| Dude, welcome, I am new hear as well and have been getting back into playing more bass (I too have been playing too much guitar the past few years.) At any rate, I recently updated much of my gear. For years I played a Gallien Krueger 800RB through a 4x10" cab. Great rig, but heavy as hell. And as I have gotten older, lightweight is key to me. So now I am using a Gallien Krueger MB200 (super simple setup, plenty of power to compete with a moderate drummer and 2 guitars) and a lightweight 1x15" cab ( I would tell you the make and model, but the company is not one I would ever deal with again...Dr...). My total rig weight is under 45lbs and sounds stellar. For practice I have a 1x10" cab that I use with the MB200, and it is plenty loud (and that rig weighs 30lbs, until I switch out the speaker for a nice Neo, then it will be closer to 25lbs). So there you go. I have always used heads and cabs because I like the versatility.
For about $500, you could get a MB200 and a decent 2x10" cab, or 1x15" cab that would not be too heavy. If you have a little more scratch, I would go with an MB200 and an Avatar 2x10 (total cost would be about $650 depending on cab options).
-P | 
