VOX mods for cambridge 15r?

jw112 · Newbie Alert Joined: 25 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

i'm thinking of mod'ing my cambridge 15r. i've heard i can change a chip to up the watts? does anyone have any inof on this or know where i can find it? i'm also thinking about switching tubes. not sure if i will notice any difference.

i'm also thinking about trying to fit a 10" in as well.

any help with some info would be great!

MichaelK · Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2007 3:15 pm Post subject:

Nothing like a reply in October to a question you asked in August, huh?

I changed the tube to a NOS Amperex ECC83 and I hear a small improvement. I experimented with a whole bunch, including some lovely old Brit tubes just to hear what difference they made, if any, though I would not put a real expensive NOS tube in there to stay.

The stock Sovtek held up very well and sounded better or as good as most NOS tubes, none of which made a huge difference. Keep in mind that the amp was voiced using tubes available at the time. I had a few of these Amperex lying around and it made enough difference that I kept it there.

I think the biggest improvement you can make would be to upgrade the speaker. I tried a 15W Weber 8A100-T (Alnico) and it sounded like crap. It broke up real early, but I was not impressed with the tone even when it ran clean. A Weber rated for higher wattage might sound better, but I don't care to try.

I have a Jensen 8" Alnico in there now and it's an improvement over the original but has no bass response at all. I recently bought a 12" Tone Tubby Ceramic for another combo amp and I was blown away. It's a monster. Absolutely great speaker tone, way exceeding my expectations. They make an 8" now and I'm going to get one for the Cambridge for sure.