Narrowed it down - Dual Terror or AD30htc

[baytamusic]

Sooo, I'm buying an Orange soon. I'm grabbing a 2x12 Orange cabinet on Saturday for a good price. I'll probably add another 2x12 or 4x12 later when the funds are available. I've been researching a TON and have narrowed the head down to a Dual Terror or an AD30htc.

This will be strictly an amp for dirty sounds and leads. Now, I think I like the idea of the tube rectifier in the AD30 but the prices are pretty significantly different between the two amps, and they seem extremely similar except for the rectifier and tone controls. Anyone played both? I just can't decide. FYI I don't really play anything heavy. Just some classic british overdrive sounds. I use an old Fender a lot too for cleans. I'll be A/B switching the amps live.

Discuss.

[Secondhand Dan]

Sooo, I'm buying an Orange soon. I'm grabbing a 2x12 Orange cabinet on Saturday for a good price. I'll probably add another 2x12 or 4x12 later when the funds are available. I've been researching a TON and have narrowed the head down to a Dual Terror or an AD30htc.

This will be strictly an amp for dirty sounds and leads. Now, I think I like the idea of the tube rectifier in the AD30 but the prices are pretty significantly different between the two amps, and they seem extremely similar except for the rectifier and tone controls. Anyone played both? I just can't decide. FYI I don't really play anything heavy. Just some classic british overdrive sounds. I use an old Fender a lot too for cleans. I'll be A/B switching the amps live.

Discuss.

To consider, you get the tube rectifier in the Ad30, but you can also replace the tube rectifier with a solid state rectifier with a product like the Weber Copper Cap or whatever its called.

Food for thought.

[baytamusic]

Yeah, I thought about that. The versatility is nice. I'm kind of a lazy player anyway though. I don't play anything really fast so I kinda like the sag thing. I play more rythmic melodic chord type stuff and an occasional blues inspired melodic solo. My Fender has a solid state rectifier and it's a little tight sounding for me even with an old Mullard in the first gain stage of my preamp. I'm really leaning towards the AD30. One channel set at a mild breakup and the other cranked up for solos.

[_Craig_]

If you like the sag of the tube rectifier and are after some classic british overdrive, you definitely wont go wrong with the AD30.

Craig.

[baytamusic]

Is the AD30 one of the more "vintage" or "classic" sounding of the modern Orange heads? From sound clips it seems to be. I've always played old amps. I used to have a 50w one channel JCM 800 that I loved dearly. It always sounded great. The custom shop stuff looks cool but too rich for my blood. I just couldn't haul an amp that expensive into a dirty punk bar and feel good about it. haha. Plus I'd probably go vintage at that price point.

[WAWBanks]

I love my dual terror, it's a dirt machine! I liked the AD30, but I preferred the drive of the DT especially because you can switch from 30 all the way down to 7 watts if you're playing at home or recording, it makes things a lot easier!

[baytamusic]

I love my dual terror, it's a dirt machine! I liked the AD30, but I preferred the drive of the DT especially because you can switch from 30 all the way down to 7 watts if you're playing at home or recording, it makes things a lot easier!

I you crank the master (or near to it) and use the gain knob for volume how is the power tube break up sound?

Too bad you can't set one channel to 7w for leads and the other to 30w for rythm. Now that would be sweet.

[WAWBanks]

I'll make a demo for you!

[pedro]

actually the only way I use my AD30 is by maxing the master and using the gain and power scale (also had a power scale mod done to it) to adjust the final amount of dirt and volume.

[baytamusic]

I'll make a demo for you!

Hey that would be cool. The demos on Youtube and stuff usually have people playing too much lead with the gain knobs cranked. I can't really tell what the natural sound of the amp is that way. Warm broken up chords is what I'm after.

[drewfromutah]

I'm interested in this comparison too. There's an AD30 across town for sale for $899. Really tempting to go give it a whirl. I've read reviews that it's too quiet. Is it quieter than a DT? How's the clean headroom?

[_Craig_]

Is the AD30 one of the more "vintage" or "classic" sounding of the modern Orange heads? From sound clips it seems to be. I've always played old amps. I used to have a 50w one channel JCM 800 that I loved dearly. It always sounded great. The custom shop stuff looks cool but too rich for my blood. I just couldn't haul an amp that expensive into a dirty punk bar and feel good about it. haha. Plus I'd probably go vintage at that price point.

I would definitely say the AD30 has a more vintage sound to it. I know what you mean about the price and hauling it around to venues though. I made the mistake of not buying a flightcase for mine and it's starting to look very sorry for itself indeed. Not that this bothers me too much though as it still sounds great!

It seems you are already set on getting the twin channel, but if your wanting to save a bit of cash i would recommend trying to track down the older single channel AD30R. This is what i have and i actually prefer the sound of it to the newer twin channel. Also if your only looking for dirty and lead sounds, then you can simply set the amp to edge of breakup, and kick in a boost for your lead tones. This is generally the way i do it.

You can get some really nice edge of breakup sounds with the master cranked, and then using the gain for volume. This is how i always set my AD30. It will be pretty loud though, if your playing smaller venues you'll probably find yourself not being able to get the gain past 1 or 2, although it still sounds great to my ears.

Wish i could post up a demo but im not really set up for recording at the moment

Craig.

[baytamusic]

Is the AD30 one of the more "vintage" or "classic" sounding of the modern Orange heads? From sound clips it seems to be. I've always played old amps. I used to have a 50w one channel JCM 800 that I loved dearly. It always sounded great. The custom shop stuff looks cool but too rich for my blood. I just couldn't haul an amp that expensive into a dirty punk bar and feel good about it. haha. Plus I'd probably go vintage at that price point.

I would definitely say the AD30 has a more vintage sound to it. I know what you mean about the price and hauling it around to venues though. I made the mistake of not buying a flightcase for mine and it's starting to look very sorry for itself indeed. Not that this bothers me too much though as it still sounds great!

It seems you are already set on getting the twin channel, but if your wanting to save a bit of cash i would recommend trying to track down the older single channel AD30R. This is what i have and i actually prefer the sound of it to the newer twin channel. Also if your only looking for dirty and lead sounds, then you can simply set the amp to edge of breakup, and kick in a boost for your lead tones. This is generally the way i do it.

You can get some really nice edge of breakup sounds with the master cranked, and then using the gain for volume. This is how i always set my AD30. It will be pretty loud though, if your playing smaller venues you'll probably find yourself not being able to get the gain past 1 or 2, although it still sounds great to my ears.

Wish i could post up a demo but im not really set up for recording at the moment

Craig.

I'm pretty set on the twin channel. It's hard to explain why but basically on some songs I'll be using a Fender, then to switch to a solo or lead, I'll go to the Orange. If I only have a one channel I'll have to hit the AB switch and the overdrive/booster/ whatever pedal at the same time, which I'm not to keen on doing. I'd rather get my drive from the amps valves if at all possible and having two separatly set channels is appealing to me.

I'm wondering how different sounding the one channel and two channel amps really are? I'm guessing it's not much if any, but I could be wrong.

[baytamusic]

I'm interested in this comparison too. There's an AD30 across town for sale for $899. Really tempting to go give it a whirl. I've read reviews that it's too quiet. Is it quieter than a DT? How's the clean headroom?

From my experience (not with these particular amps) is that 30w is pushing it if you are looking for a lot of clean headroom. If you are going for some breakup, 30w is plenty loud IMO. Especially if you are running a lot of speakers.

[WAWBanks]

Ok so I recorded a demo and then realized since re-installing Snow Leopard, I don't have iMovie installed anymore. So I downloaded the newest version only to find Apple have made it entirely different and a million times more difficult to use! It's like Harmony Central 2.0. So I do have a rough demo but it isn't how I want it to be! I want to automate my volume etc! I think it was 2006/7 version of iMovie I used to use and it was so much better.

Sorry man, I'll have to get back to you about the demo.