Cab and speakers for OR 120

[Mainspitze5_0]

Hi Gents,

since two weeks i am a proud owner of a mid 70ies Orange Or 120.
Its a great amp.
Right now i am playing a cab of a friend with 4 65 Watt Celestions speakers but i want to buy my own cab....but i am not sure which cab and which speakers i should buy.
And probably here are some guys who have some ideas.

One possibility would be to buy a 4x12 Orange cab equipped with V30 speakers.
It is the easiest way.
Another choice would be a Matamp 4x12 with speakers the offer.
possible speakers:
Alnico Gold, Blue; Heritage: G12M, G12H, G12-65 ; G10 Greenback
G10N 40; G10 Vintage
G12M; G12H 70th Anniversary
Vintage 30; G12K-100 8ohm only
G12T100 (HOT 100)

Its a custom made cab with nearly the same price (+/- 30€) as a orange cab.delivery time 6 -8 weeks.
The Music i want to play is on side Rock like Hellacopters, Stooges and Gluecifer; mick Ronson and Bowie - on the other side Soul/Blues like Bobby Blu or some Psychedelic stuff.
I know it will be a compromise and the fingers are important...but
What should i Do??
Just buy an orange cab or a custom made Matamp cab? and which speakers?

Thanks in advance for your help,

cheers

Michael

[fiveightandten]

Michael,

Congratulations on the amp. That's a great amp...I hope you're enjoying it.

Speakers can vary the sound quite a bit. What strengths of the amp do you want to accentuate with the speakers? Do you want lots of midrange? Do you mind that the amp is somewhat dark, or want brighter speakers to offset that? Do you want tight low end? A bit of description of what you want out of the sound will help us steer you in the right direction.

Also, the Orange and Matamp cabs have a pretty unique sound to them. They're very focused, but also very directional. Orange now has slant cabs and open back cabs that stray from the original Orange cabinet sound. But if you haven't heard one of their traditional cabinets, they have a distinct sound to them.

Also, where in Europe are you located?

Let's see some pictures of the amp!

-Nick

[Mainspitze5_0]

Hi Nick,

i am located in the south west of germany close to Frankfurt.
In Germany we have a Matamp Distributor where cabs can be ordered easily.

I like the sound of the amp. The tone control can vary the sound a lot . it can change the sound between crystal clear (i would say somehow voxish) and really dark up to a doom monster.
i was used to play a 50W marshall tremolo head of a friend, but i like the orange tone much more.
The speaker i use right now are not very efficient and cut the high tones and the loudness. When i tested the amp i had a lot of brightness in the sound, right now its gone..
i don't know the exact name of the speakers i use but i think they are some celestion 65....

The tone i am looking for rock needs some midrange, may be with some lower mids. I like 60 yes and 70ies rock. eventually not to scratchy in the mids.
a link to a music video on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgHHFKpxjKs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(The video could be a marketing video for a well known amp producer)

For the Soul/Blues stuff i need more highs and a decent low end. I think a lot of soul Music is recorded with fender combos but this is just a guess...
a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcF8Aos4XDA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Probably the speakers doesn't need the biggest low end, the bass can cover this.
May be the speakers will be a compromise that this is fine, the rock sound is more important to me as a lovely soul tone.

Concerning the cab. I was thinking a lot about the construction... The closed ones have more probably more punch to the front but a cab with a open back will probably have a better surround sound. My guess a better surround sound is more useful to me as a very focused sound.
The guys at Matamp can surely build a open or slant cab too. But so far i never saw a open 4x12 cab...Does it make sense? or is it nonsense...
Sometimes i am close to Huddersfield in Yorkshire and once i visited the Matamp factory. We had a cup of british tea and a really nice conversation. Its a good place to spend the money! This is one part of the reason why i think about a Matamp cab.

somehow i have problems uploading a picture...i will try again!



Best regards,

Michael

[Mainspitze5_0]

https://imageshack.com/i/p48r4poYj" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



More pictures will come when I am back in my rehearsal room.

[Les Paul Lover]

If you want open back, the only orange option is the obc212, with 2 Celestion V30 speakers. A pretty good cab. I'm sure matamp can do something similar, and certainly, if you want a 412 cab with open back, orange doesn't so anything stock the will a partially open back or ported cab.

Welcome aboard anyway! By the way, I believe the V30 will get you where you want, though the g12h30 could be a god choice too.

Check out the Watford valve Web site if you can, they have recorded the same riff with lots of different speakers, it rellay is very helpful!!!!

[everdrone]

Rock like Hellacopters, Stooges and Gluecifer; mick Ronson and Bowie - on the other side Soul/Blues like Bobby Blu or some Psychedelic stuff?

I vote for Matamp 212s since you live across the pond

you can get a slant back 212 that is convertible to open back cab

easier to move, maybe a bit less loud. I would check the dimensions first to make sure the head fits and is stable on the cabs.

[a.hun]

...I believe the V30 will get you where you want, though the g12h30 could be a god choice too...

Yep. Though either 2 x V.30 or 4 x G12H-30 could be a little marginal on power handling with a healthy OR120 if you got careless with the amount of bass at higher volumes. Especially so if mounted in an open backed cab where the cone movement won't be damped by the internal air of a sealed cab. You are right though, open backed cabs fill a room more evenly.

Quick comparison:
Current G12M-65: They are similar to the G12M-25 soundwise, ie lots of mids but a bit shy on bass and upper treble. As you say not so efficient, 97dB/W/m rated.
G12H-30: More even across the frequencies with much stronger fuller bass, still nice complex rich mids, plenty of treble. 100dB efficiency, ie loud.
V.30: Bass tighter (slightly less full than the 'H' though bigger than the 'M'), mids have a strong upper mids peak, (too much with very forward sounding amps, but fine with Oranges), treble again somewhat less then the 'H', but stronger than the 'M' types. 100dB rated. Mellow down very nicely when broken in but that takes a long time with these drivers. 'Till then can sound very aggressive, not unlike an OR120!

Good Celestion alternatives:
CL80 (Classic Lead): Basically pretty similar tones to the H-30, much higher power handling. Slightly lower efficiency (99dB) which should still be plenty with an OR120.
G12H-75 Creamback: Again based on H-30 tones, 100dB efficient.

Why not see if Matamp won't do you either of those alternatives. Or just go for the V.30 loaded Orange 4x12, bearing in mind that it is really heavy and that (like all 4x12s) will be a 'beamer' so sound very different to the sides from out front.

Last alternative:
Mesa Celestion MC90: Superb drivers, again broadly H-30 sounding though close to the classic old G12-80. No efficiency rating but NUTS loud. An MC90 loaded 1x12 will out shout an G12M-25 loaded 4x12 - no contest. Be my choice for an 2x12 if you wanted to keep things compact.
Myself I'd go 2x12 and run it on it's side. Might not look so impressive with the head but the sound spread would be so much better than a 4x12! (You into sounding good or looking good? )
http://forum.orangeamps.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=47018" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hope that helps.


Andy.

[Mainspitze5_0]

Hi gents,

thanks a lot for your help.

You gave me a lot of information!!!!!

to summarize:
After reading your posts I think the best speaker would be a G12H-30, the 2nd best probably a V30.
The plus factor of the H-30 are the lower aggressive higher mids - the drawback of the H-30: it's only rated with 30W and will work only with a 4x12 cab - at least
is the power rating a real problem? i have no clue about it...
And i would need a custom made cab, which is fine but the delivery time is much longer...

With the V30 a standard orange cab would work - 2 or 4x12. The lower volume of a 2x12 cab is no problem for me.
The lower weight is great, an open back even more. But a 4x12 looks way better...
A friend uses a AC30 with heavily used V30 and he sounds great!!

Now i have to think which cab suits best to me..


a "45 - 50 kg" angled 4x12 cab loaded with G12H-30 by Matamp
or
a 2x12 open back cab with V30 (orange or Matamp)
or
a standard Orange 4x12 cab with V30.

Hmm.....
If I know more i will tell you about it.

By the way,

Does anybody know a overdrive or distortion pedal which works good with a OR 120 to get a creamy rhythm sound??

cheers,

Michael

PS:
i think i will call the Matamp distributor within the next days...