Difference between UK and US tube amps?

[OkkultistBass]

After finding a used Orange AD200 head at a local music store, I thought I'd try a mixture of other British amps. I could only find an Ashdown, but I noticed both the Ashdown and the Orange used ECC tubes, instead of 12AX7s...Which IMO sounded better.

Is this common with all or most UK made amps?
I'm seriously thinking of buying the Orange head as soon as possible.

[B-string]

"ECC" are European equivalents of the US numbering system (ECC83 is a 12AX7 or military version 7025).

[Mr. Foxen]

British amps don't use tubes. They use valves.

The valve designations are different because there was basically a cartel running British valve manufacture and they didn't want people knowing cheap imported foreign valves were compatible (because 'tone' wasn't invented then).

There isn't actually any difference between ECC and 12AX designations, since they aren't made in the UK or US any more. So a marker pen can sort your tone thing for you.

Edit: Also worth noting, modern Orange heads are Chinese rather than British. The have 'made in PRC' written under the Union Flag on the back.

Edit 2: If you want a British amp, get a Matamp: http://midwestmatamp.com/

[johnk_10]

Originally Posted by OkkultistBass

After finding a used Orange AD200 head at a local music store, I thought I'd try a mixture of other British amps. I could only find an Ashdown, but I noticed both the Ashdown and the Orange used ECC tubes, instead of 12AX7s...Which IMO sounded better.

Is this common with all or most UK made amps?
I'm seriously thinking of buying the Orange head as soon as possible.

as stated previously, ECC83 tubes are NO different than the 12AX7's so the difference that you heard had to do with amplifier design and NOT the tube designations. you could put 12AX7's in an ashdown, a marshall, a hiwatt or an orange and it wouldn't make any difference other than the brand of tube that you used, but it has nothing to to with what they call it.

[B-string]

Originally Posted by Mr. Foxen

British amps don't use tubes. They use valves.

The valve designations are different because there was basically a cartel running British valve manufacture and they didn't want people knowing cheap imported foreign valves were compatible (because 'tone' wasn't invented then).

There isn't actually any difference between ECC and 12AX designations, since they aren't made in the UK or US any more. So a marker pen can sort your tone thing for you.

Edit: Also worth noting, modern Orange heads are Chinese rather than British. The have 'made in PRC' written under the Union Flag on the back.

Edit 2: If you want a British amp, get a Matamp: Midwest Matamp

That will get you dutch! Some of the best sounding valves came from Europe. But US made "valves" were by no means inferior. Its more in the lines of they use the metric system, US uses Imperial (SAE).

[Mr. Foxen]

Originally Posted by johnk_10

as stated previously, ECC83 tubes are NO different than the 12AX7's so the difference that you heard had to do with amplifier design and NOT the tube designations. you could put 12AX7's in an ashdown, a marshall, a hiwatt or an orange and it wouldn't make any difference other than the brand of tube that you used, but it has nothing to to with what they call it.

Might be better to say there is no more variance between 12AX and ECC than there is between 12AX and other 12AX. There is plenty of difference going on between valves, that is what makes valve rolling so fun. Everyone says Mullard is the best sounding valves (although the Brimar label on some of them makes them sound less good), and Mullard use ECC standards, that's probably the only source of difference someone could claim.

[johnk_10]

yep, they all can vary in tonal properties. i like Mullards, but my personal faves are Telefunkens and Amperex bugle boys.

[beans-on-toast]

There are people swear that Marshall amps sound better operating at the UK voltage and 50Hz. Others claim that it is the 50Hz that make the difference in tone due to the different ripple frequency in the power supply.

Probably a myth but who knows. You can't discount what people hear. After all, that's what counts.

It would be interesting to try a 60Hz supply and a 50Hz supply on the same amp and do some listening tests.

[B-string]

Originally Posted by OkkultistBass

Difference between UK and US tube amps?

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After finding a used Orange AD200 head at a local music store, I thought I'd try a mixture of other British amps. I could only find an Ashdown, but I noticed both the Ashdown and the Orange used ECC tubes, instead of 12AX7s...Which IMO sounded better.

Is this common with all or most UK made amps?
I'm seriously thinking of buying the Orange head as soon as possible.

So which was the US AMP you are questioning?