zircona1 wrote: I'm looking to upgrade my amp. Right now I have a Vox AC15 that's fine, I bought it used years ago, but I'd like to upgrade to something bigger and louder.

The obvious choice used to be Music Man combos, but they kinda shot up in price a few years ago. Maybe you'll get lucky tho.

old Peavey combos (Mace, Deuce, etc) have a pretty similar sound and are cheap and durable but yeah.. they're 'peavey ugly' and weigh a gillion pounds.

Anybody have experience with the Pro-Ject Tube Box phono pre-amps? They look great, and all the reviews are positive. I have store credit that would allow me to shave a couple hundred bucks off the price, but I’m still not sure whether the box would give me $300 worth of improvement over a receiver’s phono stage.

(Current receiver is a Denon, but I’m likely to replace it with a two-channel Marantz A/V receiver this year.)

penningtron wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 8:15 am

zircona1 wrote: I'm looking to upgrade my amp. Right now I have a Vox AC15 that's fine, I bought it used years ago, but I'd like to upgrade to something bigger and louder.

The obvious choice used to be Music Man combos, but they kinda shot up in price a few years ago. Maybe you'll get lucky tho.

Would this be the kind of Music Man model that would be an upgrade from my Vox AC15? And is this a good price?

https://kansascity.craigslist.org/msg/d ... 55413.html

zircona1 wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 2:51 pm

penningtron wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 8:15 am

zircona1 wrote: I'm looking to upgrade my amp. Right now I have a Vox AC15 that's fine, I bought it used years ago, but I'd like to upgrade to something bigger and louder.

The obvious choice used to be Music Man combos, but they kinda shot up in price a few years ago. Maybe you'll get lucky tho.

Would this be the kind of Music Man model that would be an upgrade from my Vox AC15? And is this a good price?

https://kansascity.craigslist.org/msg/d ... 55413.html

Those are great amps. You will have no issues w/ volume w/ these. Josh and I each have one. And that's a very good price these days - although I would imagine you'll want to swap out those Peavey speakers almost immediately if only for the weight. And as always, have a tech check it out, see if the electrolytic caps have been replaced and if not, do it, etc.

That being said, if you're looking for something closer in sound to your Vox, probably should be thinking more along the lines of the aforementioned AC30. I'm not an expert, but I've always thought these MM were closer to Fender Twins than any other amp.

Yeah that's a great price, though not the best condition I've seen one in. But even with a tech visit and new speakers you could have a very versatile amp for $600-700.

Yeah an AC30 is the next logical step, but I don't see them under $1,000 that much, and those that are I'm told are "not the good ones". I think they're a bit overrated in general so I'm probably not the person to ask..

penningtron wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:25 pm Yeah that's a great price, though not the best condition I've seen one in. But even with a tech visit and new speakers you could have a very versatile amp for $600-700.

Yeah an AC30 is the next logical step, but I don't see them under $1,000 that much, and those that are I'm told are "not the good ones". I think they're a bit overrated in general so I'm probably not the person to ask..

I think the "cc" series are the ones to be wary of? Vox nerds please chime in.

Get it? "CHIME" in? because Vox amps are known for their...

[crickets]
[tumbleweeds]
ahhh never mind

To me AC30's only sound good at pretty much full volume, but it's a pretty great full volume sound FWIW. I have a Peavey Classic that I bought as a spare for $200. It has a built in Phaser, and it sound great. On the other hand, I have played others of the same amp that sound like crap. Maybe it's because mine has mismatched speakers, but it sounds good.

Kniferide wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:50 pm To me AC30's only sound good at pretty much full volume, but it's a pretty great full volume sound FWIW. I have a Peavey Classic that I bought as a spare for $200. It has a built in Phaser, and it sound great. On the other hand, I have played others of the same amp that sound like crap. Maybe it's because mine has mismatched speakers, but it sounds good.

Phaser on my Deuce is also probably my favorite phaser of all time...which is admittedly the DUMBEST reason to leave an obtrusively heavy amp hanging around.

Oh man Peavey phasers are way over the top. Turn the depth up all the way and scoot up close 'til you reach microphonic feedback and it's the most insane sound ever.. (captured here at 3:30, Eno would approve of this happy accident)

penningtron wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:25 pm Yeah an AC30 is the next logical step, but I don't see them under $1,000 that much, and those that are I'm told are "not the good ones". I think they're a bit overrated in general so I'm probably not the person to ask..

Kniferide wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:50 pm To me AC30's only sound good at pretty much full volume, but it's a pretty great full volume sound FWIW. I have a Peavey Classic that I bought as a spare for $200. It has a built in Phaser, and it sound great. On the other hand, I have played others of the same amp that sound like crap. Maybe it's because mine has mismatched speakers, but it sounds good.

Disagree with both of these posts.

I love AC30s. I was a Fender amp guy for a couple of decades before I found the mighty Ampeg V4 and changed to that. Then I moved to an Orange OR120. I've owned a few Marshalls and other random stuff in that time period that I never clicked with. But man, when I got that AC30 clone it just clicked. Super versatile. Sounds great anywhere on the dial from clean to distorted. Plenty loud for practically any band (unless you need pristine cleans). And I can also play it at home (with a smaller inefficient cab - though I wouldn't in an apartment). Maybe it's because I don't have/use greenbacks nor alnico blues?

I have no experience with the Chinese CC ones. Just my weirdo clone and I've played through two Korg ones from the 90s a couple of times.