alexa3020

If you like compression, Id suggest a compressor pedal rather than the onboard. There are some decent inexpensive ones. Ive gone a bit more high end with the Empress Bass Compressor - Brilliant bit of gear

I can get in the red pretty easily, usually at 1 or 2 oclock, it'll start peaking depending on my eq settings. As bagman says, as you add more low end you'll notice the needle move. I dont use the onboard compressor, but I can remember that killing the volume - not sure if that affects vu though

several hours for me too

I've gone from several pedals (octaves, chorus, big muffs) to just an Empress bass comp and tuner. I love the empress compressor, it adds a little bit of harmonic distortion. Its subtle, but it makes the bass sit better in a mix. I do think a tiny bit of drive is essential

Question. How are people measuring whether an amp is coloured or not? Are you using your ears and comparing against a DI signal, or are you looking at response plots?

Quite the claim. I think you should tell us what band you are in. I'd be keen to see the best sounding band ever

In terms of Aesthetics, Id say tc bh 800 would look pretty nice. I had one for a short while and it was pretty decent. Which was a surprise because I had a similar tc bq head and that was garbage. Theres one in the classifieds at the moment too. I think for uncoloured the Aguilar AG might be better than the TH. Eich, Quilter, Genzler all have good reputations.

I loved the HA5500 - such a good amp and bulletproof