Vox AC-4

[dave robinson]

I use my switched power control quite often and don't have a problem with it .

Do you know what the power handling of the on-board speaker could be ?

[AlanMcKillop]

Dick, are you saying that with the 4w, 2w and 1/4w settings, only the 4w should be used?

[Twang46]

I use my switched power control quite often and don't have a problem with it .

Do you know what the power handling of the on-board speaker could be ?

It's a badged Celestion (made down to a price) pretty sure that they are rated at 15w.
A lot of people change them for Cele Vintage G10's

http://celestion.com/product/30/g10_vintage/

The power control only uses resistors rated at 2w & if the volume is set up they will overheat, used at low volumes will usually be ok (Vox bank on people using the lower power settings at low volumes)

Dick.

[Twang46]

Dick, are you saying that with the 4w, 2w and 1/4w settings, only the 4w should be used?

Yes Alan.
The resistor power control is awful ( it can be made better though)
As I mentioned above it only uses 2w resistors in a amp that says 4w but is in truth around 5.5w the resistors do overheat quite easily.
Try it for yourself by cranking the amp up in say the 1/4w setting for a few minutes then feel around the chassis where the knob is to see how warm it gets.

Dick.

ps............They may possibly have modified the power control in the new models as I do know they have reduced the hum levels.
I think they are on series 3 now. Should be easy enough to check the manufacture date & see if there have been any changes.

Dick.

[Billyboygretsch]

What I want to try is putting the AC4 output into the TV12 without cutting out the existing 10" speaker. I thought Vox had designed the amp to have an extension speaker rather than an alternative speaker I do not want to change speakers at this stage as if I don't like the sound I may sell either the Amp and just use the head and cabinet. I quite like the sound of the 12" enclosed cabinet. Once I have tried this I will then decide whether to change the speaker for a greenback

[Twang46]

What I want to try is putting the AC4 output into the TV12 without cutting out the existing 10" speaker. I thought Vox had designed the amp to have an extension speaker rather than an alternative speaker I do not want to change speakers at this stage as if I don't like the sound I may sell either the Amp and just use the head and cabinet. I quite like the sound of the 12" enclosed cabinet. Once I have tried this I will then decide whether to change the speaker for a greenback

It is possible to wire things up so you can have both the ex cab & the speaker in the vox on together............not sure why you would want to do it that way though.
You could use an A-B box to compare the speakers. There's plenty of advice on wiring things like this on google if your not sure about how to do the wiring up needed.

My vote would be for the head-cab combination if that's any help.

Dick.

[Billyboygretsch]

Thanis for all the help. I think I will stick with the head and cabinet and probably replace the stock speaker with a greenback. As stated on some sites and Dick that an 8 ohm speaker may be preferable - gets more complicated - phew

[dave robinson]

The way I see it is that for very little money I have a tidy little amp that delivers THAT SOUND in spades for indoor use, which is what I bought it for. What would I possibly gain by changing the speaker when it already sounds right ?

Once you start buying other speakers and components and changing them, it becomes and expensive amp, which is against the point.

[Twang46]

The way I see it is that for very little money I have a tidy little amp that delivers THAT SOUND in spades for indoor use, which is what I bought it for. What would I possibly gain by changing the speaker when it already sounds right ?

Once you start buying other speakers and components and changing them, it becomes and expensive amp, which is against the point.

Fair comment Dave, but some people only have the one amp & like to take it out to pubs & such like so............... any extra power/volume will be very welcome for them

As a "bedroom" amp the AC4 does take some beating & I like it for what it is but...................... with some tweaking it can also double up as a small venue amp especially when used with a separate speaker cab with (in my case an 8ohm 12" speaker of high efficiency).

As for changing the speaker, if you have any 10" speakers available to you, costs nothing then to try them out & you may just get a pleasant surprise

Dick.

[dave robinson]

Well I do have some spare speakers Dick, 10" and 12". There's even a spare JBL120f and an Electrovoice 150 watt Boogie speaker doing nothing in the garage, but won't they be too much for the 4 watt amp to drive ? I have a quality 10" in my Vox Valvetronix that would slot into the cabinet. I would expect more clarity if I were to change, do you think this would be the case ?