Legendary British amp maker Orange has been at the heart and soul of music since the late 1960s. Your favorite artists have likely tapped into the iconic sound at some point. Now we can all get in a sonic spin with the O Turntable.
Orange Music was founded in 1968 by Cliff Cooper, who opened a shop in London to sell used music gear to appreciative players looking for classic tones. He also built and sold his own equipment, developing the signature tone with help from artists like Peter Green and Paul Kossof.
Tube circuits were king here, but the company also created the first digitally programmable amp in the mid-70s, along with a denim-clad solid-state head and cabinet called the Jimmy Bean. Though this didn’t take off as hoped, but a stomp wearing the same moniker was a huge success.
Orange Amps
The Jimmy Bean Voice Box allowed guitars to sing courtesy of a tube in the player’s mouth. “The guitar sound merges with the performer’s vocals and is then picked up by the microphone and amplified by the PA system,” explained Orange production manager, Mick Dines. It was used by legends like Jeff Beck, Joe Walsh and Peter Frampton.
Guitar and bass amplification has been the company’s primary focus in the decades since, with Orange stacks behind many top performers on stage and helping to dial in tones for studio sessions. Not wishing to turn this piece into a name dropper, but household names like Jimmy Page, Angus Young, Chuck Berry, Noel Gallagher, Stevie Wonder, Jim Root, Robert Smith, Slash, David Gilmour and Joe Satriani have all rocked the Orange sound.
We’ve also seen the firm break out into other sound-themed areas – including twin record decks for DJs, a computer/amp hybrid called the OPC, ear candy and portable music boxes. The “audiophile-grade” O Turntable continues that diversification, and spins into the rising popularity of a format given a death sentence when CDs arrived in the 1980s. “The O Turntable delivers pure, uncompromised vinyl sound with the simplicity and style our customers expect,” said Cooper.
Orange Amplifiers
The minimalist belt-drive record spinner features a 24-volt low-noise motor and aluminum pulley system designed to deliver “rock-steady platter speed” with minimal vibration. The high-mass platter stands almost an inch tall (23 mm) and promises “smoother rotation and tighter speed stability.”
A straight tonearm sits on ultra-low-friction bearings and ends in the O Carbon moving magnet (MM) cartridge with removable stylus. A preset bias and push-fit counterweight cater for plug-and-play setup without needing specialist tools. We’re not seeing any speed control buttons – which could mean that only album playback is supported here, at 33.3 rpm – but the power button is located on the underside of the plinth.
The turntable ships with an integrated MM phono pre-amp for use with a hi-fi amplifier that doesn’t have its own phono stage. But Orange says that this system has been designed to pair with its Pyramid System, a compact hi-fi amp and bookshelf speakers that you’ll need to purchase separately if you want the complete branded package.
The O Turntable comes with a slipmat that sports the company’s Voice of the World Crest, plus a dust cover, and is available now for US$699. The video below has more.
O Turntable
Product page: Orange O Turntable