Members GilmourD Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 Well, I finally found myself the perfect amp for the father of a yet-to-be-born baby boy. The Vox AC4TV8 with it's 1/10 watt mode (much quieter than the 1/4 watt mode of the 10" speaker version of the AC4TV). It's a pretty sweet, little, quiet amp with some great clean tones when turned down and it can be dimed for some pretty decent grind. However, it's rocking Sovtek tubes (a 12ax7 and an EL84) and I know from the other tube amps of my past that I tend to find Sovtek tubes to be pretty sterile. Considering that this amp sounds pretty damn sweet with the Sovteks I could imagine this amp sounding even better with a higher caliber of tube. One thing I want, though, is to find a tube that actually gives me LESS clean headroom. I'd like a bit more gain up top. I don't expect to turn the amp into a 5150 or anything, but I'd like a tad more. I know there are some tubes out there that will do what I want, but I've been out of the tube world long enough that I don't remember which tubes do what I want in comparison to the Sovteks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brandass Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 Cool! Wondered whether the 8 was worthwhile, sounds like an affirmative. Did you do a head-to-head with the 10? I'm not tube savvy, unfortunately, so can't help you there, sorry. HNAD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted January 26, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 Cool! Wondered whether the 8 was worthwhile, sounds like an affirmative. Did you do a head-to-head with the 10?I'm not tube savvy, unfortunately, so can't help you there, sorry.HNAD! I did. The 8 seems to be a bit fuller sounding, which was surprising. It doesn't have as much of a problem with bass as people would lead you to believe, or so my ass says as I was sitting next to it on my livingroom floor. LOL The 10 was also a bit louder, which definitely eliminated it for my purposes (super quiet with good tube tone). It's OK. I used to be, but a lot of the info has leaked out of my brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 Congrats. I love my AC4. I have the same feeling about the tubes. Would like a little more crunch sooner. Some killer sounding amps for sure. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cbh5150 Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 I know some have poo-pooed the 8 vs. the 10, but at $169 right now at GC it's the best small tube-flavored amp for the price BY FAR... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members roygbiv Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 Everyone has different needs and goes for different toanz... but I played the 8 against the 10 in GC. and walked out with the 10. it wasn't even close to my ears. but that's what makes the world go round i guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrweems Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 jj's are decent. i'd get a nice 12ax7 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan Trevisol Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 I'd go JJ ECC83S and TAD EL84:http://thetubestore.com/tadel84single.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 I know a lot of folks are all about the 'all tube' mojo, but I'd look for a pedal to drive the amp rather than a tube that can transform the amp to something it is not. I like the TAD EL84s and I've had decent luck with JJ EL84s, but I doubt I'll order any more of them. I wasn't really in the market for such an amp as I have an AC15 and a DA5 I use for my quiet times, but I played both amps and I agree. If I were to get one of them specifically as a second practice amp, I'd go for the 8. For an only amp it would either have to be the head with a 1x12 cab as both the 8 and the 10 sounds pretty light weight compared to what I'm used to and I really like that thwaky bottom end for percussive kinda stuff. I put an 8" Weber in my DA5 and am constantly impressed by how much sound that little guy puts out with the back off. Not so much how much sound from an 8" speaker, but from basically a 9"x9"x6" amp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dougie.Douglas Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 I want an AC4TV as most of the people on HCEG know!! STILL haven't got one yet Although I did play through a some 5watt Peavey tube amp today and was pleasently supprised. Anyway... HNAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan Trevisol Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 I know a lot of folks are all about the 'all tube' mojo, but I'd look for a pedal to drive the amp rather than a tube that can transform the amp to something it is not. Hmmm, didn't see the specification that he'd like more gain. In that case, I recommend the TAD EL84STR even more. Here's the review from The Tube Store: The STR designation tells us that this was a Special Tube Request by the Tube Amp Doctor. In all honesty it looks and sounds like a pretty radical take on the EL84. The dimensions of this tube deserve your attention. Most tubes made in the U.S., England and Germany were built to a standard size. I often compare the new breed of EL84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted January 26, 2010 Members Share Posted January 26, 2010 I'm using JJs right now in my ampeg Jet. They sound really nice and full with a fat break up. Much smoother than the stock sovteks. I didn't like the JJ 12ax7s, but the tung sols 12ax7s sound really nice. Again, much nicer than the stock sovteks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xStonr Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 JJ's are pretty good for EL84's. Their ecc83s I find a little "dark" for my tastes while the Tung Sol 12AX7 are a bit more musical. Tubes can be very subjective to ones musical tastes. I own the AC4TV and currently have a Amperex Bugle Boy 12ax7 and a Sylvania EL84 in it. It starts to get dirty right around 11 o'clock. Since tubes are relatively cheap. Get a few different ones and see what you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jakkim Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 By any chance did you try out the Bugera V5 before you bought the Vox. Just curious as it has similar features but a few more features like gain control and reverb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 By any chance did you try out the Bugera V5 before you bought the Vox. Just curious as it has similar features but a few more features like gain control and reverb.none of the other budget 5-watters out there sound much at all like the AC4. If you like the AC4, that's pretty much the one to get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 JJs or Ei's if you can find good ones, as far as a decent budget EL84. E-H is also ok. As for a 12ax7, I'd go Tungsol, 9th gen Chinese, or E-H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 Great info. Thanks. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted January 27, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 With all of these tube recomendations (which I greatly appreciate, BTW), which of them break up earlier and go further than the Sovteks I currently have in the amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted January 27, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 Bump for the daytime crew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan Trevisol Posted January 27, 2010 Members Share Posted January 27, 2010 Hmmm, I replied to this but HC Crashed while I was typing. The gist of what I said was, I heard a lot of references to "fat" "smooth" etc, which doesn't seem like more gain to me. The basic fact is that all 12ax7's are supposed to provide the same amount of gain. At very high volumes, one of the halves of the 12ax7 may overdrive the other, which would give you preamp distortion, but for the most part, you're not going to get preamp distortion out of a non-master volume amp without a big boost or something on the front end. The primary component to your gain is going to be the power tube. I recommended the TAD EL84STR because in the review it specifically stated: No smooth creamy distortion here but tons of rock and roll crunch. That sounds like what you want. Now, while you won't get a 12ax7 that breaks up earlier itself, you can get one that has higher-than-average gain, which isn't necessarily "gain" like overdrive, but simply that it amplifies signal more, which would push the EL84 harder . . . . more "gain" in the sense of drive. Tubedepot.com offers a high gain test and you can pick which 12ax7 you want (I like Tung Sol for it's sweet top end). But that TAD EL84STR is different than any other EL84. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted January 28, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 OK, I'm gonna order that TAD EL84STR and also a JJ EL84 (since they're both so cheap) off TheTubeStore.com. However, I went to add the Tung-Sol to my cart on TubeDepot.com and found it out of stock... D'oh! I've used the JJ ECC83s in the past in Fender amps and found them to be pretty decent. I think I'm going to try the ECC803s and an EH 12ax7. I already have an extra JJ ECC83s sitting in a box with my '69 Bassman head, so I can see what that does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xStonr Posted January 28, 2010 Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 Let us know what you think about that TAD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted January 28, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 Let us know what you think about that TAD. Will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Citizen_Insane Posted January 28, 2010 Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 I had a NOS Sylvana 12ax7 and a JJ EL84 and didn't notice a difference in the tone of my AC4 10" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan Trevisol Posted January 28, 2010 Members Share Posted January 28, 2010 Be careful with the 803S, it's prone to microphonics. I'm interested to hear about the TAD too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.