Definitely go with the G12H30 IMO.

I'm first and foremost a Blue fan (especially with Vox), but given a choice between the G12H and V30 I'd also take the G12H.

the V30 has alot of upper mids and seems to me quite honky mic'd up(from the same position), great for fools who scoop their mids (cos it put som mids back haha)
so... I agree, get the G12H.

Would love a Blue but it's too expensive ? nearly more than the amp.

The Celestion website says that the Vintage 30 was designed to sound like a Blue, but with a higher power rating.

Thoughts on this? I am looking for chime, and if the G12H30 gives me this, than great. It's just that I've read about a couple of guys saying that a Vintage 30 made their AC4's sound amazing.

Bruce wrote: The Celestion website says that the Vintage 30 was designed to sound like a Blue, but with a higher power rating.

It's a good speaker, but it's not a Blue by any stretch of the imagination. Regardless of what else a manufacturer does with cones and voice coils, the type of magnets set the character of the speaker. It's largely in the way they respond to breakup IMO and when the speaker itself starts compressing, the two become completely different animals.

I am looking for chime

The Blue has long been the very definition of chime. The G12H matches well with Vox amps, but it has a different character to the blue - a bit tighter and rockier, skewing the sound a bit more towards a Plexi Marshall amp tone (but in a good way).

It's just that I've read about a couple of guys saying that a Vintage 30 made their AC4's sound amazing.

Compared to the stock VX speaker, any of these speakers will be an upgrade, but the G12H will match the amp better than the V30. The V30 has a midrange tonality that tends to stack with the tone of a Vox and you end up with a bit of what I can only describe as a harsh "honk".

NB: If you get to try a new Blue, always remember that they take quite a while to break in and do so more than most speakers. The low end will fatten up over time and the highs will sweeten and mellow.

BTW: here are some comparisons of all these speakers on a Dr. Z Carmen Ghia with both a LP and Strat as well as both clean and driven:
http://ratcliffe.co.za/sundry/speakers/
Obviously your amp will supply it's own flavour to the mix, but this will let you hear the difference between all the most popular speakers.

BTW: I have a Weber alnico Blue Dog and an alnico Silver bell in my BF Twin. Both are Vox flavoured (Blue Dog giving the classic Blue chime, Silver Bell adding extra lows). They work out cheaper than the real deal (about R3K ea. in total, including about $120 shipping and duties), but you have to import them yourself. They also do ceramic versions which are quite nice and match well with Vox amps, and are half the price (but shipping stays constant, so you are still looking at about R2K ea.).

Thanks for all the great advice. I will definitely check that out.

The VX is actually just a Celestion Seventy 80, so it's pretty average.

Which speakers will give late breakup? I am particularly interested in that, especially with the AC4's early breakup, which I don't mind, but would like a little more headroom. I know a tube swap can also do this, but it would result in a little less volume.

Bruce wrote: Thanks for all the great advice. I will definitely check that out.

The VX is actually just a Celestion Seventy 80, so it's pretty average.

Which speakers will give late breakup? I am particularly interested in that, especially with the AC4's early breakup, which I don't mind, but would like a little more headroom. I know a tube swap can also do this, but it would result in a little less volume.

I don't think the AC4 can make either a V30 or a G12H30 break up at all. Not enough power.

Cool.

I own an AC15C1 too, and am just picking up the AC4. You'll be interested to know that by running an 8 ohm speaker instead of 16 ohms, the AC4 actually becomes an 8 watt amp. It is 8 watts stock - Vox purposely mismatched the impedance to halve the output. The AC4 has a large OT for it's size, I'm guessing it could handle slightly more than 8 watts. You would burn through power tubes faster, but there is a mod that can fix that.

What would the differences be between the G12H and the G12M I have in my AC15?

From my experience more treble more bass and more volume. I have a 212 with g12hs in. Like them much better than the greenback with my 18 watt.