Linking 2 TC Electronics RH450's

[gmcelroy]

I am looking for a backup to my RH450 and may consider another RH450 after reading the following in its manual but I'm not sure exactly what it means by "even more power"...how would this work to provice more power?

RH450 Manual:
Linking Two Amps
The break point may also be used to link two RH450 units
together to achieve even more power.
– Use a standard ¼" jack instrument cable to connect the first
RH450 PRE-AMP OUT (the upper) to the second RH450’s
POWER-AMP IN (the lower jack).
– Plug your bass into the INPUT jack on the first RH450 and
adjust your sound using the controls on this RH450.
– Set the volume using the MASTER volume knobs of both
amps. You now have tons of amplification power at your
fingertips!

 

[JimmyM]

Unless I'm missing something, you'd need to buy a second cab to pull it off.

 

[PhatRon]

I have one for sale or trade. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f127/tc-rh-450-fs-ft-892983/
Linking the two does work quite well but as Jimmy said, it's for when you need to drive more cabs.

 

[gmcelroy]

I have 2 RS210 cabs but what specifically does linking the 2 amps together do?

 

[René_Julien]

Unless I'm missing something, you'd need to buy a second cab to pull it off.

My assumption as well.

OP,

I think it means:
You use the extra RH450 as a slave amp. (... as a poweramp, without using its preamp.)
You plug your bass into the first RH450 and connect on or two cabinets to the power output.
You then take the preamp out signal (break point TCE calls it appearantly), with a standard 1/4 cable connect it to the poweramp input of the extra RH450. (which means bypassing the extra's preamp).
You can then hook up one ore two extra cabinets to the extra RH450.
So you have two rigs, sharing the same preamp (the same input).
And a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 cabs to hook up.

 

[bassguppy]

linking two RH450's together should easily give you about 450 watts.









you'd be using the 2nd RH450 as a slave as stated before.

 

[gmcelroy]

Thanks for the info!

OK...so, right now I'm using one RH450 w/ 2 RS210 cabs.... would linking the 2 RH450's running 1 RS210 cab each give me a "perceived" louder volume output or would it be the about the same?

 

[RickenBoogie]

With the same 2 2x10's, you'd gain nothing. But, with 2 more 2x10's, it'd be significantly louder.

 

[bassguppy]

With the same 2 2x10's, you'd gain nothing. But, with 2 more 2x10's, it'd be significantly louder.

this.

 

[gmcelroy]

With the same 2 2x10's, you'd gain nothing. But, with 2 more 2x10's, it'd be significantly louder.

That's what I needed to know!

 

[René_Julien]

Thanks for the info!

OK...so, right now I'm using one RH450 w/ 2 RS210 cabs.... would linking the 2 RH450's running 1 RS210 cab each give me a "perceived" louder volume output or would it be the about the same?

Yes and no. But mostly no and a tiny bit of yes.

You will be able to give more watts to the each cabs when running them at an 8ohm load from a each single RH450. Compared to daisy-chained both cabs at 4 ohm at only one head.

I doubt you will notice any perceived louder volume. (In fact I'm sure of it.) It would not be worth it to carry around an extra RH450 for what you want to achieve.
Ar you running out of headroom with those 2 cabs now?

My advice, you need bigger cabs if your rig isn't loud enough.
(Or more cabs if you are going with two RH450's linked.)

 

[René_Julien]

linking two RH450's together should easily give you about 450 watts.

I had something along those lines in my first post. But I edited it out.

Keep that can of worms closed.



But yours was also my initial response.

 

[mikeswals]

In laymens terms, you can use two amps when you have too many speaker cabs for one head to handle. One serves as the master so you only adjust one set of controls, and the 2nd head is only using the power section. But since you only have two 8ohm cabs, you're gaining nothing.

Or, if you want to run a stereo rig, where one would be clean tone, and the other loaded with distortion or effects. You'd use a splitter box or pedal and go into the front input of each head. Then you control or eq each head differently.

 

[gmcelroy]

It would not be worth it to carry around an extra RH450 for what you want to achieve.
Ar you running out of headroom with those 2 cabs now?

My advice, you need bigger cabs if your rig isn't loud enough.
(Or more cabs if you are going with two RH450's linked.)

Headroom is fine however I'm looking into getting another RH450 to use as a backup since I'm playing out quite a bit and has just happened to notice the linking 2 amps together part in the manual!

 

[René_Julien]

Headroom is fine however I'm looking into getting another RH450 to use as a backup since I'm playing out quite a bit and has just happened to notice the linking 2 amps together part in the manual!

It's a good thing to inquire about this. Never hurts to ask a question.

If you like the amp I think it's a good idea to get an extra one as a backup.
But don't use them togheter as you intended. You gain nothing but complicate your setup unnecessary.

Caca de Kick gave a good clearer explanation:

In laymens terms, you can use two amps when you have too many speaker cabs for one head to handle. One serves as the master so you only adjust one set of controls, and the 2nd head is only using the power section. But since you only have two 8ohm cabs, you're gaining nothing.

Or, if you want to run a stereo rig, where one would be clean tone, and the other loaded with distortion or effects. You'd use a splitter box or pedal and go into the front input of each head. Then you control or eq each head differently.

 

[Rick Auricchio]

+1 to Rene's comment about not linking them.

Consider a scenario where the power line delivers a nasty jolt and damages the amp. The whole idea of having a backup is nullified if you have both amps running at once.

At least if one dies, the other wasn't connected at the time. (You'd still have to decide whether to trust the power line to safely run the backup, but at least you don't lose two amps at once!)

 

[mtb777]

Yeah but you can 3 cabs with one head so you should be able to go up to 6 cabs! Stacks of 2x10's and 2x12's?

 

[gmcelroy]

Yeah but you can 3 cabs with one head so you should be able to go up to 6 cabs! Stacks of 2x10's and 2x12's?

That's what i'm thinking...now if only I can figure out a way to get a couple of 2x12's to pair up with my 2x10's past my wife!

 

[PhatRon]

It would be good way to add a nice 4 ohm cab to your 2-210's also. Like a nice 4 ohm 410 if you ever get in a situation where an 810 would be sweet. or 212 for that matter.

 

[mtb777]

You could split the stacks on either side of the drummer for a stereo effect or run one stack with effects or distortion with the other cleaner for some distinctive sounds!