Orange 500w, 1000w headroom?

[JoshSmith]

So I'm a little confused still by what headroom is and whether to get the 500w or 1000w version of the Orange Terror head. I play through and ampeg 8x10. Enlighten me please.

 

[Tazz]

Headroom is just how loud you can go before losing that clean sound. 1000 watts will get you slightly louder than 500 before that natural tube overdrive kicks in.

 

[RickenBoogie]

Actually, the term "headroom" is the amount of available power an amp has, beyond the amount you need at any given moment. The Orange Terror bass heads are anything but clean. They're voiced to sound like a grinding all-tube amp, which they do well. You can get a sort of clean tone from them at lower volumes, but they're all about that grind.

 

[karl_em_all]

Every amp and cab has limitations. Headroom is like the optimum performance capability or how loud you can go while maintaining 'that' tone. Either of those amps with an ampeg 810 will give you enough headroom to handle pretty much any situation (and sound great doing it).

 

[dincz]

Headroom is the amount of power you've got in reserve - and that's useful for clean handling of the initial attack of a note. It's the power you're normally not using. So if you crank your amp to the max, you'll have zero headroom.

Think of it literally - the space above your head when you walk through a door. You don't normally need it but it's handy if you ever skip for joy.