Vox MV50: Super-tiny guitar amp heads with NuTube technology
Another micro-format amp head - will the MV50 stand out?
Vox MV50 with NuTube technology · Source: Vox/Youtube
Vox MV50 with NuTube technology and cabinet emulated output for recording or headphones · Source: Vox/YouTube
Vox MV50 with NuTube technology AC, Rock and Clean · Source: Vox/YouTube
The new Vox MV50 is a range of three micro-format 50-Watt guitar heads, each with a ‘NuTube’ valve. These amp heads come in three flavours: AC, Rock and Clean, so it’s pretty obvious which tone the various models are focussed on. But how much functionality can you squeeze into a head this size?
New NuTube
Vox have managed to get around using a 12AX7 tube for their core tones. For the MV50 it’s been replaced it with a scaled down version of the preamp valve called NuTube, which Vox states gives you the ‘overtones and harmonics’ of a regular preamp tube. This is matched with a new Class-D power amp section, apparently designed from scratch.
Each of the three versions has a different focus: one has a classic Vox AC ‘chimey’ sound, the Rock version gives you – surprisingly enough – rock-orientated, driven tones while the Clean model is designed to have enough headroom to stay clean when turned all the way up.
Each MV50 has a Depth/Flat switch on the rear, which is used to adapt the sound to the size of cab. When using a smaller cabinet, switching to the Deep setting adds more resonance and low frequencies. If you’re using a larger cab, you’re supposed to use the Flat setting, which doesn’t add anything to your sound to ‘compensate’ for the smaller cab size.
Simulation
There’s also a cab simulation on-board on the Line output, which also doubles up as a headphone output. This means you could record straight to your DAW via an audio interface, or use these for silent practise. Handy.
Each head can also switch between the following settings; 4 Ohm = 50 Watt, 8 Ohm = 25 Watt, 16 Ohm = 125 Watt. That’s enough versatility for most guitar cabinets. I like.
You can also buy a matching Vox BC108 cabinet rated at 25 Watts, which is designed to pair well with the MV50 range. If these do sound good in real life, I think they might be pretty handy for rehearsals or as a backup amp, as they would easily fit in most gig bags.
RRP: USD MV50 $199 and the BC108 $99
You can read the full specifications for each model here on the Vox site
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