The New VOX Hand-Wired AC4HW1 and AC4C1-BL

[Gretsch&Vox]

　
More info here and here.

 

[cubistguitar]

Would love to hear someone share the cleans from the handwired. I heard some squawky rock tones from the namm show, but no one thinks that we might want some clean tube tones.

 

[Gretsch&Vox]

+9

Would love to hear someone share the cleans from the handwired. I heard some squawky rock tones from the namm show, but no one thinks that we might want some clean tube tones.

Yeah. The demos always seems to follow that pattern.

 

[earthlydescent]

The hand-wired version is right up my alley. I've been looking for something low watt and higher quality at this price range. I'd love a Morgan 10PM with power scaling but I don't spend that much on gear anymore. Can't wait to try one.

 

[JackButler]

Pricing?

 

[teleking36]

SUPER interested in this. Can't wait to see what the price is. I'm scaling back on a few things and this would make a great complement to my Princeton Reverb. I can picture my stereo rig now...

 

[earthlydescent]

Looking like $799

 

[twohailmarys]

In the demo of the blue one they said it is going to be $299.

 

[ken374]

Blue is like a c1 i believe

 

[Sikor]

AC4HW1 is pure WIN!

 

[thesooze]

Wish it was normal channel, not top boost

 

[72Telecaster]

They just look sooooo darn cool.

 

[blackba]

AC4HW1 is pure WIN!

Other than the price, I agree. I wish the blue AC4C1 was offered in black as well. I am wondering too if the circuit on the blue AC4C1 is closer to the AC4HW1 or the AC4TV.

 

[guitarcapo]

Does anyone know how they get it down to 4 W even with one EL84 tube? These are still pentode mode right?

In class A single ended operation with 250 volts on the plate a typical power dispersion is 5.7 watts. Play around with the cathode and plate resistors and you can get less than that.

 

[irate_pirate]

Other than the price, I agree. I wish the blue AC4C1 was offered in black as well. I am wondering too if the circuit on the blue AC4C1 is closer to the AC4HW1 or the AC4TV.

IMO the blue version looks better than anything Vox has put out in the last 5 years (and I generally love their designs - apart from the night trains). Just classy as hell. I will own one of the little suckers as soon as it's available to me.

I think the circuit is more or less identical to the HW1. The ac4tv on the other hand did not have a low power ac30 top boost circuit. This is one of the reasons I sold mine. Too little versatility. The attenuation wasn't as useful to me as a master volume would have been. The "tone" knob's function on the ac4tv was VERY subtle. I greatly favor the ac4c1-bls controls which act as any ac15 or ac30 top boost controls do.

The only thing wrong with the ac4hw and ac4c1-bl is the absence of a cut knob. But I'm still gonna buy the blue one.

 

[Sikor]

Other than the price, I agree. I wish the blue AC4C1 was offered in black as well. I am wondering too if the circuit on the blue AC4C1 is closer to the AC4HW1 or the AC4TV.

Hm, 850EUR for handwired (on turrent board) 1x12 combo with a good speaker is too much? :
How much cost comparable combo from a butique world?

For example Tiny Terror HWE cost 650EUR, but it's only a head and has less features.

I think the price for AC4HW1 is really ok. Not cheap, but not expensive eather.

 

[blackba]

Hm, 850EUR for handwired (on turrent board) 1x12 combo with a good speaker is too much? :
How much cost comparable combo from a butique world?

For example Tiny Terror HWE cost 650EUR, but it's only a head and has less features.

I think the price for AC4HW1 is really ok. Not cheap, but not expensive eather.

For me, yes I think the AC4HW1 is high. I am comparing it to the Blackface Champ I used to have which was worth about $400USD. Comparing it to a Marshall Class 5 it is double the price. Comparing it to an Egnator tweaker 15 it is considerably more as well. The Vox AC4HW1 is not boutique and I am sure compared to boutique amps its a good deal, but I am not comparing it those amps. I have never been a boutique amp guy. For me this amp is really going up against the marshall class 5, since I have considering buying one of those for a while now.

I love the features of the AC4HW1, but at its price, I will have to wait for one used or go with the blue AC4C1, even though for me I don't like the looks of it that much.

I do wish both these new AC4s had a switchable master volume and a cut knob.

 

[whaiyun]

Yeah it's handwired, but handwired at the expensive of cheap labor in China so.. I don't see why it should be $800.

 

[mAx___]

Yeah it's handwired, but handwired at the expensive of cheap labor in China so.. I don't see why it should be $800.

The hand-wired amps of this line have been manufactured in Vietnam so far. Still, cheap labour for sure but the construction quality is on a different level than Chinese stuff. I'd be OK if this amp was $599 instead.

(I'd wish affordable "Made in England" goods made a comeback some day in this modern world of ours. With so many people with no jobs all over Europe the only reason companies are outsourcing is politics, which as usual favour "some" and **** the rest of us over...)

 

[lauwing]

I think the AC15HW1 is just a little more expensive