Would any of these work for me?

[erratick]

An option to consider:

Studio monitors/powered monitors. I play my bass into laptop a bunch using headphones. When I actually want to hear it over the air, I use a pair of small powered monitors designed for music production use.

These can also be used for general computer use, phone out, record player, music production etc. They're never going to allow you to play with other people, but they can be used for listening to music or playing bass through and can be portable and sound phenomenal.

 

[Wasnex]

I've read where some bassists use a chunk of mains PA as their backline (seems like I remember reading that Sting was doing that at some point), which probably qualifies as FRFR, and I'm betting I'd dig that kinda rig.

Anthony Jackson used to run some Meyer Sound PA gear. References I found mention CQ-1 mains or a combination of UPA-1P mains with USW-1P subs. I think this sort of rig can sound really good, but it can be tempting to overhype the lows; especially when using subs. Hyping the lows creates a wonderful, addictive experience up close to the rig that unfortunately does not necessarily translate well to the audience.

 

[dawind99]

Program power has nothing to do with RMS (directly). It's (generally) defined as 2X the continuous RMS power rating and is an entirely fabricated metric.

As are all the ratings when they are "weighted" or at a certain frequency. I can get a 100 watts out of a transistor radio +/- 10db @ 2K

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Anthony Jackson used to run some Meyer Sound PA gear. References I found mention CQ-1 mains or a combination of UPA-1P mains with USW-1P subs. I think this sort of rig can sound really good, but it can be tempting to overhype the lows; especially when using subs. Hyping the lows creates a wonderful, addictive experience up close to the rig that unfortunately does not necessarily translate well to the audience.

I quite like the sound (at home - not tried it live) into my cheap Samson Auro D12s. They are -3 at 70Hz (according to the spec), about the same as the TC BC208. I am not sure if they'd keep up in a band situation, though. In terms of max SPL, they are just a tad better than the BC208, as a reference point. No subs, no flub for the audience...