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TC Electronics RH 450 and RH 750 reliability?

B

belaville

Sep 4, 2008
11
0
Nashville, Tn 37217
#1
Has anybody had any reliability issues with either the RH450 or RH750? Just tried an RS212 yesterday and it sounded great but they only had a Markbass tube 800...which sounded great btw. It sounded better through the RS212 than the Markbass 4x10 tho...
Looking to get a new amp because my Carvin BX500 just died and I'm on my second one in a year and a half. The first one was on in my studio for maybe an hour and then all of a sudden started smoking...could've burnt my house down. They did replaced it! A year later and just out of warrenty they said it would cost $225.00 to fix it...Really, for a $500.00 amp...forget it! On my 5th SVT4 pro...the current one I had completely re-built for almost $500.00...they handed me a large bag of parts that were replace. Told me Ampeg was using a lot of cheap chinese parts which is why a lot of them go down...I don't get it? At least it's working fine now.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
 
#2
belaville said:
Has anybody had any reliability issues with either the RH450 or RH750? Just tried an RS212 yesterday and it sounded great but they only had a Markbass tube 800...which sounded great btw. It sounded better through the RS212 than the Markbass 4x10 tho...
Looking to get a new amp because my Carvin BX500 just died and I'm on my second one in a year and a half. The first one was on in my studio for maybe an hour and then all of a sudden started smoking...could've burnt my house down. They did replaced it! A year later and just out of warrenty they said it would cost $225.00 to fix it...Really, for a $500.00 amp...forget it! On my 5th SVT4 pro...the current one I had completely re-built for almost $500.00...they handed me a large bag of parts that were replace. Told me Ampeg was using a lot of cheap chinese parts which is why a lot of them go down...I don't get it? At least it's working fine now.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

You seem to have bad amp luck.

Have you thought of taking up acoustic bass or maybe a nice ukelele instead?
 
#7
Hey Dude, so You've got Amp trouble, huh? It seems like everything these day is made off shore. I've never heard of those Amps but I can tell You this, the best bang for the buck Amp I've ever owned was a GK 1001 RB2. I'm kicking Myself for getting rid of it. The Jury is out on Their Cabs because I was running custom builds but that Amp cranked! I screwed up and sold it because I wanted more warmth so I bought an Ampeg SVT 6 PRO. Although it's a discontinued model and its first issue Vietnam it songs warmer but it lacks the power that the GK does. Ampeg claims it's 1100watts at 4ohms but I doubt it. The GK is 700watts at 4ohms and it's louder then the Ampeg. Well that's My two cents so Good Luck!!!! LOL!
 
#8
low down shame said:
Hey Dude, so You've got Amp trouble, huh? It seems like everything these day is made off shore. I've never heard of those Amps but I can tell You this, the best bang for the buck Amp I've ever owned was a GK 1001 RB2. I'm kicking Myself for getting rid of it. The Jury is out on Their Cabs because I was running custom builds but that Amp cranked! I screwed up and sold it because I wanted more warmth so I bought an Ampeg SVT 6 PRO. Although it's a discontinued model and its first issue Vietnam it songs warmer but it lacks the power that the GK does. Ampeg claims it's 1100watts at 4ohms but I doubt it. The GK is 700watts at 4ohms and it's louder then the Ampeg. Well that's My two cents so Good Luck!!!! LOL!
Click to expand...

Wattage does not equal volume...Thus a 300w SVT being louder than a 700w GK and a 700w GK being louder than a 1100w SVT 6 Pro. Or in this case, and related to the OP, both the RH450 and RH750 which are output limited to 236w.
 
#13
Well CL400Peavey, that's constructive. All the Guy asked was what We thought of an Amp and suggestions. Nothing more. That's what I gave Him and I was humble enough not to talk down to Him. I agree with You, it's probably the voicing but I'm using the exact same custom cabs I was using with the GK.
 
#14
My Rh450 died on a gig 2 years ago. Kept turning off and I had to go direct. Took it in for service and was told nothing was wrong. Played it heavily (40-50 gigs, weekly jams, daily practice, etc) for another 2 years and never had another problem.

Pretty solid amp besides the one issue.... And that may have been a power issue at the venue.
 
#16
low down shame said:
Well, I'm waiting Mr Burning Skies?
Click to expand...

A dude has to go out and get some coffee on occasion. ; )

low down shame said:
So are You saying that the GK is more efficient then the Ampeg? Somewhat the way Speakers are with SPL? In other words a Speaker may have a higher wattage rating but because of the design be less efficient?
Click to expand...

There are a whole variety of factors that play into perceived volume, and Wattage is really just one of those. Voicing, as mentioned is a huge part. If you have an amp that naturally pushes the lows and not the mids as much, it will sound 'less loud' than an amp that emphasizes the mids. The human ear 'hears' the mids a lot more easily and naturally. Wattage is eaten up by producing extended lows that you may not end up hearing anyway. Then there's the question about the rating, at what level of distortion? Especially with Ampeg, where the amp is expected to have a 'dirty' sound, you can sometimes get a slightly higher wattage rating if you're aiming at having a bit more dirt in the sound. On top of that, the human ear hears any kind of 'distortion' whether its readily apparent or not as a sign of more volume...Because our ears naturally distort when presented with very loud sounds. Is there on board compression/limiting involved? In the case of the RH, that's a big part of the heads and why they're so loud, given their actual peak wattage of 236w. Most amps have some form of it happening, even if you don't see it. Of course, compression can very much make things 'sound loud'. That's part of tube amps and why people mistakenly talk about 'tube watts' its a combination of voicing, natural tube compression and a high level of harmonic distortion.
 
#18
low down shame said:
Well CL400Peavey, that's constructive. All the Guy asked was what We thought of an Amp and suggestions. Nothing more. That's what I gave Him and I was humble enough not to talk down to Him. I agree with You, it's probably the voicing but I'm using the exact same custom cabs I was using with the GK.
Click to expand...

That is the voicing of the amp. Its why TC claims their 236 watt amps "sound like 450 watts" That info was brought to the game by Fishheadjoe when he eluded to the fact that people should be informed on what they purchase, and how they are being marketed to. But lets not beat a dead horse, there are a thousand other threads here discussing TC products and how they are marketed.

To the OP's question on reliability you can have duds no matter what brand or make. If he likes the sound of the amp, then try it out.
 
#19
low down shame said:
I honestly think He got chased off because He initially couldn't get a straight answer. No one needs to hear that They need to take up another instrument.
Click to expand...

:eyebrow:

We're talking about someone who has 'killed' no less than 7 amps in recent memory. Either he has REALLY bad luck or a technical problem that hasn't been solved (or maybe even troubleshot).

There's more to this story beyond bad QC and no sense of humor.
 

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