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Which second cab to get? (Orange content)

Soundstorm

Soundstorm

Mar 23, 2010
86
10
www.lastwatchmastering.com
#1
So I play low tuned sludge/doom/stoner tunes, and I'm building a new bass rig for it. This will be to compliment a Matamp full stack for guitar. So far I have an OBC 115, and I plan on getting an AD200B. Should I get a second 115 or go with the 410?

Right now I'm using a loaner Sunn Concert Bass (which is 150 solid state watts, I believe). I tried it with the 115 and I gotta say it doesn't put out much....volume or oomph. I'm starting to worry that something's wrong with it, but it's not crackling or anything. I did buy it used, but I've only gotten to test it with the Sunn. I have used the Sunn through a Mesa PH cab (4x10 and 1x15 in one cab) and there was barely enough volume, but a heck of a lot more than I'm getting now. I'm sure that has everything to do with the amount of speakers in the PH cab. I guess I was just expecting more from the OBC115 when I fired it up. That's the reason I'm posting this....will two 115's and the AD200 have enough to keep up with that Matamp full stack? Will the 410 and 115 setup have enough low end? I'm all open to suggestions.

Thanks guise!

-Trey
 
#2
Same exact cab that you have now. It's always best to use identical cabs. Whether that is going to be enough volume is difficult to say. Everyone has different needs. I gig with (2) 1X15's and have plenty of volume no matter who I'm playing with.

More speaker area is going to give you more volume, so (2) 4X10's will be louder than (2) 1X15's. All things being equal...

150w isn't much, so I'm not surprised it had no real volume or oomph. I'm not sure what the specs are for that amp, but it's possible it puts out 150w @ 4ohms, and if your 1X15 is 8ohms, then it was probably only getting about 75w.
 
#4
Matching watt numbers doesn't have anything to do with how easy a rig is to blow up in practice. But you'd need a pretty specially poor pair of 1x15 cabs to die from the output of a AD200.

Important bit on going for two of the cab you already have one of is liking the sound of that cab. If you don't, ditch it and get two cabs you do like.
 
#8
i see that (pictures of mis-matched stacks) in catalogs and on websites of lots of mainstream companies who should know better (<cough>genz-benz<cough>)

i guess that since customers are all too prone to hearing with their eyes, the sellers just give 'em what they ask for.

maybe since a typical 1x15 is cheaper than a comparable 4x10, the idea is that you can create a stack that will still be bigger and louder than the one cab by itself, for a little less money.
 
#9
Soundstorm said:
Ok, I'll do that then. Two 15's sound like a winner for this type of music anyway....but why is this the first time I ever hear not to mismatch cab types? Because I'm looking at the orange catalog right now and it has the 410 on top of the 115. Not saying anybody's wrong, just curious
Click to expand...

Orange are much bigger on the looking cool than the functioning cool, hence the Orange, an the '200' in the name of an amp that puts out 160w.

The actual reason is that the different speakers don't do the same thing when presented with the same signal, so added together they make a mess, think if you eqed to sound good with one cab, and the different eq for the other cab, and now be forced to only have one set of eq for both.
 
#12
160 watts from a tube head (with large transformers) should be plenty for all but the loudest bands. I used a Sunn 200S (60 watts, RMS) through a Fender 2x15 cab for years, and had no troubles. The Orange tube head has nearly 3 times that power. Again, should be plenty. The mighty SVT (V-9) has 260 at 4 ohms. That rig parted hair in the 5th thru 10th rows for me in the 70s! WAY over-kill!!
 
#14
lowfreq33 said:
200 watts... Not a lot of headroom there. It should be loud enough with a second 15 as long as you don't mind a little grit, you will have to crank it if you're in a loud band.
Click to expand...

That depends on the amp and its speaker compliment. The Orange AD200 doesn't have a bunch of headroom, but similar 4xKT88/6550 amps like the old Sunns certainly do, and amps like the Reeves C225 and Hiwatt DR201 may even have too much headroom for some players.
The Reeves stuff in particular "plays" huge; gobs of clean power, big strong bottom end, and headroom out the wazoo.

Rated watts only tell part of the story... ;)

Soundstorm said:
So is this the right head for this application?
Click to expand...

If you are looking for LOUD; big SPL stage volume, IMO the Orange probably isn't the best "200 watt" amp choice, but as ScottTunes posts it's still pretty loud.
Also IMO, the AD200 sounds cool, but in a "warm and fuzzy" kinda way rather than a big, powerful, bold and dynamic kinda way.

Of course with enough drivers you should be able to get the AD200 up to ear damage levels. :D
 
#15
I own and regularly gig with either an Orange AD200 or an SVT VR . Let me assure you that the Orange is plenty loud, it has a huge sound and more natural bottom end than (but less mids) than the SVT. While the Orange can give you tube grind/overdrive at lower volumes than the SVT, it still has heaps of clean headroom of you want it simply by cranking the master and using the gain as a volume control. My sound is clean and I have never had any trouble achieving this with plenty of volume to spare playing in a loud blues/rock band where the guitarist cranks a full Marshall 100 watt Hendrix stack.
The Orange does have a reputation for grind, which has somewhat overtaken its ability as a clean amp also. IME don't be fooled by this - mine easily combines very loud and very clean. I own both a Bergantino NV215 and NV610, the Orange loves the 215.
 
#16
+1 the ad copy you see is put together by the marketing team, NOT sound designers. That's why you see these 410/15 stacks everywhere. 2 of the same will ALWAYS sound better than a mixed pair, every time. I'd think a pair of 15's with that head should do nicely.
 

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