Orange Dual Terror Head Reviews

4.8/5.0 based on 10 customer reviews

Sweetwater Advice

Patrick Cobley

When I started looking for a small amp with British tones, I stumbled upon the Orange Dual Terror and was amazingly surprised! It has switchable 7-, 15-, and 30-watt outputs and can melt my face at all three! Plus, its tone rocks my world! From crisp cleans to fuzzy leads and even high gain grittiness, I can always find the tone I'm looking for! From day one I knew I was in love and it's been my go-to amp ever since!

Ryan Schmidt

The Orange Dual Terror Head is a great amp that oozes focused, Brit style tone that can range from sparkly cleans to raging rhythms. The power switching capabilities of this amp are definitely the best part about it! You can switch the power from 30, 15, all the way down to 7 watts. Its simplicity and quality make the Dual Terror perfect for the gigging guitarist, whether onstage or in the studio.

Ed Nystrom

I've been in the market for a small tube guitar head to power a lonely 4x12 Marshall cab in my guitar room, and I recently found its perfect companion in the Orange Dual Terror. From the very first chord I struck, I was blown away by the tight and focused British tube tone. I was extremely excited to hear if I could get that great Orange tone at lower volumes. The amp did not disappoint - it KILLS at all three power settings!

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Customer Reviews

Ben Boerjan
from
January 24, 2013Music Background:
Touring Musician

Freaking. Awesome.

This amp is by far amazing. That sweet Orange tone is extremely noticeable when you crank this dude up. The fact that you can switch is between 30, 15, AND, 7 watts is great. I can crank this bad boy up, and i can keep up, and even pass my drummer volume wise. Turn the volume up, mic it with a Shure SM57, and you are stage ready. I have a couple pedals I personally run through mine, but as far as tone, you can't beat this rig.

from Chattanooga, Tennessee
November 7, 2011Music Background:
Semi-Pro Musician

Big Tone in a Small Package

I love this amp! Just finished recording an album with it, and it was perfect. Plugged into a Mesa 4x12 and on is lowest power setting, I could crank it enough to heat it up good without knocking the house down. This was my first Orange amp. I like the sound and build quality so much that I just ordered a Rockerverb 50 MkII, only because I want something more powerful and with an effects loop for my stage rig. Highly recommended!

JB
from Michigan
September 25, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician, Recording, Live Sound Engineer

I like it a lot..!

The Dual Terror is amazing. If you want thick, chiming, 3d tone this amp is hard to beat. Very expressive and musical. Neck and middle pickups in medium to high gain sound incredible on either channel. The channels have different flavors as well. Fat channel has a thick Marshall-ness sound while the terror channel brings out the organics in your pickups. Both channels blend together perfectly with no surprises switching between the two. I use a 2x12 cabinet with 75watt celestions and with the amp set on 15 watts you can blow away the band in a large size room with impeccable tone. Don't let the single tone control fool you into thinking you have no control over your tone. It's almost like matching an impedance setting rather than shaping your guitars sound. Switching from neck to bridge pickups is awesome. I never have to scramble to adjust the amp because something is boomy or thin. It just stays balanced on the whole guitar and on both channels. I just can't say enough about how good this thing sounds on all kinds of music. Highly recommended.

steve
from toronto, on
July 24, 2011Music Background:
gigging musician

best amp head i've ever used

i still can't believe i'm getting such sweet tones from a tiny little amp with minimal controls. the tone knob is extremely sensitive and thus can give you a nice versatile set of sounds. in my household we also have a rockerverb MKI 100 and the orange rocker 30 and I'd still pick this amp over them. the ONLY thing its missing is an effects loop.

Felix Z
from San Antonio, TX
July 17, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist

Quality Product/Quality Sound

I have always been impressed by Orange. This amp is very responsive and has a very smooth distortion quality. You have two distinctive sounding channels. One similar to AC/DC, Led Zep, and the other more modern (FAT). It's like having 2 different amps in 1. The fat channel also cleans up very nicely. Not fender twin or deluxe reverb clean, but good enough if this is your only amp. I am also comparing this to a MESA TA15. The Mesa had a similar concept with it's 5 channels and sounded very impressive with its cleans and overdrive. However, i could not get over the channel pop that was part of the design. The orange has no pop when switching from TT to Fat. You also have a broader range of gain at disposal. The Dual Terror being made in china, is equally on par with Mesa quality (made in usa). If your on the fence about both, go with orange.

Max
from California
March 20, 2011Music Background:
Guitarist, Engineer, Musician!

Orange Dual Terror Head

Well, i play a lot of big shows. My first concern was how small this head was. But the weight and dimensions were so appealing! So i went to my local boutique amp shop (GC boycotter!) and tried it out and i was BLOWN AWAY! the tone was INCREDIBLE! so rich and full! I cranked it 1/3 of the volume and i had to turn it down! i was sold, i bought it on the spot with no if ands or return policies. I went home played it with the volume on 7 for 2 hours and i can tell you right now, my ears are ringing. this with a 2x12 is PLENTY loud.

Al
from petersburg va
January 17, 2012Music Background:
16 years on guitar, currently in a band.

Excellent for classic rock

I have had a lot of boutique gear that cost a lot more than this but none of it sounded nearly as good. I play a lot of classic rock and this nails the tone I was after. I does cover a broad range of tones for an amp with so few controls. In fact the amp is not real fussy about settings and it is hard to not get a good sound out of it.

I run it through an avatar contemporary orange tolex 4x12 loaded with celestion G12H30's and it really sounds great. The amp has a very large output transformer and really has the oomph to drive a speaker cab. When they say 30 watts think more like what you'd expect a 50 watter to sound like. It is loud but in a very musical way. Not harsh in any way and has a wonderful midrange chime to it I'm really into. Really this is my favorite british amp of all time (I know it's made in china). I also build my own point to point tube amps and really am impressed with this orange.

The first one I had malfunctioned 1st day I had it. It could have been a tube but I was not happy and Orange was quick to step in and send me a brand new one at absolutley no cost to me with upgraded tubes. The first one had cheap sino chinese tubes but the replacement has decent JJ's and sounds awesome. This is one reason I reccomend this amp beyond the fabulous tones and loud volumes it can produce, Orange is a stand up company that stands behind it's products.

jacob
from Illinois
November 14, 2010Music Background:
active Musician

orange Dual Terror

Great amp, have been playing it regularly for about a month Now, Loud Enough to gig with, use as my main amp right now, was Not terribly impressed till i swapped out the preamp tubes, tightend up the sound made me love it, Would suggest it if your Interested in a rockerverb but want to save some money

Matt Howard
from Georgetown, IN USA
February 16, 2010Music Background:
Worship Dude, Semi-Professional Music Man

Small package that really kicks tail

I love the Orange look and of course, their reputation preceeds them.

But aside from all of that, this little head really wails when needed and cleans up nicely all in one package. I've paired mine with Orange's PPC212. It is a great combination that will crank out just about anything that is needed.

The 30W setting (4 power tubes, full power) is more than enough to knock you down. It can stand toe-to-toe with a really heavy drummer. Crank the gain and get ready to wail.

Each channel has only three knobs to mess with. Personally, I enjoy that, it makes it REALLY easy to dial in a great sound, as long as you have a great axe.

Switching to half power will take you to 15 watts. There is a slightly noticeable difference in output volume here. But it still sounds great.

I was a little disappointed, however, in that I wanted this amp because it would switch to 7 watts for bedroom practice. The 7 watts is still really powerful, almost too powerful for bedroom stuff.

In short, if you want a great little head with some amazing sound while keeping it low wattage, this is the head for you.

Steve young
from Louisiana USA
February 28, 2013Music Background:
Hobby

Love the amp

Love the amp, I think the foot switch should have come included with the head and speakers

inSync Review

Ryan Schmidt
2-03-2012

The Dual Terror is a great amp! Don't let the minimal controls deceive you, this thing just oozes tone! The single volume, tone, and gain knobs are very sensitive. A single tone knob may seem limiting, but Orange did it right - I couldn't get a bad tone out of it! The power section is the highlight of the amp and alone is worth the price of admission. The power section is switchable from four output tubes down to two, and you can cut the power down even more to a mere seven watts! These different settings really make a difference in a live or studio situation where you need to change your overall volume settings without sacrificing an ounce of tone.

The lowest output setting, with the gain at about 2 o'clock on the Tiny Terror channel, is my personal favorite as it affords very tight yet dirty rhythm tones. The clean tones are also fantastic and hold a great chimey, bell-like quality that is hard to come by with amps in this price range. A big concern of mine when I look into amps is how they react to different pedals. The Dual Terror did not disappoint! I put some of my favorite pedals in front and the tone was clear, tight, and articulate. Very cool!

All of these qualities alongside its small footprint and included gig bag make the Dual Terror a fantastic amp for the gigging guitarist - live or in the studio. Definitely check it out!