I had considered some other Orange heads (OR15 and Dark Terror in particular) but decided to go for this one since it's more of an all-rounder. It didn't disappoint.
First off, it's important to state that this amp is not a total gain monster, but what it IS built for is tone. It does have enough gain on tap for a heavy rock sound, but for a really high-gain sound, a boost or OD pedal is probably needed (I've used mine with a Maxon OD808, TC Electronic Spark, Boss SD-1 and MXR MC401 in the studio, with satisfying results every time).
That being said, the basic sound of both channels is really good, the tone control on each channel is very versatile and allows a whole range of tonal variation. from rich cleans through to filthy overdrive; because it isn't voiced with a thousand dials, its response and signal path are very direct, it feels very organic to play, and it responds very well to pedals, which means any fine-tuning is easy once you find the basic sound you want.
It's also easy to maintain, changing the valves/tubes is quick and simple because it's self-biasing, and obviously it's mega-portable.
All in all, this is a good, versatile amp that is idiot-proof to use and gives "that" Orange sound, and can easily do what the more "specialized" Orange amps do, if combined with the right pedals. I would definitely recommend it.
