Nice long TC RH45 and Orange Terror 500 reviews in July's Bass Gear magazine.

[Musicman20]

Orange are always LOUD. This is what they do well. LOUD AND AGGRESSIVE!

[Chest Rockwell]

[quote name='Musicman20' post='1327049' date='Aug 4 2011, 02:41 PM']LOUD AND AGGRESSIVE![/quote]

finally, terms I understand!

[aldude]

[quote name='Chest Rockwell' post='1327066' date='Aug 4 2011, 01:51 PM']finally, terms I understand! [/quote]

Question is, do I get a Barefaced Compact to go with the Super 12 giving a 2.7ohm load to my RH450? Some input from Alex would be useful here. And what are the signs that this arrangement would not be treating the amp so well?

[markstuk]

Been discussed elsewhere.. In the interests of science (and trusting in the protection circuitry) I ran my RH450 into 2 ohms (2 x EBS Proline 410's) for three hours at pretty loud volumes at a rehearsal.. No problems, the RH didn't even get warm... Given that TC say you can run in 2.7 Ohm load made up of their own cabs, it's hard to see why their ohms would be any different to anyone elses given the broad approximation a given ohms rating is presented anyway...

[alexclaber]

[quote name='aldude' post='1327815' date='Aug 4 2011, 09:20 PM']Question is, do I get a Barefaced Compact to go with the Super 12 giving a 2.7ohm load to my RH450? Some input from Alex would be useful here. And what are the signs that this arrangement would not be treating the amp so well?[/quote]

If you need yet more output and more bottom than that'll work very well. TC states that their amps can be used with three of their own 8 ohm cabs and the impedance plots shown by Bass Gear Magazine show that their 8 ohm cabs have a perfectly typical impedance curve for an 8 ohm nominal cab. Therefore by deduction this confirms that the amps can indeed run a 2.7 ohm nominal load!

They'll definitely run three Barefaced 8 ohm cabs or one 4 ohm and one 8 ohm without any problems. I'd strongly bet that this is true for any correctly rated 4 or 8 ohm cabs but without seeing measurements I can't guarantee it - some cabs are a more difficult load than others, the old EA ones being notably challenging.

In the very unlikely event that there are problems the amp will go into heat-shutdown mode and will show an H on the LED display. Once it cools down it will start up again and run as normal. But it's very unlikely unless you block the cooling vents or play a very loud outdoor gig with it in strong direct sunlight (i.e. not with our feeble British sun!)

[charic]

Good luck blocking the vents on the TC

[Raggy]

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1326817' date='Aug 4 2011, 12:49 PM']Well....... Im not technical enough to understand all the specs etc but i have been thinking this all along.

Ive had the overload LED on my Streamliner 600 come on a few times.[/quote]

Mines always coming on, it worries me sometimes

[Musicman20]

Im sure someone mentioned the 500W Aguilar Tonehammer amp has the same power module as the Shuttle 9.0.....

Weird?

I dont know the specifics, but is this a similar idea? Eg power management, cooling, driving the power amp hard?

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1326565' date='Aug 4 2011, 10:08 AM']The downside is getting a properly high power Barefaced head sorted is more urgent than ever.[/quote]

Would now be a good time get in my personal shopping list of features ??

OK so ..

Output stage comparable to at least a mid range QSC PLX.
dual input jacks with individual gains (so that I can use main bass and fretless at a gig without massing about with leads)
20-25 selectable subsonic frequency cut off (as per the QSC amps)
Tuner (got how much I hate having to faff with separate tuners).
Blendable fet based tube simulator preamp with seperate EQ for clean and tube sim - I don't think we really need real preamp valves in this day and age if the fet circuitry is good enough.
Decent multi/dual band compressor.
Aux in that can be put through main amp.
< 10 lbs in weight
price < £1000

[alexclaber]

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1328565' date='Aug 5 2011, 12:13 PM']Would now be a good time get in my personal shopping list of features ?? [/quote]

Well there's no harm in that!

[Balcro]

Mmm. clever stuff in that TC RH45 amp. I may be completely wrong, but here's my guesswork on what's going on.

It looks like every function is being "managed". To me it's the bass amp equivilant of an Electronic Control Unit in your car. All the engine requirements are continually adjusted to give the best performance and economy at the same time as controlling emissions. In this case it looks like the Active Power Management is refereeing between the modelling/contouring side and the compressor.

My guess is that It's really (conventionally speaking) a 225/230 watt amp with added electronic control tweaks. The "APM"
DSP circuit seamlessly and continuously re-shapes the output between the (TC version of flat) and something like the well known "Equal Loudness Contours". To your ears, this gives an apparent (frequency shifted) 3db boost compared with the standard flat frequency response, so it sounds, in volume terms, like a 450watt amp. A bit like having a super sophisticated version of an old fashioned "loudness" button on a stereo, but one which bends the "equal loudness curve" shape more as the input signal rises, rathere than just boosting the bass end at low volume.

Given the sharp cut-off below 70Hz I suspect the trick is to engage the compressor. On de-compression it then puts out boosted harmonics/overtones it line with the ELC, so that low bass sounds like low bass, but isn't.

Now everyone will have to do it. Psycho-acoustic output curves.
On the other hand with such control available, i suspect you'll never blow up one of their own speakers.


Balcro

[stevie]

The impression I had when I switched my 450 on for the first time was that it was not as 'full' in the bass as my Trace Elliot 300, but went lower. This is in fact the opposite of what is happening, judging by the test results. My subjective impression was complicated by the fact that there is a bad resonance at 50Hz in many places in my practice room although, interestingly, that is now no longer a problem.

Edited August 6, 2011 by stevie

[JTUK]

I'd go with a management control which is mapped to the TC speakers characteristics.
This is why I'd be interested in hearing a TC head with other cabs.

I's suspect that optimum sound would be within TC own range...much like PA speakers with a controller. Sure, they work without it, but nowhere near as good or effectively.

That would be my expectation.

[Lozz196]

I used a TC Classic 450 with the following:

Marshall VBC412
Ampeg SVT410 HE
Ampeg SVT410 HE & Ampeg SVT210 HE together
Eden Nemesis N410RS

Sounded best through the 410 & 210 together.

Worst was through the Marshall - sounded really "hard" no smoothness to the sound at all.

[Prime_BASS]

I use the 750 version with Barefaced S12T. I will say the sound is huge, even with spectracomp off it still has a very full range sound and in particularly in the practice room where the cab doesn't get a lot of wall support it still has tonnes of rumble without touching the EQ knob.

[Muzz]

I use the RH450 with a 1515L, and it's a very good match - the cab's more about low mid sensitivity than tons of deep bass - well, it would be, being the size and shape (and weight) it is. You can dial in quite a lot of bass, tho, and it works a treat for what I use it for - pick/Precision(ish) rock stuff. It's very very loud - more than enough for our drummer, who can hit 'em when he wants to. And that, IMHO, is all the power you need - once the drums start going through the PA, so do I.

Mind you, with all this talk of 2.7 ohm loads, another 8ohm cab (the 1515L is 4ohm) is suddenly sounding very very tempting - anyone got any suggestions for filling out the bottom end? Would a Compact do this?

Edited August 6, 2011 by Muzz

[aldude]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1328360' date='Aug 5 2011, 10:10 AM']If you need yet more output and more bottom than that'll work very well. TC states that their amps can be used with three of their own 8 ohm cabs and the impedance plots shown by Bass Gear Magazine show that their 8 ohm cabs have a perfectly typical impedance curve for an 8 ohm nominal cab. Therefore by deduction this confirms that the amps can indeed run a 2.7 ohm nominal load!

They'll definitely run three Barefaced 8 ohm cabs or one 4 ohm and one 8 ohm without any problems. I'd strongly bet that this is true for any correctly rated 4 or 8 ohm cabs but without seeing measurements I can't guarantee it - some cabs are a more difficult load than others, the old EA ones being notably challenging.

In the very unlikely event that there are problems the amp will go into heat-shutdown mode and will show an H on the LED display. Once it cools down it will start up again and run as normal. But it's very unlikely unless you block the cooling vents or play a very loud outdoor gig with it in strong direct sunlight (i.e. not with our feeble British sun!)[/quote]

Thanks Alex, more output and more bottom end is just what I'm after!

I'll contact you in the next few months if I can find 500 odd quid down the back of the sofa...