VOX AV30

The AV30 tube combo amplifier has been manufactured by the British company VOX since the 60s, and although the materials have become much more modern since then, the tube circuitry has not fundamentally changed.

Quality Consistency

A solid case made of chipboard with a black finish, shaped like a suitcase, has not changed its design in 50 years. The front speaker and the bass-reflex hole are covered with a beautiful coffee-and-milk fabric. Control knobs are conveniently located on top behind the transport handle. On the rear panel, the manufacturer has placed switching connectors. The weight of the model for its dimensions of 513x474x247 mm is relatively small — 12 kg. There are no comments on the assembly and design.

Lightweight but functional

The second thing that pleases in the amplifier after a nice design is a wide range of settings. We have two channels (clean and overdrive) with separate gain controls, 3-band EQ, volume and 4 preamp presets per channel in 2 options (Clean 1, Clean 2, Crunch 1, Crunch 2, Od-1, Od-2, High Gain 1, High Gain 2). Also available — three built-in effects Delay, Reverb and Mod with the ability to manually adjust the gain.

The model is equipped with a full set of switching connectors: a line-in and a footswitch, a headphone output, connectors for connecting through and to an external speaker system.

Sound and application

Responsible for the sound is a 10-inch Celestion Greenback speaker with a power of 30 W and 7 tubes (three in the preamp, and four in the output stage). The sound is old-school — warm, natural, most suitable for clean and crunchy sounds or small distortions (metalheads take a break).

The AV30 is great for small studio or chamber performances. The price for such power is somewhat big, but justified by the rich functionality and the combo brand itself. After all, Vox is a real British legend, on the apparatus of which the giants of world rock music played and still play.