I have a Cambridge 15 which I adore and even sold my all tube amp because the Vox hybrid just sounds better. By the way I took the tube out of my Cambridge just to see how much the tube was influencing the sound of the amp. When the tube is taken out there is almost no sound coming out of the Cambridge so, obviously it is influencing things a lot with the amp. Great vid!
Very interesting; I think the speaker swap improved both amps. The Pathfinder speaker brought a Fender-like clarity to the Cambridge's clean sound and that crunch tone was amazing! The Cambridge speaker, on the other hand, brought some body to the Pathfinder that worked really well for the bluesy overdriven stuff. Having played both myself, they can be dialed in to sound largely the same, but it's interesting to hear the subtle differences side by side. I also really like the Cambridge Blue Bulldog speakers. I currently own three Cambridge 15s and have stolen the speakers out of all of them to pair with other amps. Truthfully, I don't care for them in the Cambridge, but I think they pair really well with Orange amps! FWIW, I really like the Weber Alnico Blue Pup 8 in the Cambridge. I'd love to see Vox reissue a combined/improved iteration with a 10" speaker, the mid boost from the Cambridge (or just a mids control knob), and the reverb from the Pathfinder (but maybe upgrade to a large cab-mounted tank- apparently you can mod a full size tank into the Pathfinder fairly easily). PS- I watched your previous Cambridge video as well. You know about Cambridgeitis and replacing the optocoupler, but another thing to look out for is heat damage on the circuitboard around R66/R67. All four Cambridge 15s I've opened up have had some scorching there. The two parallel 3 watt wirewound resistors (pale green, cylindrical, with 5 colored stripes) should be upgraded to 5 watt wirewounds to better handle the load and heat they're subjected to so it'll last another 25 years. Yours seems to not have much play time on it, so if you don't see anything yet, it'd be a good opportunity to take care of it before it happens- and replace the opto while you're at it!
Hi Lucas and thanks for the idea/comparison! Never had a Cambridge but have two P15R andcthey are fantastic. By the way: did you know that the great Norah Jones plays with two P15R live in stage?!?! I swaped the speaker of one of them by a Celestion 10” - just had to change the front… So again thanks for the comparison and nice play! Cheers from sunny south Portugal - Algarve!
Nowadays I use my p15r to power a rotary speaker cabinet I built with a 10" celestion...it's an interestingly british-voiced take on the vibratone cabinet leslie built for fender in the late '60s
I have a few pathfinder 15's and have compared them to my 1965 ac30 tb and my 1965 ac50 head the pathfinder is close enough in many situations and in a band mix is the same. im a big fan of the korea pathfinders!
That’s interesting. I have three pathfinder 15r and have found that the two Vietnam pathfinder’s are my favorite over my Korea one. The specs are probably the same in all three, so it might just be some amps sound a bit better than another. But like all three.
Like you I got both amps. Personally I prefer the tube-gain combined with the midrange boost of the Cambridge 15 and the clear sound of the pathfinder (especially with my Tele). What I prefer the most of the PF is the setup of the controls and the position of the plugs for headphones, external speaker and footswitch on the back. The turned around controls of the Cambridge are silly..
Both of those speakers are bargain bin junk, pitch them and go over to Weber and order either a Blue Pup or Silver Bell from them. You won't believe how good it sounds.
I have a Cambridge 15 which I adore and even sold my all tube amp because the Vox hybrid just sounds better. By the way I took the tube out of my Cambridge just to see how much the tube was influencing the sound of the amp. When the tube is taken out there is almost no sound coming out of the Cambridge so, obviously it is influencing things a lot with the amp. Great vid!
I only have one amp and its the pathfinder 15r . Thanks for the video .Now I adore my p15r a lot more than i did before.🙂
Very interesting; I think the speaker swap improved both amps. The Pathfinder speaker brought a Fender-like clarity to the Cambridge's clean sound and that crunch tone was amazing! The Cambridge speaker, on the other hand, brought some body to the Pathfinder that worked really well for the bluesy overdriven stuff. Having played both myself, they can be dialed in to sound largely the same, but it's interesting to hear the subtle differences side by side. I also really like the Cambridge Blue Bulldog speakers. I currently own three Cambridge 15s and have stolen the speakers out of all of them to pair with other amps. Truthfully, I don't care for them in the Cambridge, but I think they pair really well with Orange amps! FWIW, I really like the Weber Alnico Blue Pup 8 in the Cambridge.
I'd love to see Vox reissue a combined/improved iteration with a 10" speaker, the mid boost from the Cambridge (or just a mids control knob), and the reverb from the Pathfinder (but maybe upgrade to a large cab-mounted tank- apparently you can mod a full size tank into the Pathfinder fairly easily).
PS- I watched your previous Cambridge video as well. You know about Cambridgeitis and replacing the optocoupler, but another thing to look out for is heat damage on the circuitboard around R66/R67. All four Cambridge 15s I've opened up have had some scorching there. The two parallel 3 watt wirewound resistors (pale green, cylindrical, with 5 colored stripes) should be upgraded to 5 watt wirewounds to better handle the load and heat they're subjected to so it'll last another 25 years. Yours seems to not have much play time on it, so if you don't see anything yet, it'd be a good opportunity to take care of it before it happens- and replace the opto while you're at it!
Hi Lucas and thanks for the idea/comparison! Never had a Cambridge but have two P15R andcthey are fantastic. By the way: did you know that the great Norah Jones plays with two P15R live in stage?!?! I swaped the speaker of one of them by a Celestion 10” - just had to change the front… So again thanks for the comparison and nice play! Cheers from sunny south Portugal - Algarve!
Nowadays I use my p15r to power a rotary speaker cabinet I built with a 10" celestion...it's an interestingly british-voiced take on the vibratone cabinet leslie built for fender in the late '60s
I have a few pathfinder 15's and have compared them to my 1965 ac30 tb and my 1965 ac50 head the pathfinder is close enough in many situations and in a band mix is the same. im a big fan of the korea pathfinders!
That’s interesting. I have three pathfinder 15r and have found that the two Vietnam pathfinder’s are my favorite over my Korea one. The specs are probably the same in all three, so it might just be some amps sound a bit better than another. But like all three.
Nice channel. Good work man
Like you I got both amps. Personally I prefer the tube-gain combined with the midrange boost of the Cambridge 15 and the clear sound of the pathfinder (especially with my Tele). What I prefer the most of the PF is the setup of the controls and the position of the plugs for headphones, external speaker and footswitch on the back. The turned around controls of the Cambridge are silly..
what speaker comes in your Cambridge? I see many on sale currently having Vox Bulldogs, were there others previously, and what were they? thx
@@ronwhitfield8356 To my knowledge the Cambridge only came with the blue bulldog speaker. Which is the one that my amp has.
@@Lucas_Arredondo much appreciated. I'll try pumping the PF into a Peavey Blues Deluxe soon before any speaker swap. thx
Don't these 2 amps have the same speaker? Don't understand the speaker swap?
@@bobbystereo936 I don't believe they do. The speakers have different sized magnets and there is an audible difference between them.
@@Lucas_Arredondo I didn't know that! I know some were blue & the other bulldogs were like a tan or black sometimes even yellow label or metal.
Both of those speakers are bargain bin junk, pitch them and go over to Weber and order either a Blue Pup or Silver Bell from them. You won't believe how good it sounds.