New Vox Nutube MVX150 amps - Hmmm ...I dunno

Voxman

http://www.voxamps.com/MVX150

Vox has taken its nanotube technology used in its small MV series and not only expanded the MV range, but its launched the MVX150. With a nanotube in the preamp and power amp sections this smacks of a variation of its AV series, but with nanotubes - however, the prices are pretty hefty! 

Andertons are selling the head at £649 (matching cab £349), and the combo at £849 - these are being marketed as proper tube amps - but to me they seem to be an analogue (solid-state)/tube hybrid.   With the likes of the Boss Katana etc at these prices they'd better be damned good or these will fail in the market.  I don't want to be sceptical or pre-judge but even if these do sound terrific that's a lot of money for an amp design that's likely to fall in street price and used values pretty darned quickly.  I remember the Valvetronix VTX150 being sold for stupid money when new and sales of those were simply unsustainable & production had to be pulled.  

Vox says: The newly designed power amp uses NuPower technology, and attains sound quality and stunning power that surpasses conventional tube amps. The two-channel design covers a wide range of sounds from clean to high-gain, and everything in between.  

And: The world’s first large tube amp equipped with a Nutube in both the pre-amp and power amp sections

But is this new nanotube technology any good?  Presumably a big theme is no maintenance and light construction (but so was the VTX150) - can they really replace conventional valves or is this just a bit of clever marketing hype where you'd actually be better off with either a traditional valve amp or something like the Katana? 

Personally, I think many folk are wary about being taken in by 'new technology' where it isn't cheap & the financial sting on re-sale could be a big problem.

Initial thoughts guys and gals?

Babones

I really like my MV50 Clean.

A larger head was the next logical step I guess. There appears to be loads added to these (back panel too), but maybe too much and hence the price. A smaller, single channel, less bells & whistles, 100w @4ohms / 50w & 8ohms head would have sufficed for me.

Voxman

The combo is 42.77lbs - so it actually isn't that light - only about 5-6lbs less than my Laney VC30-210 and less than a pound lighter than a 2x12 100w Katana. Just listened to the sound-clips & nothing really special there that jumps out at you with a 'wow' factor for me.   

digitalscream

Looks like a smart move with the power amp side of things - I'd hazard a guess, from the blurb, that they're using something similar to the 12AX7-powered mini power amp they used in the Valvetronix amps, with the output attenuated and fed into a much bigger (solid state) power amp.

Doesn't save much on weight, but it does mean it's much easier on the output valves - and, given that the NuTube things aren't replaceable quite so easily, that's a good thing.

Will enough people pay for it when that's really the only advantage over similarly-priced valve amps and high-end digital amps, though? Doubt it.

Voxman

digitalscream said:

Looks like a smart move with the power amp side of things - I'd hazard a guess, from the blurb, that they're using something similar to the 12AX7-powered mini power amp they used in the Valvetronix amps, with the output attenuated and fed into a much bigger (solid state) power amp.

Doesn't save much on weight, but it does mean it's much easier on the output valves - and, given that the NuTube things aren't replaceable quite so easily, that's a good thing.

Perhaps more akin to the VTX150 (that had an EL84 power valve and 12AX7) but with nanotubes. The little MV's I think are super & I might get the clean one to run my Tonelabs through with my AD212 cab at 4 Ohms or the 4x12at our rehearsal rooms. The new Boutique MV50 sounds really interesting, as although they don't use the name I think it's designed to sound a bit like a Dumble.

ICBM

They have to be hybrids - it’s the usual marketing crap of saying that they’re using the Nutube “in” the power amp. That may be true but it’s very different from using them *as* the power amp. 150W is far above any power that could possibly be achieved with a Nutube.

I would guess it’s the same as the first series of Valvetronix where the valve was used as a tiny power amp with a real output transformer, then coupled to a much bigger solid-state power amp to actually drive the speakers. This does sound good, although it’s still not the same as a full valve power amp and still doesn’t have the same sort of dynamic response really - the AD120 was only about as loud as an AC30, which is normal for solid-state. (And explains why the new one needs to be 150W.)

As ever, it doesn’t at all mean they’re bad amps, and they may sound good, but be careful about reading too much into the ad hype.

Musicman20

The small £199 amps are a cool idea.

This is far too expensive. I can't see them taking off.

Babones

Musicman20 said:

The small £199 amps are a cool idea.

Agreed. As I said above, I like my MV50 Clean a lot. It's basically a Blackface sound. I wish Fender would enter this mini head market. They're sticking to fully digital and SS with digital channels and fx which i'm not interested in. Vox made this, so they got my money. Had Fender made a nice mini Silverface/Blackface cosmetics head with this Nutube tech, I'd have been all over it. I'm sure they could even release variations on Tweed, Black/Silverface etc.

digitalscream

You know what'd sell? A small, MV50-like amp with an effects loop which can develop its full power into a 16 ohm load.

Most guitar cabs are 2 x 16 ohm, and being able to run a pair of those in stereo would be bloody awesome.

ICBM

digitalscream said:

You know what'd sell? A small, MV50-like amp with an effects loop which can develop its full power into a 16 ohm load.

Most guitar cabs are 2 x 16 ohm, and being able to run a pair of those in stereo would be bloody awesome.

You mean like a Yamaha THR100?

guitarfishbay

digitalscream said:

You know what'd sell? A small, MV50-like amp with an effects loop which can develop its full power into a 16 ohm load.

Most guitar cabs are 2 x 16 ohm, and being able to run a pair of those in stereo would be bloody awesome.

You could also rewire the cab.

I rewired my 4x12 to give 4ohms instead of 16 ohms.

The other option for using multiple cabs is something like the palmer cab merger.

rico

£800+ for an unproven, proprietary, faux-valve combo? What?!

Sassafras

Misleading blurb from an amp maker?
Whatever next?
Civilisation is falling apart, humans are resorting to cannibalism and wearing fetish gear.

ICBM

rico said:

£800+ for an unproven, proprietary, faux-valve combo? What?!

I have to say I really like the look of it - the head especially, it's just the right blend of classic Vox styling and really modern - but the price is a bit offputting.

On the other hand it's less than the Yamaha THR100 Dual - although a lot more than the single-channel one - and only slightly more than the Quilter Aviator.

digitalscream

guitarfishbay said:

digitalscream said:

You know what'd sell? A small, MV50-like amp with an effects loop which can develop its full power into a 16 ohm load.

Most guitar cabs are 2 x 16 ohm, and being able to run a pair of those in stereo would be bloody awesome.

You could also rewire the cab.

I rewired my 4x12 to give 4ohms instead of 16 ohms.

The other option for using multiple cabs is something like the palmer cab merger.

Not entirely sure how I'm going to rewire a 2x12" with two 16 ohm speakers to 4 ohm

guitarfishbay

You're quite right. 

digitalscream

Sorry, my point wasn't clear - to make a compact stereo rig, you could use such amps to great effect. Hence not really thinking about 4x12" cabs

olafgarten

digitalscream said:

guitarfishbay said:

digitalscream said:

You know what'd sell? A small, MV50-like amp with an effects loop which can develop its full power into a 16 ohm load.

Most guitar cabs are 2 x 16 ohm, and being able to run a pair of those in stereo would be bloody awesome.

You could also rewire the cab.

I rewired my 4x12 to give 4ohms instead of 16 ohms.

The other option for using multiple cabs is something like the palmer cab merger.

Not entirely sure how I'm going to rewire a 2x12" with two 16 ohm speakers to 4 ohm

To be honest, impedance won't limit you a huge amount, if you have a multiple speaker cab, most of the time you can rewire it to have a 4 ohm impedance, with a 16 ohm 2x12 being one of the  exceptions. 

Vox could probably implement a system to deliver the full power into any impedance but it would add complexity and cost to the amp. 

ICBM

olafgarten said:

To be honest, impedance won't limit you a huge amount, if you have a multiple speaker cab, most of the time you can rewire it to have a 4 ohm impedance, with a 16 ohm 2x12 being one of the  exceptions.

No, a 16-ohm 2x12" is one of the ones that can. It contains two 8-ohm speakers in series, and can be rewired in parallel. The ones that can't are an 8-ohm 2x12" (two 16s in parallel usually, very rarely two 4s in series) or 4x12" (four 8s in series-parallel).

aleh

overpriced to say the least. Are they crazy!!

Just like the vtx150 was way overpriced and didnt sell years ago so will this.Now you can get the vtx150 used for dirt cheap.

aleh

i would get the nightrain v2 over this for way less any day of the week.