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Official Orange Club II
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
I think the stock tubes are JJ, which should be fine. I bought mine as an "open box" from American Musical (first and last interaction with those turkeys), and it had a bad 12AX7. I replaced it with a current production Mullard, which I think is a little gainier. In any case, it sounds great. I haven't done any "tube rolling" per se, but IIRC I tried a few old tubes I had laying around. Subtle differences.
Does anyone know what (if any) difference there might be between:
AD200B
MKIII
and an
AD200
BASS
MK3
as printed on the face of the amp?
Could this be a clue as to when it was manufactured, or a way to know if it's and earlier or later revision?
AD200B
MKIII
and an
AD200
BASS
MK3
as printed on the face of the amp?
Could this be a clue as to when it was manufactured, or a way to know if it's and earlier or later revision?
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@Wasnex is probably yr best bet here.
Afaik, the AD200B Mk3 is the latest version.
I have noticed this as well, but never looked into it. Here is post with an explanation: Orange AD200: Certain years better than others?
Appears the main difference is the Mk3 (current version) is a bit bigger so it can handle KT88, which tends to have a bigger bottle than 6550.
I posed the question to Orange directly, this was their response:
"Thank you for your e-mail.
There is no difference what so ever between the two.
Every so often we give our amps a bit of a facelift on the front panel. Nothing changes inside (unless stated)
A good example of this is the Crush Pro 120 which has more than several variations to the name on the front panel.
The newer versions of the AD200 will have the word 'Bass' on the front panel rather than just a 'B'.
I hope this is helpful.
Kind regards,
Joe"
May be true or they may have lost corporate memory of the first run of the Mk III being smaller. I found other comments on TB from the early to mid 2000s that suggest the first run was smaller.
I am not making any claims one way or the other, only reporting what people were saying when this model was first made.
I actually thought Orange was loading new AD200Bs with KT88s. I was surprised when my Mk3 showed up with 6550s. It sounds great.
Here is a page that gives some hints on how the AD200B evolved: 1999 – Custom Shop: Early Days – Orange Amps
In support of Orange's statement. I used MS Paint to try and resize the black Mk3 so it is the same width as the orange MkIII. Next I copied/pasted the Mk3 so I could compare the height; both dimensions appear to match.
This suggests the Mk3 was not made wider than the MkIII.
There is still another possibility. There may have been multiple runs where the graphics showed MkIII. AFAIK MkIII is pretty rare, which does not support multiple runs.
IMHO the most likely answer MkIII and Mk3: "Same, Same."
This suggests the Mk3 was not made wider than the MkIII.
There is still another possibility. There may have been multiple runs where the graphics showed MkIII. AFAIK MkIII is pretty rare, which does not support multiple runs.
IMHO the most likely answer MkIII and Mk3: "Same, Same."
Mine is the AD200 Bass MK3. IT cam standard with 6550s. I put KT88s in it some years ago. To my ears, they sound more open, a bit less compressed and a tiny bit louder if I may. But that was about that. I never run my AD past 12 and more often at 9 (3rd line on the dials, parting from the start), so the difference is negligible.
It could vary some between different models and brands of tubes. For example, I compared Winged-C 6550s to JJ KT88 in my Aguilar DB359. I couldn't hear any noticeable difference.
In my Matchless Thunderchief, I have tried the original Shuguang KT100s, JJ KT88, and a special production run Shuguang GEKT88. The JJs seemed a bit more musical and lively to me. The seemed to have more harmonic color and resonance. The Shuguangs seemed darker and more controlled, but a bit cleaner and more HiFi. However by fiddling with the bias, I was able to get the Shuguangs fairly close. I thought the JJ sounded best running pretty hot in this amp. The Shuguangs sounded best running significantly colder. Ask three people and they wouldn't necessarily agree on which is best. it depends on what you want to hear.
Note: The KT100s that came in the Matchless were just a heavy duty KT88.
My AD200B is running JJ 6550, and I believe these are the original tubes.
I know some audio
I know some audiophiles swap their KT88's for KT120's with good results. I wonder how they would go in the MK3?
Not something I would try without determining the current rating of the heater supply. KT120s pull more heater current.
FYI the KT120 has a 60W plate rating. The Shuguang GEKT88 had a 50W plate rating and most KT88s have a 42W plate rating. However AFAIK, KT88s are usually treated as 35W tubes in the amp for bias purposes. The Matchless I put the GEKT88 in does not make any more with the GEKT88s than it did with JJ KT88.
The Matchless is supposed to be able to run KT120 as well. In fact I know of at least one person who has done it. He says it sounds great. The usual claim I have heard is KT120 have a fuller low end. My guess is it doesn't make any additional power though. I may try it some day (just for fun).
FYI all, I posed another question directly to Orange about the serial numbers and determining the date of amps, cabs etc.:
To Joe Gray @ Orange,
Another question:
Is there any way to know what year my head or cabinet was made? All of my Orange gear has a serial number that is 5 digits and then ends with a dash and four more digits, as follows:
AD200B MKIII Amp Head: xxxxx-0719
Could the "0719" mean July 2019?
OBC210 cabinet: OBC-xxxxx-1113
Could the "1113" mean November 2013?
OBC115 cabinet: OBC115-xxxxx-1122
Could the "1122" mean November 2022?
…and his answer was:
"You are correct, the last 4 digits denote the month and year.
Your guesses for the year of manufacture for your gear is spot on!"
I think I had asked in the forum about how to know when your head or cab or whatever might have been made, and I don't recall that anyone had a positive answer. So now we know.
To Joe Gray @ Orange,
Another question:
Is there any way to know what year my head or cabinet was made? All of my Orange gear has a serial number that is 5 digits and then ends with a dash and four more digits, as follows:
AD200B MKIII Amp Head: xxxxx-0719
Could the "0719" mean July 2019?
OBC210 cabinet: OBC-xxxxx-1113
Could the "1113" mean November 2013?
OBC115 cabinet: OBC115-xxxxx-1122
Could the "1122" mean November 2022?
…and his answer was:
"You are correct, the last 4 digits denote the month and year.
Your guesses for the year of manufacture for your gear is spot on!"
I think I had asked in the forum about how to know when your head or cab or whatever might have been made, and I don't recall that anyone had a positive answer. So now we know.
Nice...looks like my AD200B was made in Aug 2007. It's older than I thought.
Anyone know why they stopped making the TB1000? I noticed the TB500 has a "Clean Switch", which I don't see on any images of the TH1000. Were there problems with the TB1000? I know a 1000w amp is not "twice as loud" as a 500, but if anyone has had both, I'd like to know what would be the reason to not get a used TB1000 over a TB500. I'm always of the mind that it's better to have power and not need it than need it and not have it. But, the "Clean Switch" has me curious as well.
They stopped making both amps. The current TB500 is a Mk2.
I don't know how common problems are with the power amp sections of the originals. But my impression is replacement circuit cards are no longer available for black box maintenance, and the power amp modules are not easily repaired.
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Sorry to derail the head conversation but was wondering if folks would share a pic or details of the settings on their combos? I have a OCB100 and with the sweep-able mid was curious of settings out there. I know it won't translate exactly but just thought it would be fun to try a few, playing a fender P with D'Ad chrome-flats straight in.
Related to that was wondering how people with a combo actually use the EQ or set it flat and use a preamp or even a pedal in the effects loop?
Thanks!
Related to that was wondering how people with a combo actually use the EQ or set it flat and use a preamp or even a pedal in the effects loop?
Thanks!
