Vox AC15H

I am, admittedly, a 'livingroom warrior' at this point in my life. I wouldn't have bought a valve head to lug around to gigs, lol. I've been using amp sims for the past few years, and started to get a bit tired of them. So, I started to research amp heads, as I have a 12" cab. When I saw this model, I was intrigued, and decided to give it a try. I wanted a traditional amp with a real reverb. I didn't want to pay for USB/Headphone outs, as they are irrelevant to me. I didn't want any DSP in the amp. That ruled out my other choice, the Fender Super Champ, which seems like a nice amp, but didn't fit the parameters of what I wanted.

As I mention in the title, this is the fist VOX amp I have played in 44 years of playing, and I can only say I wish I had done so earlier. I absolutely love the wide variety of tones that can be dialed in very easily. It does clean very well, and the crunch/overdriven sounds are the best I've heard on an amp that wasn't loud enough to blow the windows out. Speaking of volume, I am quite pleased with the built in attenuator. I have been playing it in its middle setting, which is 1.5w. You would be surprised how loud 1.5 watts can get! The dynamic range is something amp sims cannot yet emulate really well. Pick gently, it is clean with a tiny bit of grit. Dig in, and you get that really creamy overdriven crunch that is not muddy. This amp has two channels, with a master volume, and you can get the overdriven tones on both the 'Normal' and the 'Top Boost' channels, and they both sound different. The reverb I find merely adequate, though since I am not playing surf music, I don't need to use very much of it, just enough for a bit of depth. This amp also has a tremolo, again adequate. I've heard better on Fender amps, but this is fine for me.
The only real niggle I have is the dimensions of the unit. It won't sit on my 112 cab, nor will it sit on the Vox 112 cab. It needs the 212 cab to sit properly on. This is why I took 1 star off for 'handling.' I am going to think about getting the 212 cab, but in the meantime will have to find another place to put it.

To sum up:

Pros:
Great variety of tones. As I don't do hi-gain metal stuff, this does everything I need it to do, and it does it well.
The attenuator is a welcome feature for those of us who don't want our neighbours showing up at the door with torches and pitchforks.
It is stylish, and with a Vox cab, will look absolutely killer.

Cons:

Size is a bit awkward;
Reverb/Tremolo are not the absolute best I've heard, but are adequate for my purposes.

I will be using this amp for recording, and just having hours and hours of fun. Again, I wish I'd tried a Vox amp sooner!!!

Was beginning to give up hope of buying a tube amp online without hearing it in store but my faith has been restored. This is a near perfect tube amp for me.

Huge variety of classic rock and blues tones available from just a little grit and gravel to a full-on saturated roar, and including, of course, that iconic chiming Vox clean sound.

When attenuated down to 7W or the ultimate-neighbour-friendly 1/6th of a watt you get the joy of all the tube tone you want without blowing out the windows, but the full 15W is plenty loud enough for good-sized gigs or simply showing off.

Just a little real spring reverb fills out the sound and stops it feeling flat and dry, while the responsive tremolo is a whole playground of tonal possibilities.

Takes pedals really well in the front (no effects loop). A built in footswitch connection would be nice, but the addition of an affordable AB-Y pedal would give you the options of either/or or BOTH channels together for even more tone exploration.

It is beautifully quiet, with pretty low levels of hiss at the crucial 'all at 12 o'clock' setting even at 15W, and completely silent when attenuated unless pushed to more like 'everything at 3 o'clock'.

All in all having tried to order to order multiple tube amps from a different well known brand and from different suppliers this year, and having had to send them all back for virtually unplayable noise levels (even with nothing plugged into the amp and everything at zero), I am finally in tone heaven!

Great purchasing experience from Thomann too. Good communication and order tracking and a pleasure to deal with.