Newbie has questions on OR15 amp

[grritz]

I'm a babe-in-the-woods newbie about Orange amps. Heard and OR15 for the first time today and it blew me away! Guy at the guitar store recommended it highly and I'm interested in buying one soon. But...I have questions:
1. Is there a way I can set up the amp so I can use headphones with it and not wake the wife early in the morning (when I often do my best playing)?
2. What's the best cabinet/speaker to use with this amp? I'm thinking the PPC112 but I'm open to suggestions.
3. With my present amp (Fender Mustang III), I can plug an MP3 player into it and it plays through the amp. I don't think I can do that with the OR15. There's gotta be another way for me to listen to a song (through an iPod?) while playing through the OR15. Any suggestions?
4. Anything I haven't thought of asking about the OR15? As I stated, I'm really new to this.

On more question: The place I'm looking to buy from sells the OR15H. Is there any difference between the OR15 and the OR15H?

Please give me whatever advice you can. I really want to know more about this amp and its capabilities.

And...thank you!

Grritz

[FleshOnGear]

The OR15 is a great amp, but it's not really designed for quiet home practice like the Mustang is. Ideally you'll need a dummy load and a mixer to do what you want, probably about $450 worth of extra equipment.

So, you plug an attenuator (like the THD Hotplate) between the OR15 speaker out and the speaker cab. The Hotplate will take the power output of the amp all the way down to zero, and it has a line out that can be plugged into a mixer. Then all you need is a cheap little Behringer mixer to mix that with your iPod and send it to your headphones.

Alternatively, you can use a Hughes and Kettner Red Box instead of the Hotplate, but the Redbox does not attenuate the output of your amp. It's cheaper, but won't let you run the OR silently. The important thing to remember is that a tube amp has to be plugged into a speaker or proper dummy load at all times, and an attenuator is the only device that can provide a dummy load and silence the amp safely.

Without that extra stuff, the OR is really more appropriate for raging while your wife isn't home!

[grritz]

Thanks for the response, FleshOnGear.

The OR15 has a switch to bring it down to 7 watts and I'm thinking that may be enough to keep things low-volume. Is that so...or do I really need another box to feed it thru?

Can I run the OR through my Mustang speaker (until I can afford an Orange cab)? If so, how do I do that? Is it as simple as running a speaker cable to the input of the Mustang?

Thanks.

Grritz

[Ronnie Robinson]

Even at 7 watts it can still be too loud if you want good tone . Yes it has a good master volume so u can play real quiet but you won't get a good tone out of it....don't forget this is a valve amp

As already mentioned it's not meant to be a practice amp in the style of what you have , it's ideal for the studio , loud practice and evens gigs depending on what your playing and how loud the band is. Orange amps are about tone and don't do the practice amp bells and whistles thing other manufacturers do.

If the speaker in your cab is 8 or 16 ohms then you could use the external speaker, not through the mustang though the speaker cable from the Orange should connect directly to the speaker cable attached to your speaker. No idea if this is possible I've no knowledge of the mustang.

I think the Micro Terror may be something that you might want to have a look at ....but no valves of course

[FleshOnGear]

Oh, I forgot that the OR15 has an effects loop. You could feasibly run the effects send to a mixer rather than using an attenuator or the red box. Just remember that the speaker out on the amp must always be connected to a speaker. The effects send output mixed into headphones will not sound good, though, as some form of speaker simulation will be needed to tame the treble response.

Personally, I don't know of anything much better for headphone use than digital modeling. Keep in mind that when you hear recorded guitars on headphones you are hearing a loud guitar amp, through a speaker, miked in a studio with a great microphone, and then processed with EQ and reverb and maybe other effects to make it sound more like it's in a room with you. Digital modeling amps like your Mustang have a bunch of that stuff simulated and built into the sound. A dry tube amp direct to headphones will not sound nearly as good, and getting the OR to sound nice on headphones will require a significant investment in gear to process the tone.

[PBA]

My experience with the OR15 is that it can be played at a volume close to normal TV levels and it still sounds good. Not as good as it does when louder but still better than other valve amps I've tried. I suspect it's less convincing if you wanted to crank the gain.

I have a CD player in the same room and play sat near the CD speakers with the PPC112 set at an angle to me.

It is all a compromise. The amp, as said above, isn't really designed with quiet late night playing in mind. I make it work because it STILL sounds better to me than the alternatives at my disposal.

As to OR15 and OR15H. H refers to "head" and is used to differentiate from combo versions - which would be OR15C. As there isn't a combo version, OR15 and OR15H are one and the same.

For a speaker cab, I use the PPC112 and like it. Many people here much prefer the PPC212 - both open back and closed back. I liked them too but they are much bigger and I couldn't justify it.

A valve amplifier MUST be connected to a load. That can be either a speaker or a device which simulates one. The OR15 needs either 16 or 8 Ohm load. If the Mustang speaker is either of those, you could use it. You need to disconnect the speaker from the Mustang amplifier and connect it to the relevant socket on the back of the OR15. This is easy if the Mustang speaker is connected via a jack plug and socket. If it is, get a new speaker cable and a female to female connector to act as an extension lead. If it isn't then you may have to do some basic soldering. If soldering scares you, there are many on line tutorials!

The OR15 is certainly a very different amp to the Mustang. What it does, it does better - but it doesn't try to do everything (or anything) else.

Hope that helps.

[MikeD]

I´ve been really tempted to get one for home practice...then I tried it.

It´s frikin loud!!!!

If I was in a "one-tone band" I would definitely look into getting one, but I´m not so the RV is still #1

[WickedToneProduction]

Hi. I would like to chip in with a question. I have the Orange OR15 and I am waiting for my PPC112 to arrived soon. But I was wandering, I have a Crate Taxi 15 amp which I have replaced the speaker with a Celestion Eight 15 8 ohms. Could I connect my Orange OR15 in the CD input of the crate and use the Celestion ? I have the appropriate cable to do so. But is there risk to damage the OR15 because of load issue ? Or is it all OK because the speaker is 8 ohms ?

[pedecamp]

I'm a babe-in-the-woods newbie about Orange amps. Heard and OR15 for the first time today and it blew me away! Guy at the guitar store recommended it highly and I'm interested in buying one soon. But...I have questions:
1. Is there a way I can set up the amp so I can use headphones with it and not wake the wife early in the morning (when I often do my best playing)?
2. What's the best cabinet/speaker to use with this amp? I'm thinking the PPC112 but I'm open to suggestions.
3. With my present amp (Fender Mustang III), I can plug an MP3 player into it and it plays through the amp. I don't think I can do that with the OR15. There's gotta be another way for me to listen to a song (through an iPod?) while playing through the OR15. Any suggestions?
4. Anything I haven't thought of asking about the OR15? As I stated, I'm really new to this.

On more question: The place I'm looking to buy from sells the OR15H. Is there any difference between the OR15 and the OR15H?

Please give me whatever advice you can. I really want to know more about this amp and its capabilities.

And...thank you!

Grritz

For what youre describing you need I'm gonna suggest you look into the Orange 35RT combo, it has all the capabilities youre looking for. Another plus is you'll have tons of money left over too.

[Norrin Radd]

Hi. I would like to chip in with a question. I have the Orange OR15 and I am waiting for my PPC112 to arrived soon. But I was wandering, I have a Crate Taxi 15 amp which I have replaced the speaker with a Celestion Eight 15 8 ohms. Could I connect my Orange OR15 in the CD input of the crate and use the Celestion ? I have the appropriate cable to do so. But is there risk to damage the OR15 because of load issue ? Or is it all OK because the speaker is 8 ohms ?

That's a negative ghost rider. Don't do that! That is not going to give the OR15 any kind of load. You could disconnect the speaker from your crate taxi and plug it into to the back of the OR 15, however in the 8 ohm speaker output, provided there is one (I don't have one right in front of me to look at right now).

[bclaire]

Hi. I would like to chip in with a question. I have the Orange OR15 and I am waiting for my PPC112 to arrived soon. But I was wandering, I have a Crate Taxi 15 amp which I have replaced the speaker with a Celestion Eight 15 8 ohms. Could I connect my Orange OR15 in the CD input of the crate and use the Celestion ? I have the appropriate cable to do so. But is there risk to damage the OR15 because of load issue ? Or is it all OK because the speaker is 8 ohms ?

Don't do it. You WILL blow up your OR15.

[WickedToneProduction]

Thank you. This what I will do : Disconnect the speaker from the Crate and soldering the speaker wire to an input jack connector. Then I will connect straight from OR15 8ohm output to the speaker.

[Les Paul Lover]

Thank you. This what I will do : Disconnect the speaker from the Crate and soldering the speaker wire to an input jack connector. Then I will connect straight from OR15 8ohm output to the speaker.

It's not a great option to be honest.

Combo speaker cables ate pretty short, and may not even extend as far as is needed for your OR15 cable out 8 ohms tap. And hard wiring it to your OR15 output Jack isn't a good idea (you'll void the warranty for a start!!!!), and if the head gets moved away for the combo, you may not notice the connection fails and still blow your head.


If you buy a head, you need a compatible cabinet. It doesn't need to be Orange, though the orange one is a good one.

I'd seriously recommend you to not use the head until you have a compatible cabinet and a SPEAKER CABLE (looks the same as guitar cable, but isn't the same at all. A guitar cable between your output tap and cabinet will again blow your head output transformer.

[WickedToneProduction]

What if I would have the proper head to cab cable, connected normally to the 8ohm head output but the other end connect directly to the speaker ? (Celestion Eight 15 8ohm) Would that work ?

Sorry to insist. I will most likely wait until I got the PPC112. But would like to know if I could do it this way to use over the week-end.

Thank you. Your recommendation is well appreciated.

[WickedToneProduction]

Sorry. Just ignor my last entry. You basically already answered it.

I won't risk it and wait for the cab.

Thank you.