Review: Modern Vox AC15CC1 112 Combo

Sean · 2009-05-05T11:51:16+00:00

Okay, so I bought the Vox AC15 cc1 six weeks ago and I thought I would try to give a review on it. Bear in mind that I am somewhat new to this ? . I was loo...

Review: Modern Vox AC15CC1 112 Combo

ed

Hi. I am new to the forum. Anyways I bought this amp about 3wks ago from muz.co.za. It never came on. On the waybill I noticed that the amp came from Turnkey in Durban, thats where I live, so it could not have been subject to a rough ride from Cape Town. These amps are made in China so there are always going to be probs with them. I suspect the fuse was the prob but if you paid for a brand new amp you would want a brand new amp so I declined Yuri's offers to repair. He told me that there were none of these amps in the country at the time. So I sneakily phoned Turnkey as a potential buyer for this amp. The guy told me that he had just sold the last one, which was obviously the one I had sitting at home, so I'm guessing he most probably gave me a display model or a returned amp which I dont blame muz for as they are in the Cape. I guess if you're lucky you get the good ones. Now I have a Laney LV300T which I had to force myself to settle for and I have only used it once and am hoping to fall in love with it... which I doubt I will as it only has 1 preamp valve. My heart was really set on the vox but anyways thats my story.
Oh ya ... the laney is loud, real loud. Distortions great too but I like clean.

Gearhead

ed wrote: I suspect the fuse was the prob but if you paid for a brand new amp you would want a brand new amp

With all due respect, can you really distinguish between a new fuse and a replacement fuse?

Not to diss you but to me your story suggests that you are not going to be happy having refused a 'not so brand new' amp and that you should have taken the supplier up on his repair offer. If it had been a showroom model, the speaker would have been broken in for you and there would be 0.1% less life in the tubes left. It would also have worked.

AlanRatcliffe

I can understand wanting to get something brand new, and paying for a brand new item does entitle you to insist on it. It's your money after all. Having said that, the reality is it isn't always possible.

Stores and even the importers can only keep so many in stock (often only one with higher priced items) and the display model is often the only one they have. While in theory you can ask a store to get you a boxed, sealed one from the supplier, there is no guarantee they will have another one. Even if they do, there is a very good chance it will have landed at a different (usually higher) price, so you'll end up paying more for the privilege of unsealing a box.

AFAIK, if you bought the amp from Muz, it will have come from Muz. The importer sends it to them and they send it to you - even if you are in the same city as the importer and the other side of the country from the retailer.

Something not working when it arrives could put me off something too, but I also know it does happen occasionally (even to the best brands) and with a valve amp it's usually something simple. So I'd check the fuse and valves myself and probably open it up to make sure none of the connectors had shaken loose in transport before I insisted on a replacement/refund. If it was a valve, I'd let them know and get them to send me a replacement. Saves time and also the way the supplier and retailer handle the problem will tell me what I need to know about backup.

ed

Well to be honest I did not have the time to check fuses valves etc. since that aint my job. The only reason I suspect the fuse is because well I have read all of the online reviews and this seems to be the common fault. My laney did come from Muz but at the time I ordered the Vox Yuri did not have any so his suppliers referred him to Turnkey. I am a perfectionist so I am not going to pay the brand new price for a repaired amp or a used amp. Its my money so I expect it to work and have peace of mind. Thats what you pay for right? I mean what if they repair and then something else goes wrong then you gotta phone Yuri in CT and wait another week.But I guess the thing with ordering online is that you dont get to 'test drive' the product. I really wanted an all tube amp and will look into getting one 2nd hand or brand new. Will see how things go.

Sean

Some of the reviews mentioned that the fuse problem was with earlier models. I did not really go into it, that said, I've not had any issues with mine, and I have been using it A LOT!

ed

Ja man. I envy you guys who have the vox. But I am looking into buying one real soon

Gearhead

Yeah good idea. Just keep on asking questions on the forum until it works! :dance: :goodtimes: :woohoo:

IceCreamMan

Still happy with this amp?

cheers

Sean

IceCreamMan wrote: Still happy with this amp?

cheers

Yes, very happy with it.

I've had Gearhead do a couple of little mods, upgraded caps etc.

One thing that has changed for me though is that I'm not satisfied with it as a clean amp. I guess it's not supposed to be used clean anyway. But even at low volume with the gain turned down, it's not clean ( at least not clean enough for me). But for crunch, or solid drive, it's 8) 8) 8)

Gearhead

Just to give y'all an update: I have just finished removing the last of the 'known' mods. The rundown:

change first stage anode resistor to 220K: gives more drive (that you do not need) and leaves you with less clean headroom
change second stage anode resistor to 81K: does not compensate for the first mod since you wind up with no drive to the phase inverter
take out treble bleed cap on drive pot: dumb idea, only works for bright guitars (but you should fix that on the guit) and only when you use the amp clean
roll stock EH tubes for some nicer ones: works well, Sean is still on the JJ's
swap tone stack and coupling caps for Orange Drop / Silver Mica: audible improvement
speaker upgrade to Celestion Blue: pending... (c'mon Sean, save up a little ? )

The main conclusion is that this amp circuit is best as is, don't be tempted by reports on internet to go and change values. The cap upgrade works well since the stock caps are hideously cheap ones, but the downside is that the PCB is not meant to be worked on. It is a lot of work to even get to the solder side, islands come loose when soldering and there is too little room for full size caps.

Sean

No dude, don't get me started on that Celestion Blue again, it took some doing to suppress that gas. It will happen, just not yet ? . Thanks man for the effort, will pick the amp up this week ?

MikeM

You'll have gas for a Blue again in about 2 weeks time :?

Sean

Hmm, I wonder why.