AD30TC plus Vintage 30s = crap sound to my ears!!!

[BrianFantana]

Speakers were properly in phase...

I put my Weber Blue Dog (ceramic) in place of one of the V30s. Major improvement!!! I have more "body" w the Weber with the "kerrang" of the V30 - much like a peanut butter and chocolate or sausage biscuit and grape jelly kind of thing.

I'm going to mess around with some preamp tube swapping now.

Thanks for all the nice replies and info.

[Les Paul Lover]

I only have the AD15 combo with a well broken in V30 and I love what I hear.

I still would like to experiment with other speakers, but unless you have them already,it's a costly experiment!

[Bensen]

Don't be shy to crank bass and mids on the ad30, the eq can be used all the way.

Love the V30 with the AD30. I have one PPC212 with Alnico Eminence Red Fangs and an unbalanced 4x12 with two V30 in it. They both sound great with the AD30 but very different. The Alnicos sound really sweet though they sometimes compress too much at high volume. The V30 sounds full and still cuts great. They are great for a 2 guitarrists situation.

[fiveightandten]

IMO, Orange got the voicing right with the AD30 / V30 combo. Bear in mind that this is the staple speaker they design the amps with. They've loaded their cabs and combos with V30's for many years. It most certainly doesn't sound like crap.

That being said, V30's, as mentioned, take a LONG time to break in. And they sound pretty bad until they're broken in. You need to pummel them for a solid 3 or 4 months worth of weekly practice before they loosen up and start sounding right. Some people actually never break them in, as they don't play loud enough. When I bought my AD30, the guy had his settings marked with a little pen mark on the face plate. He had the masters on 3 all the time. It's a 2006 model...the speakers changed quite a bit after I got the amp and started playing it on 10 all the time. They literally weren't broken in when I got the amp. It was 7 years old!

Also, although the voicing of the V30 is good for the AD30, the power handling isn't. Even with the AD30 running flat out, it's really not even opening those speakers up much. So if you're used to cone breakup or speakers contributing to dynamics, you need to play an AD30 very loud through 2 V30's to get them working and doing that stuff.

So there are a few factors that may contribute to you not liking the V30's with that amp. But keep them in mind, and definitely keep the master volume up and make sure you're playing through broken in V30's. There's a HUGE difference between rigid V30's at low volume and broken in V30's being pushed.

-Nick

[Dark Helmet]

I agree that it can sound nasty if you're doing it wrong...

I have two, a combo and a head. the head I use with an Avatar 412 split V30s and G12Hs.... and it's hard to make that sound bad with either of my three LPs (P90s, 57 Classics or some hot alnico Vs).

my Combo is VERY sensitive with the P90s, but pretty flexible with the HBs...

but no kidding, you gotta WORK those puppies...

[joeminer]

The V30 sounds full and still cuts great. They are great for a 2 guitarrists situation.

I like my AD-30 w/ V30's alone, but I LOVE the way it sits in the mix with other instruments.

[paolobar]

AD30HTC + Eminence The Governor sounds sweet!