Vox MV50 AC 50-watt Hybrid Tube Head Reviews

I purchased the Vox MV50 AC with the 1x8 cabinet on 08/06/2017. This has been a workhorse. Believe it or not, this is what I have been taking to practice since then. In a 4 piece band. Always plenty of juice. I am still amazed by this little beauty! Buy it you won't be disappointed.

shop mini heads here, and you will find some extreme tiny mini amps that are straight from the wiring of super amps, from their lines. Super amps. The mini's are exacting. But, Only the Vox MV50 offers a line out via headphone output that can be used as a signal into a powered amp. My case using a powered PA that was waiting for some action. The Vox headphone line out is a signal that is not being amplified, so therefore, you can input into a powered P.A. instead of buying a speaker box for hundreds more invested. The Other mini amps are fantastic, but for a speaker cabinet only. no line out from the others, only amp out. and the others are incredible amps you Need, but only using with a speaker cabinet, not into an amp. I will encourage shopping and listening to Celestion, and Eminence speakers you can put into a cab, or order a cab with your choice of speaker. but, that's more cost. Bogner mini, right here on SW, Diezel, and one other starting with an S. all incredible mini's that are hard to beat since they come direct from some Masterpiece parents.

I found the Vox sound into a powered PA. since then, I hear only tone shaping like tone controls. It is a strong sound, but more clean than anything I can tell so far. I like it alot. had two PA's sitting around.

This mini is exactly what two different powered PA speakers have been lounging around for, for a long time. And after painstaking reviews, I caught a reminder that the phone jack is a line level that will not damage a powered already amp PA Speaker. Called plugging into the front of the house, with the phone out to the powered speaker line in jack. and after study, you want a short, shielded, high current amp to speaker box chord when running from speaker out to the Lonely speaker waiting for a Powered signal to use to make sound. The cable to connect speaker and amp should be a mono single ring jack tip. single for mono So reading is good.
You will be happy with nutube technology. Many voices come from gain, tone and volume. Many. good sounds

The little MV50 AC is amazing. I run it through a VOX 2-12 cabinet with Celestion speakers.

Clear/crisp in all modes, and far more volume than needed for home studio.

This amp will be more than adequate for small gig venues, and if miked though the PA system, could be used for any venue.

Neil Young has miked a small vintage/tweed Fender deluxe through the PA system since the sixties.

Big has never necessarily been better.

this little thing sounds just as good driving a fine 12" in a footstool cab, plus it takes an incoming signal chain with less complaint.

Fifty pounds vs five plus one? Five hundred vs a C-note and change? Pshaw... I'll keep version with the reverb tank at the home studio where it can't hurt me or cost me any more dough than it has already

Thought it was gonna be a backup but, now it's my main amplifier! I pair my MV50 AC with the Vox V212C cabinet and its a match made in Heaven! Great, authentic, classic, Vox AC top boost tone! When running it direct out into my audio interface, out also a great bass amp! I'm using it to record pretty much all of the electric guitar and bass tracks on my album! Simply can't beat the tone of this amp - especially for the price! Check it out in action on my Twitch channel!

I had this for a few years and didn't realize Nutube was a brand-new thing at the time. So much power for such a little amp. I bought it with the matching cab for personal use *(I normally play bass) and when our guitarists amp took a dump we threw this on his his cab and it worked marvelously.

The gain can get very gnarly and you can get some mean dynamics out of your pedals with this little baby.

Love it! Would recommend it to anyone

When you first open the box, even though you"ve seen pictures, you can"t believe how small it is, but, that"s the only thing small about this amp. Has great Vox type tone , plenty of volume for small to medium gigs, and the cab simulated line/headphone out is great for recording. Just a cool piece of gear!

Snagged a deal for a mint-in-box MV50AC from sweetwater along with a new Bugera 212TS cabinet. After some research, I concluded that this combination is the cheapest way to achieve the 50 watts available to speaker cabinets with a 4 ohm load. I was skeptical about the quality of the cheapest new 2x12 cab capable of replicating the "british voicing" described by Bugera"s marketing team. I was even more skeptical about a tiny class-D amp being capable of organic tube tone approximating the classic Vox top-boost sound. Nonetheless, I decided to skip over the tube combo amps offered at this price point simply because it"s cool new tech.

Simply put, the performance of the MV50 through this cabinet has been outstanding. Additionally, the line output puts this bad boy all over my studio signal chains while recording. I"m blown away by how great it holds up against the expensive amps of more serious acts sharing the stage during the live gigs I bought this for. I won"t claim to be a great guitarist, but the tones I get when I play my SG and Duosonic through my pedalboard straight into the input of the MV50 are awesome. It"s got three knobs, but the range of sounds I can get out of it is constantly surprising me. And it gets loud when I choose to be a rocker.

I bought this little gem as a placeholder for the AC30 that my first paycheck as a professional engineer. Getting 3 months of first hand experience with the "magic" promised by this Japanese technology, I"ll probably ditch the classic tube amps for the newest Nutube products that will be blowing minds in the coming years.

Advancements in amplifier technologies make me hopeful for affordable gear offering the same genuine tones of vintage gear ($$$).

Plugging into this put a smile on my face. It has tube warmth, feel and is musical. You can go from all out crunch to chimey clean with your guitar volume. I'm running it through a Vox 2x12 cab with a Celestion mix wired to 4 ohms so it's putting out 50 watts. Definitely loud enough to gig with. With a 1x12 8 ohm cab, it's significantly lower in volume but you could do smaller gigs. I tried it with an old Jensen alnico and it had that classic compressed tone. I might try 2x12 alnicos next. Very sensitive to speaker selection so it will take some experimenting. The future of amp design could be the Nutube technology. Good job Vox!

I have to admit, I was just looking for a fly amp and backup I could always have along for my 64' Fender Princeton Re-Issue. This baby blew me away when I took it to an open mic last night (using the 8' VOX cab that they sell with it.) It does not have the perfect harp sound that I have found in the Princeton, but for 1/4 the cost, it sounded amazing and had charm of its own. Nicely chimy but still dark and full. Have not had the need or chance to really dial in the line out sound, but it seems useable in a pinch, although mic the the speaker would be the better I feel. All in all, for harp this baby is solid, deep and loud and the small speaker with the deep eq switch makes it a sweet set up for harp. Unbeatable in the price range!

I've been reading about this amp and the NuTube technology since NAM. Watched all the videos and couldn't wait to get my hands on one. Got my name on the list and bought mine within minutes of getting the notification from Sweetwater.

First I was shocked at how small the thing is. Watching the videos doesn't really put it in scale. It will literally fit in the palm of you hand. I tried it with two different cabinets, a 2-12" cab with Eminence speakers and a 2-10" cab with Jensen speakers. I just could not get over how good this thing sounds. Tried it with my Tele, Strat, P90 Les Paul, and P90 ES-339. All sounded terrific. The controls are very responsive. The tone control is pretty impressive. Just a slight twist one way or the other changes the color of the amp. It's not your classic high end roll off type of tone control. The gain is classic Vox AC sounding. From clean to chimey dirt, to top boost sizzle. It's really well done. The volume control does what it should, although there very little difference between what would 6 and 10 (or 11 if you're so inclined). But it's plenty loud, more power than I would ever need for my little recording set up.

On the back of the amp there are some tiny switches for power, speaker impedance, and such. My only criticism for this amp is the power switch. With it being so small it's a bit of pain getting to the switch on the back of the amp. You pretty much have to turn the thing around to find it because the power adapter plug has a 90 degree angle on it and it can cover up the switch. I would highly suggest they find a way to get that switch relocated to the front of the amp if at all possible. I haven't tried the Line out/Headphone port yet, but hoping the cab emulation is as good as is claimed.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with the tone and versatility of this amp. I could see tossing it into a gig bag and running it through a PA for small gigs instead of lugging an amp only to have the sound guy tell me to turn down to the point that I can't hear the amp anyway. A great buy. If you are at all intrigued and not afraid of new things, buy one. You'll love it.

If you're the kind of player that plugs straight into the amp, this is a great amp to use. Impressive tone, both clean and with more gain to provide some crunch. I bought the MV50 AC and a BC108 cabinet before COVID and gigged successfully at smaller venues. I used it as a lighter replacement for a Vox Valvetronix AD50VT combo. The MV50 AC was plenty loud enough with the 8-inch speaker but after COVID, our first gig was outdoors. I needed more volume so I added a Celestion Vintage 30 12-inch speaker cabinet along with the BC108. The MV50 AC along with the 8 and 12-inch speakers was more than sufficient for an outdoor rock band gig. I played it through the PA at a music festival using the Headphone/Line Out jack and it sounded great. I can't speak for how it handles pedals, but for guitar to cable to amp it works great.

My "real" amp is now collecting dust under the stairs.

Even if you"re madly in love with yours, you should get this as a backup.

Pros:
-Small enough to fit on a PedalTrain Nano+ sideways.

-Enough clean headroom to use as a pedal platform.

-Loud enough to keep up the drummer. (If it"s not, get a different drummer instead of a louder amp.)

-Cab emulated speaker out is good enough to plug straight into the board for jobbing gigs and fly dates.

-cheapest amp I"ve ever owned

Cons:
-That dorky handle. But you can remove it with a few minutes and a screwdriver.

-The power supply. 1) It"s almost as big as the amp. 2) It connects to the amp with a proprietary connector and 3) the IEC cable is a C5 Mickey Mouse instead of a standard C13. It"ll fit under the Nano & Metro PTs, but ya gotta use something thin to mount it—3M Dual Lock makes it just a hair too thick.

All in all, these are very minor gripes about a life-altering product.

I reviewed this after owning it a few weeks. Now after using this for a year it is still my main gigging amp. I built a custom 4 ohm cab with a 10" carvin vl10 on the bottom open back and an 8" eminence alpha 8a on top in a closed back configuration. I use the Fischer-Price looking Zoom G1on for effects. Adding a tiny bit of compression, reverb and EQ and using my strats volume control this amp just sings. The amp and effects fit in the open back part of the cab making setup a breeze. I may change the carvin speaker to another eminence, the experimenting never ends.
Not just a novelty but a very giggable amp

The Vox Mv50 does not disappoint. It's a really loud, incredibly tiny amp that sounds exactly like an AC30. With shimmery cleans and that loud, fuzzy, slightly distorted Vox tone, this is a great choice for anyone who wants a portable gigging amp. The mv50 sounds and feels like a tube amp, and doesn't even begin to show seams tonally until the gain is almost maxed.

Now, there's one problem with this amp. In order to run it at the full 50 watts, you need to run a 4 ohm load. That means if you only have one 8 ohm speaker, the amp will need to run at 25 watts, and won't play at full 50 watt power unless you run two speakers in parallel or a 4 ohm cab.

With that said, even at 25 watts this amp can easily play over a very loud drummer. It's lacking a tiny bit of clean headroom, but I'm confident the move up to 50 watts will fix that. And If you need even more power, you could always run the line out into a pa.

Overall, it's a fantastic amp, and is unbelievable for the price and size. I'm looking forward to taking this thing to college.

I'll never own a real AC30 because of it's weight at this stage of my life. This little amp is amazing for the size and price. Volume is quite loud, and the tone emulates the AC30 in a very realistic manner. I placed it on my pedal board....talk about convenient!

I play it through a quality 2X12 cab which I believe to be an important part of achieving the best tone. It is certainly gig-worthy and well worth the cost.

When I first saw these online I was intrigued. I always dug Vox amps even the Valvetronix line always sounded great to me.
This little guy kicks. I have 2 8 Ω cabs so if I need 50 watts I use both cabs , smaller gigs(25 watts) I bring one cab. Still has that great Vox Kerrang! sound I love. My Roland Cube 80XL is staying home more! Played several gigs and has no problem keeping up! Fits right in the back of the amp too.
Shouldnt be long before these are built right into
Multi effects pedals so all you gotta do at the gig is put down your pedal board and plug it into a cab.

I really wanted to not like this amp or just find it so-so. I was impressed with the tonality running it into an old 1965 JMI(Vox) made Domino Bass cab with a 12" Celestion T1088 speaker. The sound /tone was actually very similar to my 1964 Vox AC30 and it's plenty loud enough to use on a gig(I use it with a Marshall 1974x loaded with an alnico 1960 Rola speaker. Even a 1/3 way up it's more than I need for small gigs. But the sound/tone is warm and big and sweet. I don't know how Korg did these micro tubes, but it sure adds to the overall sound. I'm guessing there's some sort of modelling in there(?). but with anyone of my Les Paul's or old Gretsch Country Clubs, it has the right sounds. For $, how can you go wrong. I would suggest using it with a 12 speaker and if you want to really make it sing, use an Alnico Celestion 12" speaker(s) as those are the Only speakers that will give you the original Vox/JMI tone.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 Stars is that the gain control does not turn the volume all the way off if the master's up. I've played & worked on a few hundred original Vox amps over the years and have traveled the world playing music. I wouldn't hesitate using this with a cab mic'd up in any of the PAC's around the country (Performing Arts Centers). Sure sounds better than some of the crap we'd had to use for backline..LOL

I host a very popular weekly open mic in Northern California. So took my Vox MV50 AC up to the club and plugged it into our Yamaha PA via the line/balanced/headphone out side of the amp. Lined up a Fulltone Plimsoul and a Carbon Copy analog delay and an X2 Looper in front of it, playing through a Telecaster modded out with Seymour Duncan Vintage Blues 59s as pickups.

OMFG! The amp emulation on this thing is incredible, really first class, and the sound was huge. Was able to get into the zone quickly and stay there, and that's the kind of sound you want to bring out your best. About 5 or 6 of our other performers playing various electric guitars from big box jazz style electrics to a Gibson Les Paul played through the amp and everybody was digging the sound so much, I think we may have accidentally started a stampede. Sweetwater, I sure hope you've ordered more of these sweet puppies. Based on the amp emulation alone, this thing deserves a 5.0, but then again there are a lot of awesome way more expensive boutique amps out there, so overall, I'd rate this amp 4.5.

I love the fact that you can throw this amp, a few cords and some pedals into a shoulder bag, pick up your guitar gig bag and be ready for the show. This amp would work great at big clubs (like House of Blues) through the house PA, and since they don't have to mic your amp, they may love you for it. :)

Thanks Vox and Sweetwater, you've just saved my back and made the gigging life so much easier!

Been playing around with the new VOX MV50 AC and seeing how it responds to various much-loved overdrive & distortion pedals. First, let me say this amp is way smaller than even I had imagined it. It's just slightly bigger than your standard guitar effects pedal (think Boss boxes, lol), weighs 1 pound, and still manages to get small-medium size nightclub gig loud, and of course, you can mic it for larger clubs or outdoor shows, OR go out the headphone level balanced out and straight into a PA or a powered speaker. That last feature is actually why I have this micro-amp. ... Tonally, the amp sounds really nice. Seems to be modeled on more of an AC15 than an AC30 sound, but blended. Has a Flat & Deep EQ switch on the back, and the deep definitely helps boost the low end, while the flat seems to boost more of the mid-highs - tonally sort of like the difference between your rhythm pickup and your treble pickup.

I've been playing it through an 8ohm PA speaker, and sounds like a guitar amp, as you'd expect. I love the chimey Vox style sound - the resonant tonal series (think the way the amp resonates tonally - the tonal sound underneath, behind the most present tones) in this amp are pretty magical at times. The nu-tube does a pretty good job of emulating a 12AX7 tube - sounds very similar to my Vox VT40+ that I've been using a lot at medium room size gigs (I gig every week). This amp is 50watts, but only with a 4ohm speaker or speaker configuration. Typical speakers are 8ohm, so in it's normal setting this is a 25watts amp head. And that's the way I've been using it. It's plenty loud enough for practice & small-med. clubs. I have a Mesa-Boogie Nomad 55 tube amp I use for big clubs and festivals. But it's heavy, and it's very nice to be able to throw this little amp in your gig bag or guitar case or even to wire it into your board. Has a very solid metal casing that seems pretty rugged, haven't had the amp long enough to know yet.

OK, on with the pedal reviews! Well, of course, we start with an Ibanez Tubescreamer - I have the 4-channel Keeley modded Turbo Tubescreamer which is the closest recreation of the early green-box Tubescreamer sound that made that pedal famous (and, btw, the very last one Robert ever modded). What I find is that the MV50 AC distortion is almost identical to the Tubescreamer's soft clipping style distortion sound. Makes me wonder if Vox used a similar kind of Silicone chip standard in this amp? The short of it is that the character of this amp's distortion is so similar to that of a Tubescreamer that it almost sounds more like a volume boost of the amp's own distortion sound than adding any new layer of distortion. And, the same thing I'm describing happened with both my HIllbilly Amps "Iguana" pedal and my Fulltone Plimsoul on the Stage 1 side. But, the Plimsoul is basically a Tubescreamer emulation on the Stage 1 side, and a Fulltone OCD distortion on the Stage 2 side. Very similar, even higher gain results with a HIllbilly Amps "OMG!" pedal, one of my personal favorite creamy sustained distortion effect pedals. So if you put a Tubescreamer solft-clipping type overdrive or distortion in front of this amp, you basically are just going to get a nice consistent volume boost with slightly more of the same kind of gain the amp is producing.

Here's the thing though, if you put a Fulltone OCD or Stage 2 of a Fulltone Plimsoul in front of this amp, well that, my friends, is a magical combination. All the sudden, your AC's classic English style rock distortion sound becomes very sustained and creamy, & pretty much becomes the MV50 Rock model. (Which makes me wonder if the only difference between the AC & Rock versions of this amp is some kind of internal high gain adjustment, but otherwise the exact same components & configuration, other than the faceplates? Maybe so, but if y'all find out, let me know). Well, just saying - if you buy this amp, pick up an OCD or Plimsoul to go with it, and you'll be very happy with your choices & the sounds you get.

I also used a Fuzz Overdrive pedal (a Keeley Fuzz Head) and obtained similar nice results, although Fuzz has more of a retro sound than an OCD or Plimsoul, which are more in the modern high gain range.

I've noticed in demo comparisons with an actual VoxAC15, this little MV50AC stands up pretty well, particularly tonally - almost dead on, but the MV50 seems to have more presence or mid-highs than the AC15 and the AC15 has a slightly browner bassier tone, which you would expect from its heavier cabinet and bigger classic tubes. But you can compensate pretty effectively for those differences if you are experienced at dialing in your effects pedals and your guitar's tone, which actually makes a big difference with the character of how this amp responds, I was pleasantly surprised with the MV50's responsiveness.

I'll be testing the MV50 AC's amp emulation mode through the headphone out into a PA at my house gig tomorrow and will let you know how that works/sounds, but loving it so far through the headphones! :)

Overall, a very nice "tube" amp for the price. Super-convenient, rugged and lightweight. I can't really give this amp a 5.0 rating because it just does not compare to my Mesa Nomad or a Fender Twin or even a regular Vox AC30 or AC15, but you could buy all 3 models of the MV50 for the price of almost anyone of those massively heavier classic favorite big club-size tube amps. This amp probably rates about a 4.0 sound-wise overall against all other guitar amp heads on the market, but I give it the extra .5 because of its clever design & convenience & nu-tube 12AX7 sound replication. But, as for me, I wouldn't break my back over the slight differences. Throw this thing in your guitar case & off you go. Your back will love you!

Technology is amazing. Who would've thought just a few years ago that something you could fit in your coat pocket would produce this kind of sound quality.

I tried this for a week and had to return it, The problem is no fx loop, you may think this is a minor drawback, But I went and chained all my pedals together and boy did they sound .. well not good... I like the Vox tone and power but the lack of an FX loop was too much of a drawback to overcome ..The Joyo Atomic sounds identical and has an FX loop

I love the idea of a Nutube lunchbox amp but this just doesn't get it done. The sound is grainy and will not convince you you are playing through a tube amp. Overall it's no better than other, much cheaper lunchboxes I own which employ a 12ax7.

Also, the power switch is a minuscule slider switch buried on the back. It's a baffling and irritating design decision that makes me not want to play this.

It's suuuuuper small though—about the size of a pedal—so if you're looking for an emergency backup amp this would work well.