Vox AC50 CPH

This is really quite a super amp, I have been using as preferance over my fender deville, It seems to have way more character. It has two channels 1 great clean channel which you can get real dirty, and a crunch channel which I dont use but it is a real monster, apparently troy watwata from QOTSA was endorsing these amps for awhile ( i didnt say playing live so dont go and try to catch me out, but there is a a video of him on youtube with one of these)
50 watts, wharfdale speaker vox cab, Actually a great cab!!! 2 12 ax 7s and 3 EL84s..... I think. EFFECTS loop and a straight out.

Ok compare to other amps its no mesa for the distortion or a fender twin for huge clean headroom, BUT it is basically a VOX sound plus a lot more gain. Very versitile as I mentioned.
I am playing sorta coutrey punk.... And its handling that great.
Distortion is noisy but not more than any other amp.
You can adgust the gain on the clean channel to break up more as you drive it, I use a booster which really helps give a great sound.
I have run a strat, tele, mustang, and hh jaguar and all sound tres magnificent

VERY reliable so far, especially for a chinese product. just take care of it and it should take care of you...

I actually dont find them to helpful sorry, thats one downside of these guys. Sigh
Bloody non responsive

If stolen which would be hard as its heavy, I would definatley consider it again, maybe try an ac 30 for my sound as well. But a great amp, cheap company but great amp.

Enough features to tweak the sound of the amp in many different directions from extremely clean to very dirty high gain. Like the balanced direct output - worked well going straight to the mixing board. I would have liked tremolo, but can add that through the effects loop if needed. A half-power switch would have been nice - this thing can get very loud - but the master volume allows me to get a great sound at low volume so it is not entirely necessary.

I have played the amp with a 2008 Mexi HSS Strat, an early 80s Aria Pro II Knight Warrior, and an Ibanez AS-73 semi-hollow body. All worked well with the amp, and the character of each guitar comes through very clearly. My style is very eclectic - classic rock, prog, jazz, metal, classical, blues, etc. I enjoy playing a variety of styles and have several guitars and amps to fit whatever mood or music I am into at the moment.

I am currently running the head through either a single 12" 75W Eminence (don't know the exact model) or a cheap 2x12 combo amp's no-name speakers. Sounded great with both options, but I am looking at picking up the matching Vox 2x12 cabinet down the road.

Now on to the amp... The amp sounds sweet on Channel 1 with a very clean tone. Setting the gain to 2 o'clock give a touch sensitive clean-to-dirty option depending on how hard you dig in. Cranking up the gain further gives a nice rock crunch.

Channel 2 is much higher gain. With all of the guitars I used, 1 to 2 o'clock gave me a very satisfying rock to early metal tone, especially with the fat and bright switches engaged. Does scooped mids really well with plenty of low end throb. I prefer more mids, and this amp delivers a very nice crunch.

The tone controls on each channel work a bit differently from each other, but it was simple to dial in a huge variety of different tones on each. This is definitely not a one-trick pony amp. Dialing in a crystal clear SRV/Hendrix/blues tone was easy on channel 1. Could get a very nice range of Beatles tones too. Channel 2 gave me King's X, AC/DC, and way beyond.

A little reverb goes a long way on this amp - there is a pretty long decay time that some might find to be a problem. Lower settings work best for me on channel 1, on channel 2 I don't use it often.

I have had the amp for just over a week and have had a chance to play many hours on it. No issues so far, so can't really add much here.

The only thing I found when I first brought the amp home was that the tubes were biased very cold. This made playing the amp a bit of a battle since you had to really dig in and the amp felt a bit sluggish. Rebiasing the amp a little on the hot side gave much better articulation and a tighter low end. The bias points are easy to access on the back of the head, so making adjustments only took a few minutes.

Have not had to contact the manufacturer yet. Plenty of information on their website.

I have been playing for 30 years and have owned a wide variety of amps. I purchased this amp 2 months after buying a Blackheart Handsome Devil combo, and the two amps are worlds apart both tone and features (both good, but in different ways).

I would definitely pick this amp up again should something happen to it.

When trying out amps, there really wasn't anything else in the same price range that was comparable. I tried a Blackstar and a wide variety of Marshall, Crate, Peavey, etc. The Vox gave me all of the tones I was looking for and then some - very versatile.

It sounds great at low volume levels with plenty of power for those times when you really want to let it rip.

Vox 50watt 2 channel all tube head gain & volume knobs per channel, mastervolume
reverb on both channels, 4 eq per channel, bass, mid, treble + channel 1 tonecut, channel 2 presence. Mastervolume.
The toneknobs have a widerange which is usable because, unless their big range, it doesn't give you overkills on the different frequencies.
Switchable speakerimpedance (8-16)
Effects loop with true bypass option, (send can than be used for tuners or slave)
Very versatile head with some very good recording options (DI-out).
Channel and reverb switching by footswitch, Fat (hi-gain) and bright on channel 2 with flickswitches.
It's built very well, the tubes are as far away from the trafo as possible (longhead) and the grounding is also very well done. The amp is totally humless, I don't exaggerate the slightest bit here, even with every knob on 10 and the fatswitch 'on' it makes no sound at all on both channels!!. It is a heavy amp, 22 kg, but if you want tight deep bassfrequencies, sensitive dynamics and a sound that vibrates the whole environment in stead a sound that's like coming from one direction there's no alternative in weight for 50w, you just don't get that from lightweight (low capicity) trafos.

I play lots of styles (rock, metal, pop, ska, funk, reggae and many more) and this amp makes me play newfound styles I wasn't aware that I was capable to.

The only minor is that the fatswitch isn't footswitchable. Allthough you can really get good rhythmic drive sound from channel 1 with the gain on 3 o'clock and than (foot)switch to channel 2 for leads, but this doesn't work for songs where clean is also needed. The other solution is to just walk to the amp the flick the fat switch by hand.

I use all styles of guitars, les paul, tele, strat, L6s, hollowbody.

This is an amp you have to give a little time to get to know it, allthough a number of good sounds are available with simply setting all knobs on 12 o'clock. It really is an honest amp, I changed the speakercable for a cheap one and the amp reacts strongly on that in the way it sounds, I tried a guitar with cheapo picks and it let's you hear you're playing a cheapo with cheapo noisy picks.
A quitte new squier standard strat sounded very well and very quiet on it too so don't worry too much.

This amp got to be tried not in 5 minutes but with a little patience, especially the second channel needs some exploring.
Don't turn the gain on 10 and fat switch on and the channel level on 10 as a first try, this is not the sweetspot of this amp.
I don't want the gain furhter than half past one for the fattest sounds I'm searching for and the channel level no furhter than 12 o'clock, the rest of the volume can be done best with the mastervolume (it's a VOX..). When you're searching for midboosted fat (death/gothic) metalsounds you can crank the gain to 10 (and depending on the guitar you use) turn the bright switch on or off, but still keep the channellevel at most on 12 o'clock (if you use the original tubes, with other tubes this can be different of course)

The clean sounds on both channels are very usable, ch 1 is typically vox, I had on old JMI AC50 a few years ago and this one has a more usable balance without compromising in tone, just better balanced.
The low end is really dynamic and really bombing when hitting the strings, some bassamps are not capable producing this much low.
The high crispy/chimy vox tones are balanced to it's lows just as they should be when playing a Vox amp.

By the way, because I had this old JMI AC50 I was really sceptic when trying this amp.
Vox say's about this amp: all the good things of the old one plus all the features wanted by today's guitarist, well words to get sceptic of. I spend a lot of time playing and exploring the amp and must say they kept their word, it really is the modern version with all (or at least most, 90%) of the character of the old plus many usable modern features.

Channel 2 has more the character of a good Marshall amp allthough you can get both channels sound quitte like eachother when playing with the eq of ch2, only the mid of ch2 stays more chunky which is also great for funk.
Like all voxes the toneknobs are influencing the others, once you understand how it works you can really get a lot of different, really inspiring, sounds out of both channels of this head.

It seems ver sturdy, I got the chassis out to explore it and nothing here seems weak to me. I read the other review where the inputjack nut broke down. If this happens I would definitely get a metal one in that case, but I'd rather see a manufacturer save costs on something like this than on more important, irreplaceble parts.

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If you're looking for an amp that gives you back everything you put into your playing, dynamic/expression/emotion, you have a partner for life with this amp.

The features are listed in the review below. Of particular note to me are the XLR out connection in the back along with 1/4".
The special switches for extra trebble and for "fat" tone in the gain channel are good as well when used correctly.
Two complete channels that overlap in their gain levels.

I have found the sound out of this head to be excellent. The stock speaker cabinet does not have a good rep, but the cabinet I'm using (2x12) is working wonderfully.
The cleans can obtain about any level you desire and respond well to my various guitars.
Mild growl takes over at about the half way point for gain or volume, so in the sense of a totally "clean" sound, the head room is limited. But the OD is wonderful. The clean channel can get downright classic rockish with gain up. Lot's of single channel tube amps can't get as dirty as this heads clean channel.
Gain channel can do the Marshal plus more. For the fat switch, just dial down the bass a bunch and keep the gain no more that 2 on the clock and it's high gain heaven.
Gain channel cleans up well if needed as well.
I havn't had any problems with the reverb quality, but I only use a touch so I may not be the best judge.

You can really rock on this baby - I have no regrets.

My only down for this is that the clean chime is slightly missing something compared to the very best tube amps. It's not much, and on stage with a band it's a non-issue.

Classic rock, heavy rock, all types of clean.

The input jack nut stripped out after only 1 month of use. It's just a piece of plastic. Called vox and they are sending another - but I may just go down and pick up a metal one. That's just a little on the cheap for a 1000$ amp. No other issues after 2 months of studio use.
Took the head apart - it looks fine for my uses. I don't know how things would hold up if you were touring - just don't know. The plastic jack and nut kind of don't inspire me. The rest of the knobs and switches seem fine though.

When I called they were NOT that friendly, and I was not really impressed with their service. But they did agree to send the needed part.

Overall, for the price, this is an awesome head. Diversity, quality, inspiration to jam.
What else compares on the market at this price? Nothing I know of.

All tube, 2 channel 50w head, 2008 model... Many features, all of them to achive doubtfull tones...

I use a Fender standard stratocaster with stock pickups, and a Gibson SG with EMG??S Zack??s pack...Been playing for 17 years,, styles, Hard rock, blues,power rock, and even metal sometimes. I thought this woulb be the amp for me,,, A vox with 2 footswithable channels, High gain,, many many features..... I tried it for only a little while in the store, couldn??t get too loud, I thought the clean channel was nice so I supposed the distorsion would be same as good at a higher volume, so I bought it... I went home, plugged in my strat, after playing with all the buttons for 10 minutes I thought I got a decent tone on the cleans,,, lets see the crunch... Where is the crunch, not here,,, not here either,,, only a muddy sounding distorsion.. High gain??? Lets look for it,,,, after 1 hour of playing with the amp, not with my guitar I wasnt able to get a decent tone... not one... Well I have to be fair, the clean was nice, a bit too shimery but nice,,, I should have bought an AC30 if I knew the dist would suck so much... I dont recomend this amp to anybody,,,, I went back to the store the day after and changed it for a Sinmarc,, yes,, I??m spanish and here we still find some in a few stores,,, There are a few reviews here for those who don??t know the brand... I can only tell you one thing,,, fender cleans, marshall dist... Impossible??? Sinmarc!!! I plugged in the guitar, and after 15 seconds of eqs I got it all right, Ac/dc, alice in chains, pink floyd, all the music I play only changing channels with my footswitch and changing pickups on my strat...

No idea

No idea

Stay away from it... Buy a marshall, a Fender, an Engl, any other, even the AC30,, BUT NOT THIS ONE,,, YOU DONT WANT THIS SOUND,,,, My MARSHALL AVT150 (VALVESTATE SOUNDS BETTER)

2007 or 2008

50 watt Head

POWER TUBES: 2x EL34
PRE-AMP TUBES: 4x 12AX7

2 channels

Channel 1: "classic vox" tones
Channel 2: High Gain tones

Each channel has its seperate controls

channel one has tone cut
channel two has FAT & BRIGHT switch and a presence control

Overall Master Volume

D.I. Output (variable power)

Effects loop (bypass option)

Channel one is loud enough clean for most people but not for me. It is very easy to dial in tone and very very loud overdriven.

Channel two is two high gain for me. Its not really my thing so i don't use it. Only for fun. I play semi-acoustics which don't work well with this channel. Its great for SGs and Les pauls.

Channel one: The clean is ok. Not nearly as good as an AC30. It lacks the REAL chime of a classic vox amp. It is nicer than any marshall clean but still not good enough for me. To achieve these tones it required the treble to be turn up all the way which dosen't sound so good when you start to dig in. The tone cut knob helps this but i'm not happy with the tone. I wish there was more clean headroom with this amp. I have a fender blues deluxe and it's clean sound blows this away. The reverb is ****. On lower settings you can't hear it and turned up it just sounds like a cheap practise amp's reverb.
As you turn up the gain on this channel it is very easy to achieve classic rock tones. If this is what you want, this amp was made for you. To me these tones are on the right-side of generic as far as rock rhythm tones go.

Channel 2: like I said before, too heavy for me. I only ever use it for fun. I suppose this amp would be great for someone who plays marshalls but wants a nicer clean tone than you get on the big marshall heads. As you crank this channel up is becomes stupidly loud. I can't imagine ever requiring this amount of volume. I dread to think how loud the 100 watt version is.

Overall, in reaction to VOX/KORG's false claims, I give this amp a 6 on sound quality as its good. Just not that good.

Its been reliable. Nothing has gone wrong.........so far. I bought it for the reason that is was well thought out in terms of design and layout. It would only take a few minutes to change tubes.

Never had to deal with them. I'm sure if something went wrong, the shop i bought it from would deal with it. Being under warranty.

I prefer my fender blues deluxe to this. If it were stolen............ i would buy an AC30 head. I have now ordered a handwired AC30 head so i reckon i'll be happy with that being the best new vox available.

I 'like' the amp's versatility, its layout, its easy use but i hate the fact that it is so 'not vox' and so ******* heavy to move.