, the AC20 Deluxe (EF86 Treble) with the 2x12 H30 cabs from the OwnHammer VC30 cab pack have been getting me Vox-style sounds that I've wanted but have failed to get for years.
If you're into Vox amps, you haven't tried that particular combination,
Every now and then someone recommends the AC20 as a better AC30 (real or modeled) and lots of eyes roll.
AC-30's have a poorly designed cathode follower. The bias point is totally wrong and crushes one side of the signal considerably. IMO either the cathode resistor should be 100K or the plate resistor of the preceding stage should be higher, 200K. The clipping is extremely asymmetric. Too much IMO. A little asymmetry is good because it warms things up. Too much causes excessive even-order harmonics which makes things fuzzy and indistinct. The clipping is so asymmetric on an AC-30 that it's almost a half-wave rectifier.
You can tweak this by adjusting the Preamp Bias point and/or lowering the Cathode Follower Compression. Or you can lower the Harmonics value which reduces the asymmetric distortion. The downside of that is that it then overdrives the phase inverter causing blocking distortion from excessive bias excursion. Another thing to try is to increase the Grid Clipping value which will add a little headroom. Start with the Bias point. AC-30's are very sensitive to the tube type and part tolerances. A tiny change in the bias point can make a big difference. The default bias point is based on Mullard ECC83 tubes.
I prefer the AC-20 because it doesn't have a cathode follower so doesn't suffer from these problems. The cathode follower in an AC-30 doesn't even do all that much. Normally you use a cathode follower to preset a low-impedance source to the tone stack but the tone stack in an AC-30 doesn't present that great of a load anyways.
I love that amp.Every now and then someone recommends the AC20 as a better AC30 (real or modeled) and lots of eyes roll. I just tried the AC20 bass (selected bass by accident) on some of my AC30TB presets with no changes other than selecting it.... whoa.... huge improvement. It chime-er and real-er. I’m not joking. I then tried to figure out if I could change the settings on the AC30 to achieve the same thing but so far I haven’t found a way to do so...
I’ve asked a few times.... which AC30TB was used for the AxeFX modeling? Was it a hand wired? Which model(s) exactly? To my ears, the AC20 is closer in spirit to a real (good sounding) AC30.
I know I know, tons of variables... I wouldn’t ask again had I not tried this to tonight. I’ll plug away at this at a later date when I have time.
My gross summary of this is that the AC30s sounds dead. The AC20 (bass at least) sounds very alive.
I don't get why so much hate for the AC30
What do you mean?I do not like sound of the current direction of the latest updates... the unit is getting too colored and slow...
?I do not like sound of the current direction of the latest updates... the unit is getting too colored and slow...
Do tell....I do not like sound of the current direction of the latest updates... the unit is getting too colored and slow...
Yep, loving the lightning fast preset changes! Not seeing a difference in boot times here though.Back to the OT:
The enhanced switching speed also makes scrolling through the presets feel way better.
Got the booting time reduced too?
The CF got changed on the JVMs only? It seemed to me that also my other presets felt different in the lows...reminds me of farting CF settings or bad speaker compression, well, maybe my 12" is broken.
That’s really weird that you’re getting those results with the latest and greatest....I am getting the opposite here.....I think the III is sounding the best it ever has. What are you monitoring the III through?Well, I know exactly what I'm talking about because I build tons of amps, build parts for tube amps, own all the vintage tube and speakers they are trying to replicate and then some and I have owned or still own most all of the amps they are trying to replicate. I bought the III and not a Kemper because it was super dynamic, musical, open, big, and clear, not because it ever sounded "exactly" like any of the amps... Now its dark, slow, closed and smaller sounding IMHO. they are going in the wrong direction for color and sacrificing articulation and response. I personally don't like how the tone is getting.... I briefly tried to play with the cathode clipping by turning it up as per the release notes to open and clear it up but I liked it the way it was when it first came out still. Ill keep working with it... just my opinion
Well, I know exactly what I'm talking about because I build tons of amps, build parts for tube amps, own all the vintage tube and speakers they are trying to replicate and then some and I have owned or still own most all of the amps they are trying to replicate. I bought the III and not a Kemper because it was super dynamic, musical, open, big, and clear, not because it ever sounded "exactly" like any of the amps... Now its dark, slow, closed and smaller sounding IMHO. they are going in the wrong direction for color and sacrificing articulation and response. I personally don't like how the tone is getting.... I briefly tried to play with the cathode clipping by turning it up as per the release notes to open and clear it up but I liked it the way it was when it first came out still. Ill keep working with it... just my opinion
I have to say, it feels like anyone who disagrees with anything is getting jumped on as being a troll immediately. I do think people owe more of an explanation than just dropping a deuce and leaving it, but...if we can give them a chance to explain themselves without jumping all over them we might learn something.
Just sayin', not trollin' . ;-)