# Marshall Class 5 or AC4TV



## cptheman (Oct 15, 2009)

I'm in the market for a small combo tube amp and these two jumped to the top of my list. If anyone has experience with either let me know what you think. From listening to some demos on youtube, I think I marginally prefer the sound of the class 5 but the reason I'm getting this amp is because I'm going to be in residence in university next year and can't really play a twin. kqoct So the AC4TV gets bonus points for the power attenuation. For anyone that's played one, how does the 4 watt sound compare to the 1 and the 1/4?

Thanks

Here's a good head to head youtube video for anyone asking the same question to themselves, and they both sound great

[video=youtube;pg1ZZWPTlqc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg1ZZWPTlqc&feature=related[/video]


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

I played the vox combo at a store for a while. It sounded pretty good, but the tiny cab and speaker made it too boxy sounding for me.

for dorm use you might consider a pod and some headphones. Just a thought.


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## corailz (May 1, 2008)

I tried the Marshall,the Vox and the Blackheart HandsomeDevil in combo version ,and i would go for the Blackheart.It's alot more roomy than both of them,but if the name's important,go for the Marshall!!!It sounds really nicely,it breaks at pretty low volume and it looks so nice!I found the Vox very boxy and it was really hard to dial some clean sound.
I was really surprised by the Blackheart.Even if it's a 5W(You can choose 5w or 3w modes with a switch),i was alot more easy to dial any clean tone and i liked the way this little amp starts to break.The thing,is that this one had a 12" speaker inside and the price was cheaper that the 2 others!!!!
For sure,if i had to buy a little amp now,it would be the BlackHeart....Don't miss to try one before choosing the one you want,it deserves your attention!!!!hgfs
For the specs :http://www.blackhearteng.com/bh5112.html

[YOUTUBE]sNpBr3K38Do[/YOUTUBE]


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I bought the Marshall and thought it was cool. But I took it back because it was too loud for my condo. It may only be 5 Watts but unless you can play drums in your place you won't be able to crank this and.

It does really ripped one crank and is a fun little and, but there's no way I'd dorm will allow you to crank this thing.
TG


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Neither are good for an apartment/dorm. The AC4 with the low watt setting would likely be 'better', but you'd be just as well off just getting a Roland Cube or Vox AD/VT. That's really the only way to get an simple one amp set up (without having to use pedals or attenuators) that will work at pretty much any volume. A 5 watt tube amp is quite loud. Heck, even a 3 watt tube amp is pretty loud. And I have read pretty mixed reviews on how good the Vox AC4 sounds on it's lower wattage settings as well.


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## cptheman (Oct 15, 2009)

Thanks for the replies everybody (even if it's not exactly what I wanted to hear )
I will have to try out some of these, but it looks like those little tube amps might be too loud. I will start looking at some alternatives too. Thanks 

Feel free to keep pitchin your 2 cents


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

cptheman said:


> Thanks for the replies everybody (even if it's not exactly what I wanted to hear )
> I will have to try out some of these, but it looks like those little tube amps might be too loud. I will start looking at some alternatives too. Thanks
> 
> Feel free to keep pitchin your 2 cents


Well the thing is you are buying a tube amp for a certain tone. If you are using in in a playing situation where you can't take advantage of it, you aren't really getting the most out of the amp. 

You could pick up a used Cube or Vox modelling amp for under $200. One of the really small ones for under $150 probably. This is partially opinion, but my MicroCube at really quite volumes at night in my apartment sounds a heck of a lot better to me than my tube amps turned down to almost nothing. Especially when it comes to gain tones.

Other people will disagree and recommend pedals and attenuators, which is a partial solution. But I am a minimalist, especially when the space to store the gear is small. And as mentioned, I just don't feel I am losing out on anything tone wise using my MicroCube for the quiet practicing. It sounds great.


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## Abrasive (Feb 1, 2008)

If you've just gotta have a tube amp:
Have you considered building one?
I built a little firefly a few months ago. Cost is around $225, and with even modest soldering ability, you'll be able to have it together in an afternoon.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

I would recommend a small tube amp with a good clean tone. You could use good pedals for distortion. A Timmy is perfect for low levels of dirt and sounds great through a clean amp.

TG


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## Xanadu (Feb 3, 2006)

I don't think that either of these amps will be too loud on res. It's res... I bought an epiphone valve junior when i moved into res, and it was great. If I wanted more crunch, I'd plug in my tubescreamer.

But we had a really loud floor though..


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

I've got an AC4TV, so I'll offer you my opinion on it.

It's a pretty loud little amp. I play it in my home office, which is basically an upstairs bedroom. I play almost exclusively on the 1 watt setting, and if I turn the volume knob to the halfway mark, it's too loud for others in the house (i.e. my wife), and she has commented that she can actually hear it from the driveway, outside the house. A comfortable playing volume for solitary practice is when the knob is around 1/4 of its total travel.

The 4 watt setting is almost never used, unless I'm home alone and really want to make some noise. The 1/4 watt setting is frankly not even worth using. It completely sucks the life and tone out of the amp. But I find the quality of tone in the 1-watt and 4-watt settings to be comparable, just different loudness.

I also have a Vox DA-5 modelling amp. The AC4 has a much nicer tone, and sounds more "real", if you know what I mean. The range and depth of the tone is much richer. If some consider it boxy, I'd likely melt if I got to play around with something like an AC30. I much prefer playing through the AC4 over the DA-5.

That being said, if I could only have one amp of the two, I'd keep the DA-5. It doesn't sound as good, but it sounds great at low volumes, has a lot of different effects and tones, most of which are quite high quality, and it is more portable. I can plug an MP3 player into it, I can play backing tracks from my computer through it, and I can use it with headphones. For solitary practice in a dorm-room type of situation, I think an amp like that is the way to go. $135 at most stores. The Roland Micro Cube is also nice, but I think the Vox just edges it out in most reviews/comparisons.

--- D


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