Say what—Vox is making acoustic amps? No,
we’re not yanking your chain, gang. Vox is
making an acoustic amp. The AGA70 is a sexylooking
box—sleek and black and very, very Vox,
with black diamond-weave grille cloth and the
iconic Vox logo slung low on the right. The front
curves at the top, too, which adds to the visual
vibe. The chunky white chicken-head knobs are
a quirky complement to the overall look, and the
bold, white-on-black labeling for each knob and
button is easy to see in any light, thank you very
much. The handle feels secure and comfortable,
easily capable of hoisting the 22.3 lb combo.
Measuring 12.7" by 10.3" by 13" (W x D x H),
the AGA70 has a nice, small footprint and sports
a custom designed 6.5" full-range speaker. Vox
packs 70 efficient watts and two very feature-rich
channels into this little baby, too.
Double Feature
On the rear panel you have the standard
stuff: a power switch, a power cable connector,
a connector for the optional VFS2
dual footswitch (which toggles the reverb
and chorus, and lets you switch the All Mute
function on and off), DI out (nice!), tuner out,
L/R lines in, and an auxiliary in.
On the top panel, things get more exciting.
There’s a Master volume, an All Mute switch,
and a sweepable Anti-Feedback control for
starters. The two channels are laid out very
clearly and sensibly. Both have switchable
phantom power (sweet!), a Chorus button, and
a Gain switch with High and Low settings (High
packs a serious punch), as well as Volume,
Bass, Middle, Treble, Color, and Reverb knobs.
Both channels also have XLR and 1/4" inputs—
a real plus for singers/songwriters. One channel
also has a 12AU7 tube in the preamp.
Tone-o-Rama
Most of us associate Vox amps with a
wonderful, chimey, growly tone that some
describe as “sugarcoated road grit.” With its
12AU7, the AGA70’s Tube Pre channel gives
you tone much like that, only appropriately
tailored for an acoustic guitar. It’s more like
a “sprinkling of faerie dust against a twilight
sky” kind of tone. The key is the Color
control: Turned counter-clockwise, it gives
you a dark, fat, smoky tone. Turned all the
way clockwise, it gives you that sparkling,
golden-brown goodness.