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Worth it?

N

Noctune

Nov 16, 2011
27
0
#1
Im upgrading my rig im selling everything and starting fresh gonna get some actual "pro" gear which is light weight but load, budget isn't a problem soo I was thinking of getting this: the TC Elentronic classic 450 head with the matching 2x12 cab, well 2 of them.
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Thoughts?
 
#5
I just looked on the TC website and it does say it'l only put out 236W you are correct it'd obviously be enough power behind it to gig with and definitely DI record with in a studio. Going back to gigging with it, would the 2x12 be enough for it? I've always gigged with either a 4x10 or an 8x10, I'm downsizing thats why I was looking at TC due to size and weight.
 
#6
I would steer clear of those TCE heads. I mean, if you dont care how much they cost and you don't need much power/volume, I guess they're fine. But if you're thinking you need 4x12s, 236w probably isn't going to cut it for you.

For light heads, a lot of guys like the Genz Benz stuff. I've only used it a bit in stores, but it sounds pretty good. They also have a variety of cabs, including a pretty light 2x12 (and maybe a 4x12, but I don't remember).

I can't imagine the GB stuff would be more than the TCE stuff, and you would actually get the amount of watts you are paying for, etc... along with great tone. You said you want "pro" gear, to me, the TCE stuff isn't, GB is.
 
#7
You're going to find a lot of conflicting opinions on this amp and the cabs to some degree. You probably know that "more speakers = more cone area = better sound dispersion" which often leads to louder perceived volume. IME a larger cabinet has meant deeper lows and a rounder sound to the whole rig. If you're going for smaller cabs, I would say that something ported is going to help make up for that. If you want the TC's, that's cool, but don't let yourself get suckered into the "my cabs have to match my head" trap...sometimes it's better to mix.

There are a LOT of great micro heads out there in the price range of that TC you mentioned. GK's MB500/MB Fusion 500, Orange Terror Bass 500, Ampeg PF-500 Portaflex, Carvin BX500, Markbass Little Mark 800/Tube, Eden WTX500, Aguilar Tonehammer 500, and the list goes on. All of these are fine heads and are considered "pro" equipment by most of us here. If the you fall out of the love with the tone, you may want to consider something that will have good resale value. Many of the heads I just mentioned will have no problem selling on here if you wanted to part with them.

If money is truly no object, I'd get a Peavey VB-3. It's a 300w all-tube amp with features all over the place and only weighs about 35lbs, which is micro weight for an all-tuber. At $1,800 USD it will set you back a pretty penny.
 
#8
Hey, Rocco Prestia was playing a TC rig with Tower Of Power a couple weeks ago and nobody complained, but I'm not into their business model of just making up numbers. They are doing the right thing now, but they didn't confess till they got busted on it. There are other ways of getting SVT-like sound out of a micro that don't use digital emulation or compression tricks like the TC to work. Pardon the blatant plug but Ampeg's got a few ;)
 
#10
jungleheat said:
I would steer clear of those TCE heads. I mean, if you dont care how much they cost and you don't need much power/volume, I guess they're fine. But if you're thinking you need 4x12s, 236w probably isn't going to cut it for you.
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Wrong. Very wrong. Watts is not a measure of volume. Those who have tried the TC heads know that volume is one area where they certainly are not lacking. And, before the 236W issue became public, I don't recall a single person complaining the heads lacked power. Listen with your ears, not with the specs. Regarding price, the Classic 450 is a bargain. The RH450/750 have a far greater feature set which justifies the price if those features are of use. If not, and you don't want to pay for them, stick with the Classic 450.

Saying all that, the TC gear is lighter than traditional gear, but not really lightweight. I'll second the suggestion for the Aguilar SL112's if you want decent sound in a truly light weight package.
 
#12
A friend of mine who's using the head in question says its plenty loud enough and the 236W rating on the website is the amount through a 8 Ohm cabinet and its the full power through a 4 Ohm cabinet, so it just depends on what Ohmage cabinet I'm using with it.
 
#13
I've mentioned this a lot lately, but if you want a powerful cab, a 215 w/Kappa Lite 3015s/Faital Pro 15PR400s or Kappa Lite 3015LFs will blow away anything else. Add a midrange driver or two and/or a super tweeter & horn if you like. Or alternatively do two 115s or 15/6s if you want.
 
#14
4StringsEnough said:
Wrong. Very wrong. Watts is not a measure of volume. Those who have tried the TC heads know that volume is one area where they certainly are not lacking.
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It's not the complete measure of volume, but it is a large component. You act like watts can just be removed from the equation. They can't. With all else being equal, more watts=more volume (to the point that the rest of the system can handle it).

So as an example, if you had a 500w amp and a pair of cabs, then you switched to the TCE amp, yes, you are going to have at least 3db less headroom, which isn't a lot, but it can make the necessary difference in a lot of situations. TCE amps "sound loud". That's it. To do that they use unnatural amounts of compression, low end filtering, etc... So in other words to even get as loud as they can (which is not that much), they have to totally change your tone. If you like that tone, so be it, but you're still never going to be as loud as a regular 500w amp. And guess what, with my 500w amp, I can go ahead and add unnatural amounts of compression, and then get even louder.

But I dont like having all that "baked in" garbage. I mean, fine, if you run your bass through an LA-2A or something, that's one thing. But a bunch of (expensive) digital processing just to make it "sound" loud when you can just buy an ACTUAL loud amp for next to nothing these days just seems entirely pointless. At that point might as well just get a Line6 and have access to a bunch of different digitally processed sounds.

StraightSix said:
Two 212 cabs will provide around four times the volume of one 212 cab with the same wattage input.

I gigged for 10 years in a loud rock band with 250W - no problem anywhere.
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So wait, adding another identical cabinet gives you 20db of extra output? Now I understand where all the "don't mix speaker cabs" people are coming from!

No, the actual number is 3db. You get 3db from doubling your speakers. That means going from 1 to 2, from 2 to 4, 4 to 8, etc... You might get 2 more db from lowering the impedence.

And I'm guessing when you were in your "loud rock band" you had a whole pile of speakers to put that 250w through to make it work.

Noctune said:
A friend of mine who's using the head in question says its plenty loud enough and the 236W rating on the website is the amount through a 8 Ohm cabinet and its the full power through a 4 Ohm cabinet, so it just depends on what Ohmage cabinet I'm using with it.
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No, 236 is all there is to be had in that head. Believe me, if TCE is going to claim they have a 450w amp that is really only 236, they damn sure are going to post the highest actual wattage on their site if the 4ohm number is higher than 236.


I just don't understand why anyone would want to have a bunch of expensive digital processing, just to make up for having more actual watts which are extremely cheap and light these days. CHEAP digital processing I understand. Expensive digital processing for effects, etc... I understand. But expensive digital processing for power generation? Makes zero sense.
 
#16
+1 for jungleheat. Plus I like to decide if I want compression and filtering out of lows below 60 hz, and I don't want the amp to make that decision for me. Take any 240w amp on the market, add compression and filter out lows below 60hz, and you can make any 240w amp sound as loud as the TC.
 
#17
Speaker wise isn't a problem I already own a 8x10 and 4x10, the two 2x12 cabinets were for a change to scenery tbh, so is this head worth it or not? I've found one at half the retail price thats what got me interested in TC to start with.
 
#19
Noctune said:
A friend of mine who's using the head in question says its plenty loud enough and the 236W rating on the website is the amount through a 8 Ohm cabinet and its the full power through a 4 Ohm cabinet, so it just depends on what Ohmage cabinet I'm using with it.
Click to expand...

"Long term" power output at 8ohms is 225 watts. Whatever that is supposed to explain. That is from their web site AFTER BassGear Mag. tests.
 
#20
Haters gonna hate.
I love mine. It sounds awesome and has better features then probably any other amps out there. And it is very loud. I know it compresses the peaks to get that loud. But there is an article in the Bass gear magazine after the one that outed the 450, that says you can't even hear short burst peaks.
 

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