Is it fair to judge a make on a small combo they have produced?

[Phil-osopher10]

I recently purchased a 20W combo made by a orange. Would it be fair to judge most orange amps and such on this amp ie. fundamental sound? rather than spending loads and loads trying figure out if they are for me or not?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='Phil-osopher10' post='1141579' date='Feb 25 2011, 01:42 PM']I recently purchased a 20W combo made by a orange. Would it be fair to judge most orange amps and such on this amp ie. fundamental sound? rather than spending loads and loads trying figure out if they are for me or not?[/quote]
You can't judge any brand by the least expensive product they produce, unless their least expensive costs more than what the competition charges for their better products. For instance, I wouldn't call Toyota a producer of bad cars based on the Yaris. But you can't buy a BMW at a Yaris price either.

[xgsjx]

But you could get a Lexus (made by Toyota) for the same price as a BMW

[Blademan_98]

I have an Orange 50w bass amp.

It doesn't sound anything like the Orange big rigs, but at £180 it's loud and has some nice features (like a tuner).

It suits my purposes and if I ever get to playing a stadium, I am sure I will get a huge Orange stack and love it as much

[Lozz196]

Depends on if it is part of a range, where the amp you have is the smallest model

Like the Marshall MB range, the 15 watt version I have sounds just like the 450 watt head. However, neither sound like the VBA, or the old DBS, which were much higher ranges.

[3below]

My local garage tells me that a large petrol engine luxmobiles (BMW/Jag etc) are fetching the same money as Yaris etc a few years down the line. However £5 to go 20 miles there and back to the shops is a bit steep. As they said though, if you do minimal miles it is serious luxmobile motoring for little money (unless it goes wrong).

Musical kit - try it in the context you will use it - there is no alternative (TINA)

Edited February 25, 2011 by 3below

[Cat Burrito]

The simple answer is no. You wouldn't judge Volkswagon on the VW Fox and I'm sure any music company wouldn't want to use their entry range as their flagship.

I owned a 50w Orange Practice amp. It was nice but got sold on quick enough. I've since bought the Terror head and gone back for for an SP210 cab which I've flightcased. I'm a big fan of Orange but it's not because of their Crush range

[lettsguitars]

i have no problems with producing small combs for judges.

[Ghost_Bass]

If you didn't knew the maker i assure you could try my TE Boxer15 (15W) and be convinced that Trace Elliot is a great brand! I also know another maker whose small amps do justice to their big brothers: Crate - they all sound sh***y!!!
I agree that you can have a clue on an amp's sound but only if you test the small amp of the same range!

Edited February 25, 2011 by Ghost_Bass

[charic]

I think its fair to judge a brand on anything/everything that they produce.

As long as u look at specs and try to understand their aims you could still check for Qa and general sound character.

[Blademan_98]

[quote name='charic' post='1142060' date='Feb 26 2011, 07:59 AM']I think its fair to judge a brand on anything/everything that they produce.

As long as u look at specs and try to understand their aims you could still check for Qa and general sound character.[/quote]

+1

I think that was the point I was trying to make.

The Crush range is a cheap entry level combo (practice or otherwise) and it's build quality is good.

I was an Ashdown fan until I tried the Orange.

[Phil-osopher10]

I was just wondering as I found it very very muddy and pretty unclear. it is very loud for a 20w amp though. My thinking was that orange mustn't be all that clean so to speak.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='1141869' date='Feb 25 2011, 09:52 PM']I also know another maker whose small amps do justice to their big brothers: Crate - they all sound sh***y!!![/quote]
Bit of a sweeping statement. Even if it was intended as an opinion rather than a definite statement of fact. My 15W Crate practice amp cost me next to nothing on ebay and it sounds pretty good to me whenever I use it for acoustic rehearsals with my Ashbory or Tanglewood. I have no idea what any other crate amps are like though.