2 x 12 cabinet or not?

[legoman]

Hi Everyone

I've just joined a band and I'm looking at getting a cabinet - and really need some advice from you champions in Orange forumland! I'm choosing between a 2x12 orange cabinet or a 4x12 marsahll cabinet to go with a Marshall JCM2000 dsl 100 watt head. Does anyone know if it makes any difference to the loudness having 2 extra speakers? Is it ok for gigging? What about the sound quality? Has anyone had any good or bad experience with the orange 2x12? Cheers to anyone who replies.

Thanks very much



Edited by - legoman on 26 Oct 2003 02:43:01

[Lizard]

Your posting on the Orange forum so you are likely to get a 'go orange' answer. Still though in my opinion the Orange gear is great quality and will last. The current 2x12 has Vintage 30s speakers (at least in the UK) and they sound really great. In my experience Orange cabs have better build quality than Marshall but I am sure some would disagree.

[Meole]

Vintage 30's are 60 watts each. 2 in the 2x12 will total 120 watts, your 100 watt head will sound great with these speakers.

[bclaire]

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Your posting on the Orange forum so you are likely to get a 'go orange' answer. Still though in my opinion the Orange gear is great quality and will last. The current 2x12 has Vintage 30s speakers (at least in the UK) and they sound really great. In my experience Orange cabs have better build quality than Marshall but I am sure some would disagree.


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Well, I'll chime in... I have both Marshall and Orange cabs. I have a Marshall 2X12 that's a terrific sounding cab and is lightweight- with Vintage 30's. It is, however, much more cheaply built than any of the Oranges.

Let's put it this way: I always put my slide and capo on my 4X12 cabs. I'm picking them up off of the floor in about 10 minutes with the Marshall cabs.... with the Orange, they're there for weeks. I had a small pile of nails on my Orange 4X12 cab (Hanging stuff in our rehearsal room) and they didn't budge for two weeks... never fell off of the cab.

Marshalls ARE good cabs- just different from Orange. Oranges are built like tanks and there's a reason why some engineers mic Marshall cabs from the back in addition to the front- to get that classic Marshall 'thump.' I don't think that would work with an Orange.

My advice is to try both and go with what you like best. Marshall's are lighter though if you have back issues... Billy

[ecto coolest]

go with an orange 4x12, its not that much more expensive than the orange 2x12. but definitely go with the orange over the marshall, they are just better cabinets (as stated in the previous posts).

the best thing to do would be to play through all three and see which one you like the best. in the united states, there are 2 different kinds of speakers that come in orange cabinets now. the newer ones have eminence speakers and last years model have british Vintage 30s. i dont know if that is the case in oz also. if so, the two speakers have their own distinct sound so it would behoof you to compare those as well.

what kind of cabinet are you playing now?

a 4x12 pushes a lot more air so it sounds fuller than a 2x12 but not really louder. 4x12s sound much better to me than a 2x12 (i tried out both before buying my 4x12). the extra speakers handle the bass response much better than a 2x12, but if you dont have a lot of bass in your tone, then it wouldn't matter as much. again, try them all out and pick which one sounds best to you. if you are like me, you can justify spending a couple hundred dollars more (even if you can't afford it...) to get what you want and not settling on something that sounds inferior. thats what credit cards are for...and clark howard.

good luck with your choice, let us know how it turns out.

eric



Edited by - ecto coolest on 26 Oct 2003 21:40:28

[orangello]

From a practical standpoint, it seems to me that hauling 2x12's around will be a lot easier than hauling 4x12's around. I play a lot in New York and many of the bars there have Marshall 4x12 1960A slant cabinets ready and waiting, so I just bring my Marshall JCM 800 head. When I'm playing at a place that doesn't have a cabinet, I bring my Orange AD30TC 2x12 combo. The point is, I wouldn't dream of hauling my own 4x12 1960A around to gigs. In my exerpeince, I just don't need it...one more thing, if you are tight on space on stage, you can always stand up at 2x12 cab "long-ways"...I've seen some bands do this...I hope this helps...cheers