Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb amp

[John Boyd]

Greetings again from downunder.
I'm watching a Vox Cambridge 30 reverb amp (with one 10" Celestion speaker) on a web auction site in NZ and wonder if anyone has any experiences to share about this model. I already have an AC30CC2, so am just looking for something a little smaller and lighter to add to my 'arsenal'.
Any contributions warmly welcomed.
Cheers,
JB

[RUSSET]

Hi John,
I remember trying one out in a store about ten years ago. It sounded very good for a solid-state amp, but I remember there were quality control issues, at the time, relating to the internal electrics resulting in a few failures after a short time. I would say that the more reliable Vox 'Pathfinder' & 'VT' ranges may be a safer way to go. I have a Pathfinder 15, & it is a superb lightweight practise/home use amp which has great tone & surprisingly loud volume for it's size.

Tony.

[Bluesnote]

I purchased a Vox VT15 yesterday. What an amazing buy for £109. I cant believe the sounds I'm getting out of it, and I've only just scratched the surface so far.
Its just the right size for what I need, I'm well chuffed with it

[Didier]

You can read comments here : http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... everb/10/1

Like all budget amps, it can be upgraded by fitting a more efficient speaker :



left speaker is a 10" Celestion Bulldog speaker from a Cambridge 30 (don't be fooled by the colour, it's not an alnico blue !), right speaker is a Celestion G10 Vintage, much more efficient thanks to a much bigger magnet. both speakers have the same chassis, so replacement is possible without any mechnical modifications (the smaller top speaker is a 8" model from a Vox Pathfinder 15 amp).

Didier
P.S. there has been some reliabilty problems in early models because of a defective optocoupler in the vibrato circuits.

[panchodiaz]

Hi John,

I have a Cambridge Reverb 30 TR and it´s a very good amplifier in my opinion. It has two Celestion Blue Bulldog speakers (as shown by Didier) and I think they aren´t bad at all. I had a noise problem based in the reverb circuit which was very difficult to resolve bat now it´s Ok. My amp came with the new optocoupler and I fitted the power IC to 56 watts so now it´s a loud amp without changing the tone. It has two channels. The first one is digital and sounds very well in my opinion but the other one with a valve in the preamp sounds superb. I thought to change the speakers for Red Coat Eminence but never did.

Regards,
Pancho

[JimTidmarsh]

I've been using a Vox Cambridge 30 with single speaker (unmodified) for about 9 years now and can report total satisfaction.

You have a choice of a clean sold-state Channel 1 or a valve driven pre-amp on Channel 2 with a gain and mid range boost. I don't know what sounds you want, but my Burns through Channel 1 with the bass turned up gives me THAT Burns era sound. Channel 2 is better with my Strat.

I paid about £220 new for this amp in 2001 and it's been worth every penny.

[Didier]

I have a Cambridge Reverb 30 TR and it´s a very good amplifier in my opinion. It has two Celestion Blue Bulldog speakers (as shown by Didier) and I think they aren´t bad at all.

That's the "twin" model, wich is excatly the same as the "single" model, apart for having two 16 ohm speakers (in parallel) instead of one 8 ohm speaker.

I had a noise problem based in the reverb circuit which was very difficult to resolve bat now it´s Ok. My amp came with the new optocoupler and I fitted the power IC to 56 watts so now it´s a loud amp without changing the tone. It has two channels. The first one is digital and sounds very well in my opinion but the other one with a valve in the preamp sounds superb. I thought to change the speakers for Red Coat Eminence but never did.

I have all the documentation about this power IC modification if someone needs it.

Didier