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Orange AD200B..... Thoughts

#21
CL400Peavey said:
Sure, but I am not responding about my or your goals. I am replying to the OP's goals. He is used to a mid forward amp, the SVT. Hence he would not be able to get a similar sound from an amp with a baked in mid scoop.



But that inherent mid scoop is the answer to the OP's question. Isnt that why you are responding to the thread? to address the OP? Or just be argumentative for the sake of having a different opinion on the amp?
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I am replying to your assertion that the tone stack is totally unusable for bass and is complete rubbish. However there is a lot of historical data about the tone stack and adoption of this amp and many others like it that contradicts your very extreme and absolute opinion on the matter.
 
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#22
I like the orange a lot, but it also is not 200watts. I think its more accurately been clocked around 140-160ish. I generally run it 4-10-2 and get an amazing tone out it of it. A lot of people can make these sound amazing. It will also depend if you load it with kt88s in order to get more watts. I adore maxing the gain and running a dirty boost in front as well. But yes, your svt will be louder. It really just takes a bit more creativity/understanding and you can get some amazing mids out of the ad200, but they also don't have the low end heft of an svt, which is partly how you can coax more mids out of an ad200. Really just such different animals. I recall geddy lee using them and he clearly has a more mid pronounced tone. The alembic f1-x bass preamp also has the exact same fender bassman tonestack.
In the situation you described it should have been fine for volume.

I want to say maxing all the eq knobs did something unique and unexpected, but I don't recall what that is.
 
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#23
Stock the mk III models do test around 160ish watts full tilt. KT88 might get you a different tonal profile but unless you set the bias radically different they shouldn't change the output. Tonal profile and associated impact on perceived output maybe. The fender style tone stacks have been used in a lot of tube amps, but I'd agree that the orange is a more limited flexibility implementation, at least for amps that I've tried with similar designs. Then again, if you aren't playing them all through the same power amp is it a fair comparison?
 
#24
I love my AD200B. If there is any question of volume, then there is definitely something wrong with the amp. I was jamming with my friend in my basement the other day and I went to use the upstairs bathroom while he was noodling on bass.. The house was shaking so violently that the windows were rattling in the upper floors. The amp was at 20-30% volume with the tones all around noonish.
 
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#25
I've owned 3 Orange AD200B's. My tech said that even though they are rated for 200 watts their actual output is somewhere around 165. Even with the mids dimed, I still found them all slightly scooped. It's just the Orange voicing. The SVT is 300 watts of mid forward tone, hence why it blows the Oranges away. Still an amazing sounding amp, you just have to be playing music that doesn't demand you to have cutting mids. I've been thinking about getting another one recently... however I know I'll play one gig and be frustrated that I'm not cutting through enough :thumbsdown: GAS is a wonderful thing :D
 
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#27
DSCN2634.JPG
 
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#29
P-oddz said:
Is that a 16ohm cab?
If so, my guess would be with the amp/cab pairing. Your SVT with more wattage might be a little more forgiving with that cab and the Orange might be a little strained to give you enough juice(?)


I've always been able to get good volume out of single OBC410 cab (8ohm), but as mentioned above, the two amps are voiced/EQ'ed quite different. Maybe the eq difference wasn't helping in your perception of a volume difference(?)
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The cab has a 16ohm or 4 ohm setting. I always have it on 4 ohms. I've always used Ampeg so I'm guessing it was just the way I was trying to EQ. I had literally no time unfortunately to play around with it before the show. I'll know for next time if there is one lol.
 
#31
The one thing I like about the AD200B is that my basses have more of an individual sound compared to the two SVT's I've owned. I loved my SVT's but I noticed every bass I played through it had that Ampeg sound which is a really great thing but I wanted something more and I found it in the Orange AD200B it seems to have more of an organic sound than any other amp I've played through. These amps aren't for everyone they take more time to dial in than other amps but once you get there you're set and it also gives you a better understanding of how EQ's work I know it did for me.
 
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#33
Tim1 said:
I have an AD200B and have owned a couple of SVTs. While the AD200 won't quite give you the same clean mid range punch of an SVT it can get very loud in the volume stakes. You do need to use the tone controls to get the grunt as the tone stack is such that there is no sound at all if they are on zero. I tend to crank the mids to about 3 o'clock with the bass on 10 0r 11 o'clock and trebles about 1 o'clock. If you had the tones backed off you definitely will get less volume. This amp can go pretty loud and I would have expected it to be a worthy temporary substitute for your svt, but they are very different beasts tonally IMO.
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Is the preamp based off the fender tone stack ?
 
#36
BlacknWhite said:
The cab has a 16ohm or 4 ohm setting. I always have it on 4 ohms. I've always used Ampeg so I'm guessing it was just the way I was trying to EQ. I had literally no time unfortunately to play around with it before the show. I'll know for next time if there is one lol.
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Did you notice that the volume and gain are in the opposite location compared to an SVT?
I use to own an SVT and when I did the switch to an Orange head it threw me off a couple of times.
Normally the Orange is a very loud amp with enough power for most live gigs. It's also a very versatile amp capable of a wide range of tone.
I would say it can sound like an SVT but an SVT does not sound like an Orange.
Power-wise, the SVT is clearly capable of more power and cleaner tone but the experience you describe with this head does not match my experience with it.
 
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#37
Laurent said:
Did you notice that the volume and gain are in the opposite location compared to an SVT?
I use to own an SVT and when I did the switch to an Orange head it threw me off a couple of times.
Normally the Orange is a very loud amp with enough power for most live gigs. It's also a very versatile amp capable of a wide range of tone.
I would say it can sound like an SVT but an SVT does not sound like an Orange.
Power-wise, the SVT is clearly capable of more power and cleaner tone but the experience you describe with this head does not match my experience with it.
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Yeah I noticed the layout was definitely different. I had the gain almost full out and the volume at pretty much 3 quarters. I had the EQ all around noon though as I didn't know about the tone stack. Just so use to my Ampegs where I can just set everything at noon or around there and it just sounds good and loud lol.
 
#38
SirMjac28 said:
The one thing I like about the AD200B is that my basses have more of an individual sound compared to the two SVT's I've owned. I loved my SVT's but I noticed every bass I played through it had that Ampeg sound which is a really great thing but I wanted something more and I found it in the Orange AD200B it seems to have more of an organic sound than any other amp I've played through. These amps aren't for everyone they take more time to dial in than other amps but once you get there you're set and it also gives you a better understanding of how EQ's work I know it did for me.
Click to expand...

It definitely reveals whether your bass actually sounds good or not. My best bass becomes even better and my worst bass is not exactly improved...
 
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#39
BlacknWhite said:
Yeah I noticed the layout was definitely different. I had the gain almost full out and the volume at pretty much 3 quarters. I had the EQ all around noon though as I didn't know about the tone stack. Just so use to my Ampegs where I can just set everything at noon or around there and it just sounds good and loud lol.
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yeah that's the issue, you had super scooped mids and uber bass and treble. bass at 1, mids cranked, treble 0 good starting point. adjust the gain to taste and then master for volume. go from there. i always like the gain at about 10 o clock on the verge of breakup a little wooly.
 
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#40
AlienLanes said:
I've owned 3 Orange AD200B's. My tech said that even though they are rated for 200 watts their actual output is somewhere around 165. Even with the mids dimed, I still found them all slightly scooped. It's just the Orange voicing. The SVT is 300 watts of mid forward tone, hence why it blows the Oranges away. Still an amazing sounding amp, you just have to be playing music that doesn't demand you to have cutting mids. I've been thinking about getting another one recently... however I know I'll play one gig and be frustrated that I'm not cutting through enough :thumbsdown: GAS is a wonderful thing :D
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 

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