DESCRIPTION:
The team at VOX demo the VOX AC VR series.

Here's a new range of Vox amps in the shape of an AC15 and an AC30 - both of which use solid state technology but with a Valve Reactor at the output stage - which basically means that you can archive the amplifier clipping sound even at low "bedroom" volumes and without affecting the integrity of the amplifier's sound.

Shop VOX amps over at PMT Online: http://www.pmtonline.co.uk/brands/vox

Let's look at the bigger of the two models the AC30VR, - as the name suggests that means 30 watts although I have to say this amp has the LOUDEST 30 watts I've ever heard ... Effectively this amp has two channels, a traditional channel just like the older style Vox amps with a simple yet effective tone stack and it could be labelled as a "clean" channel. The secondary channel adds a bit more gain and there are two overdrive options, OD1 is the traditional blues crunch where the valve sound starts to break up and produce moderate distortion. The second option - OD2 is much more of a rock/metal guitar sound and it seems strange to hear such saturated distortion coming from what looks like an AC30 which has traditionally sounded much cleaner ...

The second channel containing the Overdrive options is footswitchable and Vox have inluded a digital reverb on this amp to sweeten the sound, one of the differentials between the AC15VR and this model is that the EQ on the OD channel is independent and has a more complex tone stack with 3 way frequency control. Looks-wise the amp still caters very much to the retro-style appearance of Vox amps and the internal speakers use 2 x 12 inch VX 12 Celestions, my guess is that this amp will be popular for studio and recording sessions as it's able to rock out even at low volumes ...