Orange Crush 20RT Combo - Black

The Orange Crush 20RT is a very versatile combo - it's compact, and is light to carry around, but has a big sound, and plenty of volume for small venues. It is actually surprisingly loud for its size but obviously if up against other bigger amps, it can't win. The built-in tuner is so useful, and it tracks very quickly. The reverb adds space and depth - it's a digital version of a spring reverb, so there aren't any actual springs in the combo, which keeps the sound cleaner. I'm using this for lower volume practices - for more volume, I can use my Orange Rocker 15 valve amp which is seriously loud - but the Crush 20RT is ideal for the situations I use it in. Another quality product from Orange and thoroughly recommended!

Purchased to practice guitar at home as my Blues Junior is too loud. Very impressed with its tone (sounds almost like a valve amp). Two switchable channels & a handy tuner.it takes pedals nicely also. Decided to take it to weekly band practice wondering if it could be a back up amp. No problem going through our classic pop/rock/country set with clean channel on 75% using pedals as needed. Amazing tone through only a 8 inch speaker. Maybe would struggle in a high powered rock band but I reckon the 35rt could manage. Overall a good quality basic small amp to practice on or even gig with. For the price- go for it !

Decent solid state practice amp, ignore the hype

Overall:Ignore the "Orange" SS hype ive seen out there, this amp is what it is, it is a very low wattage, solid state amp, with an 8 inch speaker. It lives at apartment volume levels only, nothing more. It has no headroom, no way even turned all the way up could you play with a drummer just FYI. I would like to try a higher watt version with a 12 inch speaker. What it is good for is very low volume practice. The gain is ok as cheap solid state amps go, not the worst by any stretch, but nothing special either, where it shined for me is with the gain about half, treble cut all the way out and with a Joyo tube screamer in front of it, with that I got some really good early late 70s/early 80s Marshally tones out of it at "FM radio turned down" volume levels.. ala ... MoreOverall:Ignore the "Orange" SS hype ive seen out there, this amp is what it is, it is a very low wattage, solid state amp, with an 8 inch speaker. It lives at apartment volume levels only, nothing more. It has no headroom, no way even turned all the way up could you play with a drummer just FYI. I would like to try a higher watt version with a 12 inch speaker. What it is good for is very low volume practice. The gain is ok as cheap solid state amps go, not the worst by any stretch, but nothing special either, where it shined for me is with the gain about half, treble cut all the way out and with a Joyo tube screamer in front of it, with that I got some really good early late 70s/early 80s Marshally tones out of it at "FM radio turned down" volume levels.. ala apartment practice. Overall it seems well made except for one issue, for some reason they used a plastic panel on the part of the back with the on switch and you can actually feel it bending in just pushing the power cable into it, SHM at that. That's why I'm only giving it 4 instead of 5 stars

Excellent headphone option, value depends on your price

I bought the Orange Crush 20RT as the first amp for myself and my 11 yo. After practicing daily for 2 months, I have a pretty clear idea about what I like and dislike about this one and where I will go next. Yeah, I know I cannot get a JSM 800 sound at home :)The Crush 20 is a great value practice/beginner amp because of its outstanding headphone functionality which is what I use chiefly. With a good beginner guitar in the 400-700$ range, this is all I feel I need to get started. Great clean tones for a person with heavy tastes (with a Shecter Omen 6). Distorted tone is very nice at the right settings. I like the tuner. I cannot say that the reverb even works. Hard to tell a difference (I got an open box amp so that mighty be why).Here are the limits:1/ The ... MoreI bought the Orange Crush 20RT as the first amp for myself and my 11 yo. After practicing daily for 2 months, I have a pretty clear idea about what I like and dislike about this one and where I will go next. Yeah, I know I cannot get a JSM 800 sound at home :)The Crush 20 is a great value practice/beginner amp because of its outstanding headphone functionality which is what I use chiefly. With a good beginner guitar in the 400-700$ range, this is all I feel I need to get started. Great clean tones for a person with heavy tastes (with a Shecter Omen 6). Distorted tone is very nice at the right settings. I like the tuner. I cannot say that the reverb even works. Hard to tell a difference (I got an open box amp so that mighty be why).Here are the limits:1/ The gain is worthless IMO beyond 60% or so. It is just noise after that. It is also worthless under 9 o'clock or so. You are really looking at 10 to 1 o'clock.2/ The speaker is, obviously 8" and it sounds like it. I don't think there is any way around this.3/ All in all, the normal use sound is not as nice as the headphone emulated 4x12 sound. It is okay.4/ The clean channel needs to be used above 9 o'clock; the sound does not "come alive" at the lowest settings.Having learned a lot more, I have no gripes having paid for an open box Crush 20 RT. But at full price, you have to pitch this against the Blackstar HT 1R tiny but good tube amp and I am not sure how the Crush 20RT will win that 200 vs 330$ comparo. If you prefer modelling, the Katana is not that much pricier than the Crush either at about 270. For a beginner, it offers a lot more to explore.I thought the Orange might help one learn to do without modelling but it is only good for that on the headphones output. The speaker is too limiting for that.This is why I am giving it 4 stars. Its value depends a lot on how much you really pay for it.If I go for the Blackstar HT1, which also has an 8" speaker, I will sell the Crush. If I go for the HT5, I might keep the Crush for the distinctive Orange tone via headphones.If I needed an amp to play with others or to others, I would surely look at a minimum of 10" speaker, but preferably 12".

Great Quality & Sound for the price

Cost £100.The cabinet is actually trimmed in orange 'tolex' & black piping, no fakeness or orange plastics, looks really good quality all around. Control knobs very smooth & very even adjustment of volume/gain/eq.Clean channel is warm, plenty of lows a nd sounds great.Dirty channel has loads of range from almost clean, slight breakup, crunch, distortion and high gain, loads of great tones. Dirty channel can go very loud also! Enough for an open mic or small gig.Only criticism is that it might of been better to put the gain knob next to the dirty channel volume (its only used for the dirty channel, yet it's at the opposite end next to the clean channel volume)Budget practice amps didn't used to sound this good!

Great amp for small spaces and practicing

Having been messing around with an acoustic for far too many years I decided to treat myself to an electric, and started the search for an amp. I had a few options but went with the Crush 20RT and haven't regretted it.For its size the sound quality is great, and the eq controls allow you to get a nice range of distinct tones. Having the dirty volume away from the gain dial takes some getting used to, but isn't a deal-breaker, and if you find the rather small switch to swap between clean and dirty channels a bit fiddly, you can pick up a foot switch which connects nicely on the back of the amp.Built in reverb is nice, but if you are big on using reverb I'd imagine you'd want to get a dedicated pedal. Tuner seems hit and miss, and again more accurate results will be ... MoreHaving been messing around with an acoustic for far too many years I decided to treat myself to an electric, and started the search for an amp. I had a few options but went with the Crush 20RT and haven't regretted it.For its size the sound quality is great, and the eq controls allow you to get a nice range of distinct tones. Having the dirty volume away from the gain dial takes some getting used to, but isn't a deal-breaker, and if you find the rather small switch to swap between clean and dirty channels a bit fiddly, you can pick up a foot switch which connects nicely on the back of the amp.Built in reverb is nice, but if you are big on using reverb I'd imagine you'd want to get a dedicated pedal. Tuner seems hit and miss, and again more accurate results will be obtained via a stand alone product. Both good features to have, especially as a starter amp.Overall, highly recommended!

Orange crush 20RT: loud, but sounds great.

This is definitely the best sounding practice amp I've ever used. The gain channel has several different levels of gain, all sound great. Anywhere from a slightly crunchy overdrive sound to sizzling distortion. I've never had an amp this size handle metal tones so well. The clean channel handles distortion pedals well and maintains the tone of the amp, and if you wanna add a little something extra, putting an overdrive in front of the dirty channel really pushes the mids through. All very impressive for an 8 inch speaker. The big downside to this amp... is that its deceptively loud. At bedroom volume, it sounds kinda like a shoebox. but bump the volume knob even just a little bit and the full, rich tone punches you in the face, far too loud for playing in an ... MoreThis is definitely the best sounding practice amp I've ever used. The gain channel has several different levels of gain, all sound great. Anywhere from a slightly crunchy overdrive sound to sizzling distortion. I've never had an amp this size handle metal tones so well. The clean channel handles distortion pedals well and maintains the tone of the amp, and if you wanna add a little something extra, putting an overdrive in front of the dirty channel really pushes the mids through. All very impressive for an 8 inch speaker. The big downside to this amp... is that its deceptively loud. At bedroom volume, it sounds kinda like a shoebox. but bump the volume knob even just a little bit and the full, rich tone punches you in the face, far too loud for playing in an apartment at 10pm. Kinda defeats the point of buying a small practice amp. The clean channel is even louder than the dirty channel. I'm not knocking off any stars from my review for this however, because it has a headphone jack that actually imitates the speaker response quite well. So if you wanna play this amp late at night, plug in some headphones or you'll wake up the neighbors. The only practice amp I've ever liked more was the old marshall valvestate, and those are hard to find these days, so this little amp fills that void well.

Probably the best bedroom amp i've ever played.

I can't believe an amp that sounds this good is less than $200. The 8" speaker is the best speaker i've ever heard of that size and has a surprising amount of low end. The amp has that signature Orange fuzzy crunchiness that clearly defines every note, which I personally love for big distorted chords.It will do any genre, including metal. With a tube screamer in the front, it chugs and sounds super heavy. It took a little EQ tweaking to find the right tone, but the 3-band EQ is super simple and responsive so it was not difficult to do so. The built-in reverb also sounds super good.And best of all for me, it sounds punchy and thick at very low volumes. I live in an apartment and keeping good tone at bedroom volumes is a breeze. Plus, the amp is super small and ... MoreI can't believe an amp that sounds this good is less than $200. The 8" speaker is the best speaker i've ever heard of that size and has a surprising amount of low end. The amp has that signature Orange fuzzy crunchiness that clearly defines every note, which I personally love for big distorted chords.It will do any genre, including metal. With a tube screamer in the front, it chugs and sounds super heavy. It took a little EQ tweaking to find the right tone, but the 3-band EQ is super simple and responsive so it was not difficult to do so. The built-in reverb also sounds super good.And best of all for me, it sounds punchy and thick at very low volumes. I live in an apartment and keeping good tone at bedroom volumes is a breeze. Plus, the amp is super small and light so I can easily move it between rooms.For the price, i'd say there isn't really anything worth complaining about. This thing is a steal. I would like to have an effects loop like on the 35RT, but it's something I can live without. I almost bought the 35RT, but there was something about the speaker on the 20RT that I preferred; It seems like it has more of an aggressive tone with distorted playing.

The best bang for your buck for guitar amps out there.

I use this for quick and easy practicing on the go. With the built in reverb and chromatic tuner, I use no additional pedals to keep it simple. The gain can be dialed in from light amp breakup, to overdrive, up to saturated fuzz distortion. The tuner is accurate and since it's chromatic, I can drop tune and switch back quick and easy. I like the reverb. I keep it low for added depth and fatness. Having mid control gives me more sculpting abilities than other comparably priced amps. I appreciate that it's analog solid state and not a digital modeling amp. I've played those before and just prefer not to. I would recommend this amp to every beginning guitarist. Start off simple. Learn what an amp can do before you go nuts on high end amps, gig sized wattage or mega ... MoreI use this for quick and easy practicing on the go. With the built in reverb and chromatic tuner, I use no additional pedals to keep it simple. The gain can be dialed in from light amp breakup, to overdrive, up to saturated fuzz distortion. The tuner is accurate and since it's chromatic, I can drop tune and switch back quick and easy. I like the reverb. I keep it low for added depth and fatness. Having mid control gives me more sculpting abilities than other comparably priced amps. I appreciate that it's analog solid state and not a digital modeling amp. I've played those before and just prefer not to. I would recommend this amp to every beginning guitarist. Start off simple. Learn what an amp can do before you go nuts on high end amps, gig sized wattage or mega pedal boards. If you like your guitar, this amp has everything you need to sound great. The only thing this is missing is an effects loop, which the 35RT has. I own one of those too and keep that set up in my studio at home. I also own an Orange Crush 100 Bass amp, so yeah, I back Orange. #sweepstakes

Wolf In Sheeps Clothing.

I purchased this out of necessity and I was not disappointed. Ive strictly been a Marshall user for several years but I needed something easier to load than a Marshall half stack. Ive always liked the way Oranges sound/looked but I had never played through one. One day on a whim I pulled the Trigger on the Crush20 and Im glad I did, Crystal cleans and saturated soaked gain. I was blown away by how loud it was, how great it sounds and the construction is top notch. Very versatile, Glassy cleans, Necro sounding Black Metal, Every Electric Wizard song you can think of. It does it all. My only complaint is the lack of built in Reverb (Essential for me), looking back I shouldve went with the Crush 20RT. Definitely not a deal breaker though. Id absolutely recommend this ... MoreI purchased this out of necessity and I was not disappointed. Ive strictly been a Marshall user for several years but I needed something easier to load than a Marshall half stack. Ive always liked the way Oranges sound/looked but I had never played through one. One day on a whim I pulled the Trigger on the Crush20 and Im glad I did, Crystal cleans and saturated soaked gain. I was blown away by how loud it was, how great it sounds and the construction is top notch. Very versatile, Glassy cleans, Necro sounding Black Metal, Every Electric Wizard song you can think of. It does it all. My only complaint is the lack of built in Reverb (Essential for me), looking back I shouldve went with the Crush 20RT. Definitely not a deal breaker though. Id absolutely recommend this to anyone trying to have a dependable practice amp and even for little jam sessions. Well worth the money.