Two new Vox battery amps for lapsteel

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 5 Jun 2007 9:48 am

Vox's success with the DA5 has inspired them to come out with two new battery/AC models.

The DA10 and the DA20.

The DA10 will have two 6.5" speakers and 10 watts. The DA20 will have two 8" speakers and 20 watts.

DA10

DA20

Elderly looks like they're getting these at the beginning of July. The DA10 will go for $199 and the DA20, $249.

So, you amp gurus... What will the two 6.5" speakers get me over the single 6.5" in the DA5 in terms of tone?

I wonder about the size of this thing - will it still fit easily in my suitcase.

Do you think Roland will come out with a MACRO-CUBE?

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 5 Jun 2007 10:05 am

Sounds to me like a cab with two 8" speakers is gonna be fairly big.
Are those going to have re-chargable battery packs? An amp driving 2 speakers, specially the 2X8, will need power I think. Any specs about that GB ?
Of course you may be able to find some luggage type that will work for that.

Regards; Your Pal

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 5 Jun 2007 10:07 am

I kinda wish they came out with a DA8 - an amp with a single 8" speaker.

I think two speakers are overkill. But I don't know that much about amps.

If I were even to consider one of these amps it would be the DA10 with the two 6.5" speakers and 10 watts.

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 5 Jun 2007 10:15 am

I think the Fender champ had an 8", and it did the job OK, but it was about a 5 watt amp. How big is the speaker in the Vox you have right now?
There is an advantage to more speaker cone area for moving more air/sound.

Regards BILL

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 5 Jun 2007 10:16 am

My current amp the DA5 has a single 6.5" speaker.

The new DA10 doubles the amount of speakers and doubles the amount of watts - from 5 to 10.

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 5 Jun 2007 10:20 am

Moved to Electronics from Steel Without Pedals.

Bill Creller · Post by **Bill Creller** » 5 Jun 2007 10:35 am

Anyway, as I was asking before we were interupted

, does the new one(s) have re-chargable batteries?

You may have to just go try them and check them out.

BILL

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 5 Jun 2007 10:45 am

Not rechargeable - it runs on 6 C batteries.

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 5 Jun 2007 12:05 pm

That's interesting that they don't give the dimensions of either amp. They have to be somewhat larger and heavier than the current DA5, but how much larger and heavier is the question.

John Dahms · Post by **John Dahms** » 5 Jun 2007 12:13 pm

Usually multiple speakers will have the same tone as a single speaker (allowing for a larger cabinet to resonate in). The difference is in face area -they "move more air" and fill up the area with sound better. You can hear it more.

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 5 Jun 2007 12:40 pm

I found size and weight specs on a Japanese website.

DA5 - 10.5" w, 7" d, 10.5" h - 7.7 lbs

DA10 - 15.2" w, 7.2" d, 12.4" h - 16.5 lbs

DA20 - 18.2" w, 9" d, 14.8" h - 22 lbs

The weight of the DA10 might be a deal killer for me. I want this amp for traveling (flying). 16.5 lbs takes up a lot of usable "allowance" in a suitcase. The major airlines only allow up to 50 lbs per bag.

Gary Lynch · Post by **Gary Lynch** » 5 Jun 2007 12:41 pm

"larger and heavier is the question"

I bet they are real heavy for suitcase travel.

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 5 Jun 2007 1:03 pm

They should have split the front's center and angled the speakers out a bit to fill more air space. And while the chrome grill is way more protective than the vintage cloth, I still prefer the older look.

But, if I already had a DA5, I doubt I'd bother with another Vox until they provided battery recharging, which is quite a valuable option.

Lynn Oliver · Post by **Lynn Oliver** » 5 Jun 2007 1:04 pm

Gerald Ross wrote:Not rechargeable - it runs on 6 C batteries.

And it runs at a max of 5W on batteries.

wt golden · Post by **wt golden** » 5 Jun 2007 1:44 pm

So, you amp gurus... What will the two 6.5" speakers get me over the single 6.5" in the DA5 in terms of tone?

oh I found it on the Vox website Gerald -

it says that the 2 speakers give you double the tone...

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 5 Jun 2007 6:05 pm

I really wonder what Roland is going to do.

General consensus is that the DA5 kicks the butt of the Microcube. Now with the DA10 and DA20 Vox has a whole family of powerful battery powered amps.

If Roland beefs up the Microcube with a few more watts and a bigger speaker they just might win back some market share.

Gary Lynch · Post by **Gary Lynch** » 5 Jun 2007 6:28 pm

They really should have made them rechargeable like the Pig Nose. Those will suck a lot of power.

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 5 Jun 2007 6:35 pm

My current DA5 gets about 20 hours on a set of batteries. Not bad IMHO.

I buy my batteries bulk at Costco. Much much cheaper than your local 7/11. Unfortunately I can't leave Costco without dropping $300 on items that I "absolutely must have now!... for sure, I really need that 25 gallon drum of jalapeno peppers".

Lynn Oliver · Post by **Lynn Oliver** » 5 Jun 2007 6:55 pm

I've been using high-capacity NiMH rechargable batteries in my Microcube. They outlast alkaline batteries by two or three to one in heavey use, although shelf life isn't as good (you have to recharge them about once a month if they are not being used).

If you go this way, make sure you get a good charger. The batteries will last a lot longer if you use the proper charging current and rejuvenate them periodically.

Todd Weger · Post by **Todd Weger** » 5 Jun 2007 7:09 pm

Gerald Ross wrote:The weight of the DA10 might be a deal killer for me. I want this amp for traveling (flying). 16.5 lbs takes up a lot of usable "allowance" in a suitcase. The major airlines only allow up to 50 lbs per bag.

Good God, man -- just how thick IS your underwear!!??

Glad to see that they're not making people buy the ugly version before they have an option of getting the "classic" version" --

Great sounding. Great looking too. The DA10 is dressed in black vinyl with black chrome grilles. The amp will be made available with the option of limited edition “Classic” VOX cosmetics (DA10CL) of black vinyl and brown diamond grille cloth.

I also wonder why they wouldn't offer these with re-chargable batteries. Anything over 5 watts is going to be hungry for power, and rechargables, while adding to the initial cost, are a big saver in the long run.

Oh yeah -- Roland is going to bring out a MicroCube with FOUR 8-inch speakers, battery powered (car battery) and it's 125 watts! They're calling it - what else? - the MicroCubed.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 5 Jun 2007 8:07 pm

These small Vox amps have a much bigger sound than the speaker size would lead one to believe. They are long throw acoustic suspension speakers in closed back cabinets. I'm thinking the 6.5" sounds like a typical 10" guitar speaker; and the 8" must sound similar to a 12" guitar speaker. My feeling is that two 6.5" speakers will sound just like one, but louder. The 2x6.5 and the 2x8 are clearly a little bigger and heavier than the DA5, but they still probably put out a helluva lot of sound for the size and weight. The DA5 would be pretty good for busking with a 6-string electric guitar. The DA20 might be powerful enough to work for busking with a pedal steel guitar. Can you imagine that? All these small Voxes have got to be the most tone and volume you can get for the size and weight.

Mitch Druckman · Post by **Mitch Druckman** » 5 Jun 2007 9:10 pm

If you read the spec sheets carefully (if I understand it correctly) it says that the DA5, DA10, and DA20 all operate at 5 watts max. in battery mode. The 2 new higher wattage models (DA10 and 20) only use their higher wattages when plugged into the wall. If that's true, 2 DA5's used together (10 watts) will have twice the power of a DA10 (5 watts) when using batteries.

Todd Weger · Post by **Todd Weger** » 6 Jun 2007 5:15 am

If you get 20 of 'em, you can have a battery powered hundred watt STACK!

Of course, you'll need to buy 120 C batteries, if you want to busk with it...

George Piburn · Post by **George Piburn** » 6 Jun 2007 6:05 am

Gerald Ross · Post by **Gerald Ross** » 7 Jun 2007 6:22 am

So if you can only get 5 watts on battery power (the same as the DA5) I would imagine that battery life will be shorter with the DA10 and DA20 since your are powering an additional speaker.

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Two new Vox battery amps for lapsteel

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