About VOX
VOX traces back to 1958, when British amp designer Dick Denney built the company's first amplifier for Jennings Musical Industries. The AC30 followed a year later and became one of the defining sounds of the British Invasion, adopted by The Beatles under an exclusive endorsement deal and heard on decades of recordings since. After passing through several owners in the 1970s, VOX has been part of Korg since the early 1990s, which has kept the AC30 platform in continuous production.
Today VOX's range spans well beyond its tube-amp heritage: the Valvetronix line brings tube-amp modeling to solid-state combos, the ToneLab and StompLab series package that same modeling into multi-effects pedals, and the amPlug headphone amps let guitarists and bassists plug straight into the instrument jack for silent practice anywhere. It's the amPlug line, now in its third generation, that earns VOX a place on this list.
Brand website: voxamps.com
What VOX makes
VOX's catalog runs wider than the gear we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
AC30 Series
The tube combo amp, built around EL84 power tubes and Celestion speakers, that defined the British Invasion sound.
Valvetronix Series
Solid-state modeling amps that emulate VOX's own tube voicings for practice and stage use.
amPlug 3 Headphone Amps
Battery-powered amps that plug directly into a guitar or bass jack for silent practice, with onboard effects and rhythm patterns. — featured on House of Octave
ToneLab / StompLab Pedals
Multi-effects processors combining VOX amp modeling with distortion, drive, and cabinet emulation.
Why we recognized VOX
The House of Octave Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose gear consistently stands out in our player-tested category guides. VOX earned it on the strength of the products below, judged the same way every product on this site is: assessed on build, tone, and playability, weighed against what players actually report over years of use, and ranked on merit.
VOX gear we rated highly
Vox amPlug 3 Bass
A dedicated headphone bass amp that plugs straight into the instrument jack and runs on batteries, with three analog voicings (Classic, Smooth and Funk) that carry the warmth of VOX's amp circuits instead of typical digital headphone-amp thinness. Nine onboard rhythm patterns give solo practice something to lock in with, and a built-in compressor keeps fingerstyle and slap passages at a consistent volume in the headphones. In our reviews it holds a 4.5-star rating across 449 Amazon reviews.
Read the 10 Best Bass Amps of 2026 (Practice, Home, and Gigging) guide →What earned VOX the recognition
- Almost seven decades of British amplifier heritage, from the 1958 AC1/15 through the AC30 that helped define the "chime" of the British Invasion sound
- Owned by Korg since the early 1990s, which has kept the AC30 platform in continuous production alongside a modern practice and modeling lineup
- The amPlug 3 Bass carries a 4.5-star rating across 449 Amazon reviews, with three analog voicings that owners describe as warmer than typical digital headphone amps
- A built-in compressor and nine onboard rhythm patterns make it a genuinely complete silent-practice tool rather than just a headphone jack
- Part of a wider amPlug 3 family (AC30, UK Drive, US Silver, Boutique) built on the same headphone-amp platform, extending across VOX's other well-known voicings