# Which Amp To Keep - Hughes & Kettner Or Orange?



## colchar (May 22, 2010)

I recently picked up an Orange Rocker 15 Terror that I quite like. On a whim I picked up a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister Deluxe 20 and quite like that as well. I am only a home player who plays classic rock, '80s metal, etc. I had originally thought that I would keep both heads, but because I also have a 1978 Traynor YGL3 I only actually need one of the Orange or H&K. The problem is that I simply cannot decide which to keep.

I bought the Orange used and some of the screws that hold the shell together are missing, so someone has obviously been in there. That could have been due a something simple like a loose tube, or it could have been for another reason. The H&K was bought new. If I decide to keep the Orange I will return the used one and buy a new one. There is only $50 difference between the two when new so price doesn't factor into this.

I'm not going to let others decide for me, but maybe other people's opinions might make me think and help with the decision. And why not make it a poll, just for shits and giggles?

So if it were you, which would you choose to keep and why?


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

I am all about that H&K. I have a TM36 and it's about the only piece of gear I have NEVER thought of getting rid of. I love that amp. Not that I don't like Orange, but the H&K is my vote for the keeper. There may be reasons you find a lot more Orange amps for sale than H&K.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Verne said:


> I am all about that H&K. I have a TM36 and it's about the only piece of gear I have NEVER thought of getting rid of. I love that amp. Not that I don't like Orange, but the H&K is my vote for the keeper. There may be reasons you find a lot more Orange amps for sale than H&K.



I had an H&K Edition Tube 25th Anniversary combo a few years ago. I've gone through a lot of amps, and there are only two or three that I look back on and think I should have kept. That H&K is one of them.

Then again, an Orange AD30 is another on that short list.


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

I've had a few of the lunch box Orange....Micro Terror and Micro dark, and I've also had a Dual Terror. I did an A/B with all of them with the H&K and it was a no brainer for me. That is the extent of my Orange amp history. I'd get another Vox before I'd get another Orange. But I'm keeping the H&K. I'm sure you'll get a LOT of input on this one.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

I've only owned the OR15, but managed to get my Tubemeister 5 head to nail the tone I liked from it. Never been an Orange fan really but I may just be uneducated on the subject. They seem very single dimensional to me.


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## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

I chose the H&K because its new and is supposed to cover alot of ground/options. However, it really depends on what you're looking for. Nothing really sounds like an orange. It has its own unique fuzzy thing going on and, if that's what you're after, no other amp can really replicate that. But they can be a little limited in some regards.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

The Orange because there is no silicon in the signal path.
It is cathode-biased.
It is operated at or below the maximum operating specifications for the output tubes.
I like it's look and style more than the H&K.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Paul Running said:


> The Orange because there is no silicon in the signal path.



Do you have a 'For Dummies' version of that for those of us who are technologically illiterate?


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## RBlakeney (Mar 12, 2017)

colchar said:


> Do you have a 'For Dummies' version of that for those of us who are technologically illiterate?


The hk has fakes tits.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

RBlakeney said:


> The hk has fakes tits.



Fuck, I nearly choked when I read that. I was eating a salad at the time and....................


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

colchar said:


> Do you have a 'For Dummies' version of that for those of us who are technologically illiterate?


The OR operates closer to a classic A-class tube amp than the H&K...I just prefer that design more.
The H&K is a more complicated design with a lot of solid-state devices on board, many in the signal paths, Concerning hybrids, I confess to a biased opinion...it may be narrow minded but either all tube or all solid-state for myself...no mixed marriages in amp land, until we reach the digital realm and then it's an open mind journey.


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## RBlakeney (Mar 12, 2017)

If you don’t have any use for the redbox di, I would chose the orange. I got rid of an orange recently because i didn’t really have room for it and it sold before the other amp I had up for sale, but it sounded good


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

I was thinking about tone and figured I should mentioned that as I get older, I prefer clean tones over overdriven tones. Now obviously, you need overdriven tones for some things (you're not playing _Rock You Like a Hurricane_ with a clean tone!), but I really do prefer clean tones. And for dirty tones, I am split between amp distortion and pedal distortion.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

Don’t care which one you get rid of, but get an AC10.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

2manyGuitars said:


> Don’t care which one you get rid of, but get an AC10.



Nah, looking for a head this time. And if I was going to get a Vox combo it would be another AC30, or maybe an AC15.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

colchar said:


> Fuck, I nearly choked when I read that. I was eating a salad at the time and....................


Even if you _were_ eating a salad, c'mon, say it was Fries & Gravy!! 

I voted, but I can't really speak to either, as I haven't played them. I just like the whole branding of Orange, and the ties to early British Classic Rock.


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## Rollin Hand (Jul 12, 2012)

I'll be the enabler:

"If you can't decide, keep them both!"


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

I find the Orange to be a better pedal platform and easier to dial in.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

SWLABR said:


> Even if you _were_ eating a salad, c'mon, say it was Fries & Gravy!!



Nah, I've got to own up to the fact that I've become a fat bastard who needs to lose weight. Covid restrictions and finally quitting smoking have caused me to put on weight. It needs to come off, so salads it is. That being said, I had fries two days ago.......


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)




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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

laristotle said:


> View attachment 393089



Yeah I ain't gonna lie, there were a lot of bacon bits on my salad. Baby steps, its all about baby steps.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

After playing them more, I have noticed quite a bit of noise from the H&K on its lead channel. I thought it was a grounding issue with a particular guitar, but a friend who is a guitar tech couldn't replicate the problem. Despite that, he tweaked the guitar a bit to be sure but the noise persists. And this is not when the volume or gain are cranked - it is happening with everything (volume & gain on the amp as well as volumes and tone on the guitars) set at 2.

The same isn't happening with the Orange.

So maybe the H&K has an issue with the electrical current it is getting, or maybe it and the guitar don't get along. But whatever it is, the noise persists with a couple of guitars.


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

That’s unfortunate, I’ve been pretty impressed with every H&K I’ve played starting with their ATS series back in the late 80’s.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

gtrguy said:


> That’s unfortunate, I’ve been pretty impressed with every H&K I’ve played starting with their ATS series back in the late 80’s.



There are several of their Tubemeister Deluxe 40 watters available used but I would almost never use it at its full 40 watts so there doesn't seem much point to trying one.


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

That's really unfotunate. I get noise from the lead channel, but I can only sit about 6ft away and generally use a Strat. The crunch channel is pretty quiet for me. I have my power soak set at 18w so it'd be pretty close to yours at this point. Clear as a bell through the clean channel? No interference from anything nearby?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Don't think I have enough H&K experience to comment, but I do really like the small modern Orange amps.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

Verne said:


> That's really unfotunate. I get noise from the lead channel, but I can only sit about 6ft away and generally use a Strat. The crunch channel is pretty quiet for me. I have my power soak set at 18w so it'd be pretty close to yours at this point. Clear as a bell through the clean channel? No interference from anything nearby?



Perfect through the clean channel.

Interference from something nearby is a possibility, but surely it would happen on the clean channel as well. It should also happen to the Orange too but that was fine last night with just normal amp hum. The only bad sounds coming out of it were the result of my shitty playing.


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

colchar said:


> The only bad sounds coming out of it were the result of my shitty playing.


That's actually a relief to me as I thought it was just inherent in the Tubemeister line. Mine is obviously working just fine.  

I'm going to go downstairs later and see how much noise I get from Crunch and Lead. I don't use pedals through the TM as they all end up sound fizzy/fuzzy instead of overdriven.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I don't own either, but I've played both--and I really like both.
I do own an Orange Micro Dark--and would love an H&K o another Orange--so really tough to choose
I'd have a stereo pedal or AB Box or some splitter and play through them both.


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