AD30HTC or AD140HTC?

[gabrielstigmatic]

I keep reading mixed reviews. Some people say the 140 is nicer because it has way more headroom. I've also read about the 30 being way too quiet. Others say that the 30 is plenty loud enough and that the 140 is ONLY for if you're going to be playing in stadiums. I've seen video reviews of people playing the 140 in their rooms and in guitar shops to show what it can do.

The 140 has sounded great to me in every instance. I'm trying to decide on a new amp and it's narrowed down to these two. I guess I'm just wanting some input with people who have toured with both. Is the 140 really too loud? Is the 30 too quiet?

What I'm thinking is that I will get the AD30HTC with a 4x12. Later I will get another 30 and another 4x12 for my time based effects. I'm not quite sure though. This isn't just for playing at home. I plan to tour with whatever setup I get.

Also, if one AD140HTC is way too loud, how come Omar Rodriguez Lopez uses four of them for TMV shows?

[Secondhand Dan]

I keep reading mixed reviews. Some people say the 140 is nicer because it has way more headroom. I've also read about the 30 being way too quiet. Others say that the 30 is plenty loud enough and that the 140 is ONLY for if you're going to be playing in stadiums. I've seen video reviews of people playing the 140 in their rooms and in guitar shops to show what it can do.

The 140 has sounded great to me in every instance. I'm trying to decide on a new amp and it's narrowed down to these two. I guess I'm just wanting some input with people who have toured with both. Is the 140 really too loud? Is the 30 too quiet?

What I'm thinking is that I will get the AD30HTC with a 4x12. Later I will get another 30 and another 4x12 for my time based effects. I'm not quite sure though. This isn't just for playing at home. I plan to tour with whatever setup I get.

Also, if one AD140HTC is way too loud, how come Omar Rodriguez Lopez uses four of them for TMV shows?

It's hard to understand why Omar does many of the things he does. I know he uses a lot of effects, but his live collection is quite excessive as well. Also, there is a good chance that he only plugs into one of the amps and the rest are for looks.

I have an AD30htc and it has never let me down volume or tone wise with just a 212. I think with a 412 you would be moving a lot more air and would get more volume as well. I think that if you are playing a large club, unmiced, you should still be fine. I have played bars that hold 80+ people and have had more than enough volume not turned up very high. (sorry, my band is noobz so we haven't had any larger gigs so I can't comment on that)

Also, as far as I understand, the AD140 sounds somewhat different than the 30 on some levels. For one, there is less clean breakup (I would imagine).

Hope these thoughts help.

[hooty]

If you are playing in a loud band and nead some clean sounds the AD30 isn't loud enough. And I agree that this two amps sound different. I for myself like the AD30 a lot but use two of them parallel to get a bit more clean headroom.

Cheers,
hooty

[Tango]

Depends if you're regularly gigging big venues. I had a AD30 and it was loud, it had the tendency to be a bit clean for what I wanted at the volumes I used. In my opinion the AD30HTC is a very loud amp, the AD140 is VERY loud indeed, I couldn't seriously consider anyone using it properly in their bedroom!

I currently use a 18w Matamp, that's not quiet I can tell you

[Bensen]

What the others said. It's not about to loud or quiet, it's about the tone at your bandvolume. If you need really loud cleans and lots of punchy bass get the 140, if you like dirty, compressed powertube saturation get the 30

[Orphin]

I keep reading mixed reviews. Some people say the 140 is nicer because it has way more headroom. I've also read about the 30 being way too quiet. Others say that the 30 is plenty loud enough and that the 140 is ONLY for if you're going to be playing in stadiums. I've seen video reviews of people playing the 140 in their rooms and in guitar shops to show what it can do.

The 140 has sounded great to me in every instance. I'm trying to decide on a new amp and it's narrowed down to these two. I guess I'm just wanting some input with people who have toured with both. Is the 140 really too loud? Is the 30 too quiet?

What I'm thinking is that I will get the AD30HTC with a 4x12. Later I will get another 30 and another 4x12 for my time based effects. I'm not quite sure though. This isn't just for playing at home. I plan to tour with whatever setup I get.

Also, if one AD140HTC is way too loud, how come Omar Rodriguez Lopez uses four of them for TMV shows?

Haven't read your replies but here's my input on the matter.
All OMEC Oranges are quiet compared to other brands of the same power. This doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, it's just how it is.
OMEC Oranges have really good master volumes.
All tube amps over 1 watt are too loud for home use.
The AD140 is not 4,5 times louder than the AD30, but rather about 10dB or so (People with mathematical skills might correct me on this). It is noticable for sure, but not as much as numbers may appear. The biggest difference though is the amount of headroom and bass response. The more watts, the more headroom and thicker bass.

Why is Omar using 4 AD140's? Because he wants to look cool!
Have you seen the stack behind Angus Young?
It's a wall of Marshall 412 cabs. None of them are in use. Behind the stage, his guitar is hooked up to a 30 watt Marshall combo.

[misterMagoo]

Gabriel, are looking for TMV tones? (Or ATDI even?) Well its a possibility that he uses them as there own channels. TMV recordings have some really crazy effects and layering going on and it wouldn't surprise me if he used loopers and delay on seperate amps than his main one. However, I wouldn't worry about what they are using. They are a big band, and play big venues. They can be LOUD.

However, if you look at his rig in ATDI, he only used one amp there. So maybe it is just for looks? But then again, why four heads? Its usually the stacks that are for looks.

What it comes down to is how loud you play at, and will it do what you want at that volume? So, how loud is that?

[hooty]

The AD140 is not 4,5 times louder than the AD30, but rather about 10dB or so (People with mathematical skills might correct me on this). It is noticable for sure, but not as much as numbers may appear.

To become two times louder you need 10 times of the power... The difference between the AD30 and the AD140 is round about 5 dB but it is noticable for sure as misterMagoo said. You have to consider that the degree of efficiency of different speakers has a range between 96 dB (Greenbacks) and (Alnico Gold and Vintage 30) which is nearly the same...

Cheers,
hooty

[gabrielstigmatic]

Thank you for all of your input, I think I will go with getting two AD30HTC's. Nah, I'm not looking to copy anyone's tone. I feel I have my own voice and need to express it a much different way than Omar. Though I've heard both him and Thomas Erak use that amp and it sounds damn good to me. By hearing their tone, I can audibly hear what it will sound like when I play it and get it tweaked to my liking.

I'm not sure what era that pic of his guitar rig is from. But I was thinking about this and he probably uses one amp for his normal signal and the other one for either time-based or modular effects. I'm pretty sure they have another guitarist touring with them so the other two are probably fo the other guitarist. I do like At the Drive-In and the Mars Volta, but I'm influenced by way too much music to try and emulate anyone. I'm really excited to play the AD30HTC, it will be epic.

[hooty]

Thank you for all of your input, I think I will go with getting two AD30HTC's.

Good choice...

Cheers,
hooty

[Y0UNGBL00D]

When I saw tmv in Baltimore recently , he was only using one head and one cab, the tolexless rig he was using in atdi. The 4xAD140 rig was for with rhcp and soad I think.

Get a thunderverb50. Solves all problems.

[gabrielstigmatic]

Though I play metal as well, I much prefer the tone of the AD Series to the Thunderverb series. So for now I'm sticking with the AD30HTC. When I have lots of extra money I will most likely get a Thunderverb as well.

[Deacon Blues]

the AD30 is the perfect amp for people who want to play traditional rock...but it is definitely loud. it freaking cranks. don't be fooled

its not well suited to lower tuned playing though...and it lacks features like reverb and loop. it also doesn't have sparkly cleans at high volumes

[Y0UNGBL00D]

The ad30 at my shop has awesome cleans but a fizzy, unattractive od. I would love to retube it and take it home, as I know that's not its typical impression.

[gabrielstigmatic]

Yea, I'm not much for lower tunings. I stay in good ol' standard tuning or drop the low E to D. I go between psychedelic rock, post-punk, and math metal kind of stuff. I don't normally try and "genre label" music that I play, but in this instance it is useful in an attempt to communicate my style. I figure that the AD30HTC is my best option because I don't really play music with pristine cleans.

If anything I find really clear cleans kind of annoying for my tone. That's why I got rid of my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. The cleans were too clear and ringy, whereas I like a kind of underlying crunch to mine. I'm really glad I'm getting all sorts of perspectives on this amp because it's feeling more and more like what I want.

Also, I feel that I can get a really good reverb from the Electro Harmonix Holy Grail. I A/B'ed it with the reverb on the Deluxe and I kind of liked the EH reverb better. I never use the FX loop anyway, I'm probably going to have a separate amp for all of my time-based and modular effects. Youngblood, you really didn't like the OD on this amp? I've always heard that's the best part about it. I'm guessing I'll probably dig it.