New TC BAM200 micro head.

Gnome?

 

You can tell Behringer have bought TC and are doing their thing of just copying what else is out there.

I like that the ground lift is a proper switch though.

 

It is going to compete with the Trace Elliot Elf and 208 cabinet I think
But I really doubt their power can be real 200 watt, or 200W is just the peak power. I really worry that when it is driving some big cab like 210 or 115 or 410 at a high volume, the sound quality will get worse

 

I was wondering the same..

 

The BQ and the BH has been fine in terms of the watts claimed. There’s no real reason to be sceptical. In any case, we’ll find out soon.
The amp won’t have anything on the Elf. But the cab is a bit lower weight. Not much.

 

Mine arrived.

The good news: it's a well-built amp that sounds good and is TINY.

The bad news: it's, well, a 50W amp.



The included spec sheet states that it pulls 60W from the wall, but does not list output power. Wait, is it a perpetual motion machine? Where is "200W" coming from? The description contains the phrase "200W max". Oh no, I see now: it's rated at "max power". Divide by 4, and you have 50W RMS.

In terms of tone, it's extremely flat in a good way. The EQ is usable. I don't think it has an aggressive highpass, but it feels a tad bass-shy, and the fundamental starts to disappear below low E. (Which suggests they're trying to avoid sucking too much energy into the fundamental in order to get more perceived volume with the available power.) It also feels like the input reacts nonlinearly to transients, in what I'd consider a musical way, and it will definitely clip in a fuzzy, non-musical way if you push it into clipping (there's a light)--maybe that's the FET preamp? There's a fairly transparent limiter on the output, and it responds well to being pushed hard.

It feels a bit louder than I'd expect from a 50W amp, so clearly they are using the output limiter and tone shaping effectively to get the most out of it. But... there's no free lunch here.

So, it's not really what anyone would in good conscience call a 200W amp, but it's good, and may still be usable as a backup amp simply because of how good the output limiter is.

I have to admit I'm a tiny bit disappointed in TC though.

 

That's a great review. As far as the input power though, that's typically often 1/8th of the peak some power. That is how TC labels their other amps, as well as many other manufacturers. If you look at the back of the Trace Elliot Elf for instance, it only consumes 30 Watts.

You are surely right about how it handles transients. All that tube sound marketing by TC-E is referring to what is basically a built in tube-type compression. There's a paper that TC put out several years ago explaining how it works and the theory behind it. I'll post a link if I can find it.

Edit: Changed post as I'm not sure that this method is necessarily "typical," and, while TC uses an 1/8th of "max power" for the BH250 for example, I'm not sure other manufacturers are max vs RMS vs something else. But it's an 1/8th of something!

 

tekhedd, did you get a chance to use it with a 5-string? If you do, let us know how it handles a low B. I can't imagine it would have any issues, but that would tell us a little more about any HPF and the actual power handling.

 

Here is the TC document on power ratings and what they call Active Power Management. I don't know for sure that this applies to the BAM200, but based on the specs and reviews, it certainly sounds like it applies.

http://cdn-downloads.tcelectronic.c...mp_power_rating___active_power_management.pdf

As for real world usefulness, I'm interpreting the 200 Watt rating as more or less a program power rating. That's fine with me because that's what I assume a power rating is (on bass amps, anyway) unless they specifically state RMS.

 

I got to try one out last night at a rehearsal.

Flat is a good way to describe the tone. Probably good if you're using it as a pedal platform. Not so much to my liking, plugging straight in, though. Sounded kind of dull to me.

The EQ worked very well, more than some other micro amps I've tried.

It was a bit quieter than I expected from playing other amps in the same category that claim 200w into the same speaker.

Also, it got warmer than I was expecting. Not to the point I thought something was wrong with it, but right on the edge between 'warm' and 'hot' after an hour of playing with both the gain and master at 12:00. It was sitting on top of another amp that was not plugged in, and I made sure it had good air circulation.

 

Well, I mostly play detuned 5's, but TBH I didn't say because I can't decide for sure. My first instinct is to say "yes it has a highpass at 35-40Hz", but it still sounds like the fundamental's there. Sort of. It's just that the fundamental seems a bit weak below E, and the transients disappear. It sounds like bass is there, but I think it goes psychoacoustic on the B string. Something tricky is happening there. Maybe I'm partially imagining it just because I'm expecting tube amp harmonics and transients.

I mean, it sounds good, but it's not going to be my first choice for country gigs.


As far as power is concerned, there's no question that it's really only a 50W RMS amp, but they do make the absolute most of it.

Interesting, reading the document shows that they've done exactly what it sounds like: they've effectively added a mastering rig to the bass amp's power section, making it sound louder on average at the expense of attack transients and peaks, masking the effect with harmonic content. And maybe some other undisclosed standard maximizer tricks as well? That explains a lot about the TC bass amp sound, they're a bit overmastered already. But hey still makes a great backup rig.

 

Literally every Class D amp is like this.

 

Obviously it can't be an, er, well, one of those things that you find on the shelf at Christmas...

 

lol too true! The only real difference between them is exactly how they manage the lack of headroom. But they make nice backup amps for when yet another tube blows.

 

Basically it's a practice or really low volume gig amp. I have the GK MB200 and it's definitely 200w. I've done full volume gigs with it in a 9pc horn band. I believe that TC is designed to be exactly what it is. It's cheap and good for beginners and for folks who do really quiet acoustic type gigs.

 

So I have the GK MB200 and the Elf head and to me the Elf is significantly louder than the MB200. Perhaps its an EQ/Compression trickery but the Elf is much louder. BTW I love GK so to keep my comments in context.

 

The good news is that it's half as loud as a 500W amp. The bad news is that it won't be enough if the guitar player has more than 10W.

 

The G-K's 200W is the peak power, while it cannot work at 200W all the time. G-K just names their amps with peak power, which I don'k like. I think it is a kind of cheating. And so as the MB-500 and 800
I don't know whether the TE Elf's 200W is a real 200W, in another word, the average power. The potential transformer in it had better supply more than 200W. And if it is true, that is one of the reasons why Elf sounds louder. While, another reason is TE use more sensitive speaker.
And the 30W written in the back, I asked the official dealer in my country, China, and he/she said it is the lowest power it costs. I don't really believe that dealer cuz he/she kept advertising me to buy something which make him/herself like a idiot.
Maybe I can e-mail the Peavey official about the question.

 

I just got mine last week and used it at a regular gig. I have a 2x10 and 1x15, both Neo and 8 ohms. That gives me 4 ohms with them in parallel, as I normally run them. To my surprise, the BAM200 kept up with the guitar player and drummer. To qualify how loud this might be, we are in our 50's, play respectfully per the level the club owners require and we play dynamically as we are all seasoned professionals. We play classic rock and some dance stuff. The guitar player and I usually wear ear plugs so we are not playing at "low" volume...after all, we do play Led Zep and VH in the last set! It's a keeper and makes for a very usable back-up, which is why I bought it in the first place. My normal amp is a Kustom KXB500...just as a point of reference.

Yes, I do run pedals; Tuner->Compressor->Overdrive->Chorus->SA Bass DI->Amp. The Compressor is always on but has a blend control set at 12 o'clock so its not all squished. The overdrive and chorus are used on and off depending on the tune, the SA DI is always on. Everything is set for unity gain so nothing is "boosting" level above the dry.

BTW - I measured the output power at 4 ohms and 8 ohms on the bench. It does have a limiter so you cannot "statically" measure 200W into the 4 ohm load (or 100W into 8 ohms). This is typical of a power amp with a limiter. It also has soft clipping so that tends to make it sound a little warmer at full power. The EQ, when all knobs are at 12 o'clock, is not "flat". There is a gentle mid dip in the response that can be easily removed by running the mid control above 12 o'clock a bit.

IMPORTANT! - The power consumption on the back of the amp can NOT be used as a measure of the audio power output because the regulatory agencies do not require disclosure of the MAXIMUM power consumption at rated output power. This number is usually reported based on a lower power output such as one eighth power.

I wish I could compare this to the Trace ELF but unless I get one gifted to me that's not gonna happen! Lol! I really like this little amp and will likely use it as a back-up or maybe even for pick-up gigs! Well worth the money spent! I am not associated with TC Electronic in any way, just a happy customer.