The Peavey has to go..help me pick a replacement!

I've had my Peavey Max 700 for almost 1 year now. It's my first bass head and its served me well. I wanna get rid of it because of its weight and size. If the tone was incredible, then I could deal with the weight. I mean, the tone is good but not really good enough to make me forget about the weight/size issue.

Here's what I am looking for -

-Something that goes down to 2 ohms (I currently have a 4 ohm cab and plan on adding a 2nd one in the future)
-Lots of headroom
-Lighter and smaller than my current head
-I like some grit/overdrive in my tone..not too much, but some would be nice when cranking the gain.

The music I play is mostly Alternative/Hard Rock. I play a 5 string active Spector.

Any recommendations for a bass head that would meet my needs and would pair nicely with a Schroeder 1212R? I'm open to new ideas, and would not rule out a pre/power set up.

Lets say for around $1500 or under?

 

I actually just ordered a Tech21 Sansamp BDDI the other day.
I will try running it through my effects return to see what this sounds like. I'm not sure I am understanding completely why you run it through the effects loop though instead of plugging it right into the input. Are you by-passing the pre-amp by using the effects return?

Good call on the Mesa Big Block 750. I was actually considering that one.

 

Bump!
Any other recommendations?

So far I have heard Mesa Big Block 750, which I actually tried yesterday and liked very much.

Any others?

 

Yes I have tried a Yorkville XS800.
Wasn't too crazy about it - it was hissier and noisier than my Peavey. The tube overdrive channel was godawful. Other than that it had solid construction and it was very light compared to the Peavey. The biggest upset was that it produced less power at 2 ohms VS 4 ohms.

I took a look at that Genz Benz 750 online. Looks like a great head, too bad I won't get to try one..nobody around here carries Genz Benz.

Thanks for the help.