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TC Electronic Blacksmith 1600W


dmccombe7
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Pretty sure Roger Glover was endorsing them and when I saw DP last year he had a TC stack on stage but he also had another stack which was covered and the shape of the speaker cover looked very like an Ampeg 8x10 so makes you wonder what he was actually using live.

I'll have a look on you tube for Nathan East who is a very rated bassist with many styles.
Cheers

Dave

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OK, it might not be 1600 'real' watts, but my basic question stands - what's the typical maximum power that anyone really needs?

I don't really know if such high powers are really necessary because I've always understood that the real purpose of the on-stage rig is mainly to do with getting the desired sound and being loud enough for the bassist to hear. After that, any further volume requirements and monitoring for the other band members would be handled by the PA system.

But having never played a large stage/arena I could be mistaken, hence the question.

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That`s it - so long as the volume, and the spread of the sound are loud enough, out front is handled by the PA so mega-power not really needed. I played a festival last week with a Hartke HA2500 into a Hartke 410 & 115. We always have just vox in our monitors as it`s easier for the sound-guys, and I had plenty of on-stage volume with that set-up of 250 watts.

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I have a 550w amp and regardless of situation I am never pushing it very hard but it is also dependent upon speaker sensitivity (mine are pretty good). Can't imagine a situation where I'd need more power but then again I'd be having words with band members/sound guy if I was having to use more volume on stage/FOH than I am at present.

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[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1379163204' post='2209320']
I can understand that to an extent, but where's the point at which 'massess of headroom' (i.e. unused potential power) just becomes a pointless waste of money, not to mention chronic back pain?
[/quote]

Oh, I don't know. I like big amps because you can have effortless undistorted, clean chunky power at higher levels. Should you need it.

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I'm looking at the GK 2001RB but its to allow me to use my Berg HT322 at 4ohm and has a nice low end sound and my Berg AE112 cab at 8ohm which gives me a nice mid to top end. At 500W each channel it gives me the overall sound I like.
The amp has a balance control to allow me to trade each cab of each other for a clearer range.
More than likely a change of cabs to GK which would match the smaller 1000RB amp might give me something that suits but I do love the clarity of my Berg cabs plus I have the ability to use seperatae cabs depending on what i'm doing.
Don't or won't need 1000W in any gig i'll do but the larger amp gives more options.

Dave

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[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1379168074' post='2209406']
I understand the basic idea, I'm just trying to understand WHEN you would need it.
[/quote]

Here, perhaps..? :mellow:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY2dMoK7G5Y"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY2dMoK7G5Y[/url]

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[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1379159210' post='2209250']
I don't think it's [i]really[/i] 1600w.

[url="http://www.tcelectronic.com/media/914735/tc_electronic_bass_amp_power_rating___active_power_management.pdf"]http://www.tcelectro..._management.pdf[/url]
[/quote]

That made for some interesting reading - thanks wateroftyne.
Always amazes me how mfr twist their statements to make their gear look better than it sometimes is.

Cheers
Dave

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[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1379452833' post='2212972']


That made for some interesting reading - thanks wateroftyne.
Always amazes me how mfr twist their statements to make their gear look better than it sometimes is.

Cheers
Dave
[/quote]

TC stretch their statistics concerning wattage but I've actually never encountered a problem being heard with my RH750 head. I don't really understand these things too well either but it's as much about the assumption by others that watts = overall level as well as TC pulling the wool over the eyes a bit. TC stuff is largely complete quality in my experience.

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Nah TC say and sell it as n watts, when it isnt, its g watts run through a multiband limiter/(other assorted shenanigans) rather like a simple digital mastering cover all solution, in order to get a higher average level to peak ratio (think radio station broadcast limiter).

The amp runs harder than a real n watt amp to achieve the same level as an n watt amp (by which I mean in achieving that same level the amp is running closer to its theoretical maximum more of the time - just look at the graphs in the pdf). Which may or may not worry you.

It also means the transients are very definitely curtailed, and that is something you may be able to feel. I can honestly say the TC stack sounds really loud, possibly louder than my rig in fact, but I prefer the sound and feel of my rig (I had a day with my rig sat next to Charics - IIRC - at a previous bass bash, so this is a personal subjective impression of the two rigs suide by side for an extended period of time).

I have no problem with that approach from an engineering point of view, if they said thats what they did, but in their initial push to market (anyone remember their bass 2.0 ads?) they kept this all very quiet.

Any kind of limiting or compression is a form of distortion of the signal, and to claim they have 500, 1000, 1700 watts of [i]clean[/i] usable power is frankly a lie. Whether this is a negative thing is entirely up to you of course :D

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[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1379495155' post='2213238']
It also means the transients are very definitely curtailed, and that is something you may be able to feel. I can honestly say the TC stack sounds really loud, possibly louder than my rig in fact.
[/quote]

This was the problem I had with it. It was [i]loud[/i], but then so is my 7-year-old daughter.

It was a dynamic wasteland.

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379495426' post='2213245']
I prefer to judge an amp by the way it sounds and the features it has, rather than some arbitrary value like its (supposed or otherwise) power output.
[/quote]

That's the right way to do it of course, but IMO there is question around whether it's reasonable to advertise it as such, without being open about how the figure is arrived at.

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