Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

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11tonylevin
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Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by 11tonylevin » Tue Jun 19, 2018 1:05 am

Hi again...
So some context....Marshall and later Blackstar user, fell in love with the Orange sound just recently in a by-chance trade where I agreed to a mint Rocker 30 head in exchange for a 1988 JCM 800. Love the Rocker, but too loud for home jams. Consequently bought a mint LTD Edition 50W Thunderverb, largely because it has the attenuator function, which works great. However, I favor the Rocker's seemingly less compressed, more "breathy" sound over the TV. I have played them both through a PPC212. So I am turning my attention to the rockerverb MK III because it also has the attenuator. But I cannot find a retailer that stocks one for me to try out. So, my question to all the seasoned Orange users......what amp do you think comes closest to the rocker, but, that can be used at conversation levels as well? I kind of like the TV 2 channels, each with a distinctive gain flavor. I also like the on board reverb and effects loop. So its a versatile amp, but its just not "talking" to me. I will admit that had I not heard the R30, I probably would have loved the TV. I play 70s heavier rock and almost always use humbuckers.
thanks
tony

Ronnie Robinson
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by Ronnie Robinson » Tue Jun 19, 2018 4:48 am

I don't think any other Orange Amp is the same as the Rocker 30 but within the micro cosm of Orange amps the RV series is quite different, voiced to be more modern sounding and more compressed.

I think you could do with looking at the newish Rocker 15 ...which seems to be voiced similar and also seems to hit the mark with what your after, it's also got the headroom to bedroom switch. Uses the same transformers as the TT range so not really the same quality of transformers as the UK made R30 though but15 orange watts is pretty loud as well.

Check out the Musicradar review.

Or buy an attenuator for the R30.
Orange AD30 HTC
Orange Rocker 15 terror
Orange Tiny Terror HW,
Fender elite Start, Gibson SG 61,fender telecaster

Previously Owned - Rocker 30
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adkguy07
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by adkguy07 » Tue Jun 19, 2018 11:29 am

You might want to try a Dark Terror which I think Orange claims, is based on the TV. I have a DT as I became enthused with the Orange take on gain. If volume is a concern at home ( it was with me) you can operate it at 7 watts instead of the 15. If your speaker(s) are broken in, it should work at lower volume playing and still be toneful. It's a simple design with a shape control for eq. Should you need a 3-band e.q. There is its companion the Jim Root #4 Terror. I paired my DT with the PPC112 and now with the V30 broken in, it is one smooth sounding little amp
that I can use almost anywhere.


adkguy07
Last edited by adkguy07 on Sat Jun 23, 2018 5:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

11tonylevin
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by 11tonylevin » Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:33 pm

I did in fact buy an attenuator, the THD Hotplate. It does attenuate, but it loses some high end on the more serious attenuation. I once owned the Rivera attenuator which cost a fortune and it did the same on my Marshall. I guess that's why they include high frequency boost functions on these attenuators. But I will follow your guidance and check out the Rocker 15..many thanks

11tonylevin
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by 11tonylevin » Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:36 pm

I am not a super knowledgeable person on valves, how they work, why they sound different etc. But maybe a dumb question is....on the TV 50, would a different type of power tube remove some of that compressed-like sound or is this an inherent part of the amp design and not related to the tubes?
tony

Les Paul Lover
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by Les Paul Lover » Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:46 pm

Ronnie Robinson wrote:
Tue Jun 19, 2018 4:48 am
I don't think any other Orange Amp is the same as the Rocker 30 but within the micro cosm of Orange amps the RV series is quite different, voiced to be more modern sounding and more compressed.

I think you could do with looking at the newish Rocker 15 ...which seems to be voiced similar and also seems to hit the mark with what your after, it's also got the headroom to bedroom switch. Uses the same transformers as the TT range so not really the same quality of transformers as the UK made R30 though but15 orange watts is pretty loud as well.

Check out the Musicradar review.

Or buy an attenuator for the R30.
I've got the attenuator at home for my RV50 and R30. Jet City Jettunator, great piece of kit.
Ant

Orange Gear: RV50 MKI, R30, AD15, PPC212
And.... Genz Benz Black Pearl 30
Past Orange: AD30TC Combo, TT, AD5


Guitars: Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded, Vigier Expert Retro 54, Gibson SG 70s Tribute, Aria Pro II RS X80, G&L ASAT Special Tribute

Boy_Narf
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by Boy_Narf » Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:40 pm

I've never ever found the R30 to be too loud for anything. That's why there is a volume knob :)

They have a decent MV circuit, and I've not found them to lose much of anything at lower volumes. If you are really needing something for home, ditch the attenuator and go snag a R15 terror. It's supposed to have the same preamp as the R30 so, it should sound close. I absolutely love my OG Korean TT. It's the amp that I play the most, even for heavier stuff. If you are really needing to be quiet at your house, download the free custom shop version of Amplitube. The Orange amps suite on there is pretty decent. I've done a bunch of silent jamming, as well as recording with it, and it sounds great.

Final option I suppose would be to pickup a CR120 for your low volume needs. They can be hand second hand for pretty cheap. This would give you the option to use the CR120 for quiet practice, then use the R30 for gigging, and when everyone else leaves the house.

satchmodog
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by satchmodog » Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:55 pm

I don't understand the too loud for home use unless you're talking about driving the tubes to break up. I have a dark terrorist head going into a 212 and a rocker 32 as well as an Egnater tweaker 88 and a Blackstar ID 260. All have volume controls. My HT5 even at Max on the clean channel is very loud when you break the valves, but all these amps sound lovely at low volume, you just don't get breakup. If I insist on that tone and don't want a frying pan to the head, there's a board full of pedals I can use. Other than some old Marshall and Fender vintage amps that go from 10 dB to 100 dB by one click of the volume pot, I don't know of any amps too loud to play at civil volumes at home. My gigging Amps are my home amps, I just turn them down to non sleep on the couch volumes.

Les Paul Lover
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by Les Paul Lover » Sat Jun 23, 2018 9:15 pm

satchmodog wrote:
Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:55 pm
I don't understand the too loud for home use unless you're talking about driving the tubes to break up. I have a dark terrorist head going into a 212 and a rocker 32 as well as an Egnater tweaker 88 and a Blackstar ID 260. All have volume controls. My HT5 even at Max on the clean channel is very loud when you break the valves, but all these amps sound lovely at low volume, you just don't get breakup. If I insist on that tone and don't want a frying pan to the head, there's a board full of pedals I can use. Other than some old Marshall and Fender vintage amps that go from 10 dB to 100 dB by one click of the volume pot, I don't know of any amps too loud to play at civil volumes at home. My gigging Amps are my home amps, I just turn them down to non sleep on the couch volumes.
To be honest, I think you're right. When I switch an amp on at home, it means I can play at least at regular TV volume. If the occasion requires less volume, the amp becomes a bit pointless.... I just pick up an electric and play it unplugged.
Ant

Orange Gear: RV50 MKI, R30, AD15, PPC212
And.... Genz Benz Black Pearl 30
Past Orange: AD30TC Combo, TT, AD5


Guitars: Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded, Vigier Expert Retro 54, Gibson SG 70s Tribute, Aria Pro II RS X80, G&L ASAT Special Tribute

adkguy07
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by adkguy07 » Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:02 pm

My Dark Terror and a PPC112 is borderline-loud at home even in its 7-watt mode. It still sounds fine, but not at its full potential by any stretch. Even though I can live with that, I plug into a Micro Cube GT on the Fender Twin or VOX AC-30 models and that gives a wee bit more satisfaction IMO. I also practice unplugged with my Strat or Lester....especially early hours or very late hours.


adkguy07

satchmodog
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by satchmodog » Sun Jul 01, 2018 4:48 pm

Les Paul Lover wrote:
Sat Jun 23, 2018 9:15 pm
satchmodog wrote:
Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:55 pm
I don't understand the too loud for home use unless you're talking about driving the tubes to break up. I have a dark terrorist head going into a 212 and a rocker 32 as well as an Egnater tweaker 88 and a Blackstar ID 260. All have volume controls. My HT5 even at Max on the clean channel is very loud when you break the valves, but all these amps sound lovely at low volume, you just don't get breakup. If I insist on that tone and don't want a frying pan to the head, there's a board full of pedals I can use. Other than some old Marshall and Fender vintage amps that go from 10 dB to 100 dB by one click of the volume pot, I don't know of any amps too loud to play at civil volumes at home. My gigging Amps are my home amps, I just turn them down to non sleep on the couch volumes.
To be honest, I think you're right. When I switch an amp on at home, it means I can play at least at regular TV volume. If the occasion requires less volume, the amp becomes a bit pointless.... I just pick up an electric and play it unplugged.
Yeah man, I think it's mostly guys just really wanting the lovely sounds of driven tubes over actually just playing. It doesn't matter to me that I'm not getting the proper tones because I'm not at a certain volume. I've been there before with my wife where she was tired of the noise and I wore headphones, or simply turned the amp way down and used one of the drive pedals or fuzz pedals on my board. I think way too many guitarists have fallen for marketing wank and for the bullcrap the manufactureers have pushed on us that we need amp X to fill a void that never really existed.

beninma
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Re: Which Orange Amp is the sweet spot?

Post by beninma » Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:10 pm

The Rocker 15 will do tube breakup down to really really quiet levels.

It's probably what you want if you want to be able to play an Orange amp at super quiet -> loud levels and play anything from clean to high gain without using pedals.

I have some drive pedals that I sometimes use with my Rocker 15 but the amp's breakup itself sounds better... particularly at lower volume levels playing by yourself the drive pedals generate a lot more noise than you get letting the amp do the work. Not a factor in a loud situation where there are drums and other instruments but really noticeable at "bedroom" volume levels.

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