Quiet Or 80

[Frank_Jeeves]

Hi there,

I just recently bought an OR80 that I found to be very quiet. The prior amp technician had JJ KT-77's in the power section and Tung Sol 12ax7s in the pre amp that are biased slightly hot. I had a 20 watt dwarvenknot clone of the amp that sounded louder at the same settings. So I sent it in to this guy. https://www.yelp.com/biz/tube-amp-repair-shop-vista

I asked him to change he switch because it was broken and he checked out the amp. He decided that it needed to have the tubes changed out and re biased. I didn't exactly direct him to do that. I told him I wanted it to be hotter then factory specs. It still sounds good but it's not a hi fi as when the Kt 77 were in there and still just as quiet.

He insists it's not right to set up an Or 80 with KT 77 and brought in the EL34s he said something about over heating. He says he can't get it to sound louder except with a different brand of EL34 tubes.

Does any of this sound like BS. Cause it feels that way to me.

For one I don't know how loud OR80s are suppose to sound but this one was apartment level playing at hald volume and gain I really feel like it's too quiet

What do you guys think?

[Jondog]

Sounds a bit like BS. Dont know what all he found, but a KT77 is an el34 variant. Shouldn't of changed your tubes without asking, especially when it just went in for a switch repair. Hard to explain it being quiet without going over the amp. Also, depending where your settings are, its possible the 80 will be the same volume on the same settings as your 20, could have different value/taper potentiometers.

[bclaire]

Just out of curiosity, turn the volume knob all the way up. Where does it go? I used to think my OR80M reissue was really quiet until I discovered that the volume knob went way beyond what I would have thought would be the max volume setting....

[Frank_Jeeves]

I can't it's still at the shop with him... but I do recall turning it up and it wasn't Deafing like my old OR 120.

I'm kinda weirded out by this whole ordeal. Cause even though I asked hotter then spec I never specifically asked him to change the KT 77. Are you guys amp techs Btw?

[Jondog]

I can't it's still at the shop with him... but I do recall turning it up and it wasn't Deafing like my old OR 120.

I'm kinda weirded out by this whole ordeal. Cause even though I asked hotter then spec I never specifically asked him to change the KT 77. Are you guys amp techs Btw?

Wouldn't call myself an amp tech, more an amp tinkerer.

[Frank_Jeeves]

I kinda feel the same about the guy i'm working with.

he says the reason its quiet is some amp circuits are different and this sounds typical for his ears cause of 50 watt marshalls

[Gladmarr]

First of all, you need to find a better tech. Second, an OR 80 should be deafening. With the master all the way up, the preamp knob should be hurting you by about 9 o'clock. KT-77s are close enough to El-34s that they should work fine in the amp. It's possible the tubes were junk, sometimes new tubes are junk right out of the box. But your new EL-34s should be louder. Ask your tech if he knows about the possible output transformer mismatch on a vintage OR80. If he looks surprised, see my first recommendation.

[Jondog]

First of all, you need to find a better tech. Second, an OR 80 should be deafening. With the master all the way up, the preamp knob should be hurting you by about 9 o'clock. KT-77s are close enough to El-34s that they should work fine in the amp. It's possible the tubes were junk, sometimes new tubes are junk right out of the box. But your new EL-34s should be louder. Ask your tech if he knows about the possible output transformer mismatch on a vintage OR80. If he looks surprised, see my first recommendation.

Yeah, what he said! I was hoping Gladmarr would chime in.

[Gladmarr]

Sometimes tough love is what you need with an amp tech.

[Les Paul Lover]

I kinda feel the same about the guy i'm working with.

he says the reason its quiet is some amp circuits are different and this sounds typical for his ears cause of 50 watt marshalls

He doesn't really know what he's talking about.
Walk away before he butchers your amp.

Take this as a positive experience though - you have found a tech to avoid, and it's good to know.

[fiveightandten]

+1 to everything that Gladmarr said.

The amp should be deafeningly loud. Even a 20W amp cranked up full shouldn't be anything that you could describe as "bedroom volume", but an OR-80 will flatten a 20W amp.

The low volume could be due to a number of things, but I would suggest you don't play the amp until that's sorted out. There is the potential for the low volume situation to be the output transformer failing. That would be worst case though, with hope that it's something more simple. Is this a 70's amp or a 90's era amp?

The 90's OR-80s did not take kindly to the built-in transformer mismatch, and the output transformers let go on a lot of them. I've replaced a number of them due to this problem. The 70's amps were more forgiving to this, but it's still something you want to be mindful of. I run my 90's OR-80 with the impedance switch bumped over one position.

-Nick

[Frank_Jeeves]

+1 to everything that Gladmarr said.

The amp should be deafeningly loud. Even a 20W amp cranked up full shouldn't be anything that you could describe as "bedroom volume", but an OR-80 will flatten a 20W amp.

The low volume could be due to a number of things, but I would suggest you don't play the amp until that's sorted out. There is the potential for the low volume situation to be the output transformer failing. That would be worst case though, with hope that it's something more simple. Is this a 70's amp or a 90's era amp?

The 90's OR-80s did not take kindly to the built-in transformer mismatch, and the output transformers let go on a lot of them. I've replaced a number of them due to this problem. The 70's amps were more forgiving to this, but it's still something you want to be mindful of. I run my 90's OR-80 with the impedance switch bumped over one position.

-Nick

It's an 90s amp.But the seller said it was an early model of the 90s so it likely has the old transformers. its quiet when the amp is at half volume. Very pleasant to play at bedroom volumes it's loud at higher then half and almost full. one ear gets kinda hurt but it's not as loud as my clone.

[fiveightandten]

It's an 90s amp.But the seller said it was an early model of the 90s so it likely has the old transformers. its quiet when the amp is at half volume. Very pleasant to play at bedroom volumes it's loud at higher then half and almost full. one ear gets kinda hurt but it's not as loud as my clone.

Is this an Overdrive model with a master volume? The master is useless, and the amp really doesn't have much volume until it's WAY up.

If the amp has a master, put it all the way up (until you feel the knob stop), and crank the "gain" knob to at least 7 or 8. If it's not as loud as your 20W amp, something is wrong. If it's a "Graphic" (non master volume) model, then turn the volume up to 7 or 8 and see what happens. Again, it should flatten your 20W amp.

There are no "old" and "new" transformers for the 90's amps. They used the same iron through the production run.

-Nick

[Gladmarr]

I don't know if this is close to you or not, but there's a shop that I think is close to you called Super Sound Music. I've been there a couple times and they seemed like straight shooters.
http://www.supersoundmusic.com
They might be able to help, and/or they might be able to point you toward a competent tech. Most techs don't understand the Orange circuit. I don't know why. Let us know how this turns out.

[Frank_Jeeves]

It's an 90s amp.But the seller said it was an early model of the 90s so it likely has the old transformers. its quiet when the amp is at half volume. Very pleasant to play at bedroom volumes it's loud at higher then half and almost full. one ear gets kinda hurt but it's not as loud as my clone.

Is this an Overdrive model with a master volume? The master is useless, and the amp really doesn't have much volume until it's WAY up.

If the amp has a master, put it all the way up (until you feel the knob stop), and crank the "gain" knob to at least 7 or 8. If it's not as loud as your 20W amp, something is wrong. If it's a "Graphic" (non master volume) model, then turn the volume up to 7 or 8 and see what happens. Again, it should flatten your 20W amp.

There are no "old" and "new" transformers for the 90's amps. They used the same iron through the production run.

-Nick

It's a Overdrive. At half volume and half gain its way quieter then my Clone. My clone felt like my OR120 overdrive at those same settings only the OR could still do a stage. At the same settings this amp can be played in a living room.