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BH500 Upgrade?

N

nicko2711

Jan 11, 2008
9
0
West Midlands
#1
Hi,

For the last two years i've been using a TC BH500 with their BC410 and a BC212 cabs. We're starting to play larger venues now and at times when we're not using the house PA and our own PA, which is ok but not great, my sound seems to lose the quality of sound the louder i go. I have the master at 7 so i haven't got much headroom left and turning up even more doesn't make that much difference (TC power limiting thing). I'm thinking of upgrading and buying the RH750 and would appreciate everyone's thoughts.
 
#3
I understand what you are saying, it's more that the quality of the sound seems to suffer at high volume. I've read a lot about the TC stuff and that apparently they limit and compress the sound at the top end? I'm just thinking that if i've got more headroom in the amp then the sound will stay clearer at a higher volume. Don't know if that makes sense. Did consider another cab but don't really want another 4x10 to lug around. Had considered the RS210 or RS212 which both have a higher rating.
 
#5
Not that I am disagreeing with the other responses, But I think that the bottle neck to a better sound, in your case, is you cabinets. Having gigged a BH500 for almost 3 years, I can totally relate to your situation. But you don't seem to have as much of an issue with volume as you do the tone, at "higher" volumes. I found all that I needed when I got the right cabs. There is an even greater difference in quality of sound between the (TCE) BC and RS series cabinets than the price would suggest.
 
#9
I had a BH500 with two BC212s and had the same thing, at any decent volume the sound deteriorated badly and farted out, my conclusion was that the speakers were of a low budget quality and not high enough rating, each cab was only rated at 250 watts, they farted easily .
I would recommend selling the TC gear and buying something like a GB Streamliner 900 and Barefaced super twelve (or similar quality) I know its a big step up in quality but it is definitely worth the extra money,
 
#11
The streamliner is far superior to the BH500 as the price difference reflects .
I spent and lost a fair bit of money trying a few different rigs before I got this perfect one, sometimes the only way to get whats right is to push your budget higher, it saves money in the long run .
 
#14
Oh man, Graham was the BH500 & BC cabs number one fan when I was looking around for opinions of the head. His reviews where one of the main reasons I bought mine.

I was just about to pull the trigger on a BC210 because I’ve never really needed to full force of the 410 I got initially. I’ve never had the BH500 with the 410 above 3 or 4, I just liked having the 500watts in case one day I need to bring a bit of “thunder”. Now you guys are telling me it doesn’t thunder anyway.

Maybe I will offload the big rig and get the funky mini-ampeg. At least it looks cool, the BH500 is pretty ugly.

How does the PF500 (in your sig) compare to the BH500, Graham?
 
#16
I did indeed like the BH500 and BC212 rig, it could get some great sounds and had some great features but I found that during the period I had that rig our band progressed a lot and we started playing louder with an additional guitarist and the level I played at had to increase which is when I noticed the sound deteriorating, (speakers not head) when we were a trio (which we are now back to) it was a great rig .
I had a GKMB210 with an MB115 extension cab which also farted above moderate volume, the PF500 runs out of headroom, I guess 500 watts can only go so far .
The PF500 is my standby only head now, it sounds good and is easy to get a great tone without much fiddling, I have read the many reviews regarding its reliability so am not sure I would fully trust it as a main head .
 
#17
GRAHAM SG1 said:
I did indeed like the BH500 and BC212 rig, it could get some great sounds and had some great features but I found that during the period I had that rig our band progressed a lot and we started playing louder with an additional guitarist and the level I played at had to increase which is when I noticed the sound deteriorating, (speakers not head) when we were a trio (which we are now back to) it was a great rig .
I had a GKMB210 with an MB115 extension cab which also farted above moderate volume, the PF500 runs out of headroom, I guess 500 watts can only go so far .
The PF500 is my standby only head now, it sounds good and is easy to get a great tone without much fiddling, I have read the many reviews regarding its reliability so am not sure I would fully trust it as a main head .
Click to expand...
It's reassuring to know that it wasn't just me because i experienced exactly the same situation. Gigging the new rig tonight, can't wait!
 
#18
That Streamliner will be awesome, might be a good idea to keep the bass EQ under tabs a bit as they sound huge especially with the gain button selected, using the gain and volume together makes the EQ very musical, the 3 way mid freq switch is a brilliant tool and very useful .
Monster amp :D
 
#19
nicko2711 said:
Ok, so having done some internet research i think that i'm going to bite the bullet and go for the RS cabs. Question is do i go for the RS410, 600w @ 8ohm or 2 x RS210, 400w each @ 8ohm?
Click to expand...

Good choice, I'm really happy with RS's! I have gigged both RS410 and 210's. The RS410 is unbelieveable quality for the price, and I feel the RS210's are still a great deal too.

The 410 or 2x210 will both sound great and be about the same volume. The 8ohm 410 would draw less Watts from the amp than the two RS210's, but I have to admit I didn't notice a real difference in volume. The 210's are much more convenient however than the heavy 410, which is why I'm now using the 210's.
So I vote 2xRS210's, unless you need to be really terribly loud, then you can use two RS410's.
 

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