TC Electronics BQ500 Vs RH450

[sanbass]

Thinking about getting one of these but unsure as to which one. They're both available for a pretty low price these days... it's so true you're getting a lot of amp for little money, as many have said. Is there any particular reason why one would be favoured over the other or is it just personal preference i.e. the sound with a certain cab? Be interested to hear from those that have tried both or own either. Cheers!

[sanbass]

Anybody know anything about these amps?

[Lozz196]

The RH450 is a nice amp. There was a bit of hoo-ha re it’s claimed power being greater than what it actually puts out but having used a few they’re plenty loud. I don’t know about the BQ but I’d be happy to own and use an RH450 as a regular gigging amp.

[alexa3020]

I had the BQ500 for a short while. I really didnt like it. At higher volumes the notes sounded really compressed and unnatural. The RH450 was quite a highly regarded amp. I never used one but Id go for that over the bq.

 

[Killerfridge]

I use the RH750 as my regular (essentially the same but with more power) and it's really top notch. The RH series comes from a different era of TC, when they cared and made good quality bass gear; I wouldn't put it in the same league as the BQ series

Edited October 12 by Killerfridge
Typo on rh750

[lemmywinks]

The issues people had with the RH450 weren't related to how loud it is, more down to what it does in order to attain that volume given its low power rating. Definitely one to try out to see if you like it or not as it has a baked in sound which may suit you or may not. Both my amps are TC (BH series) but I didn't like the RH much when I tried one. The RS cabs are decent and light years ahead of the BC cabs which sound like they're underwater, a little bulky and heavy by modern standards though. Very cheap on the used market as are the K series.

 

Other contenders for the low price, high power micro amp segment would be the Harley Benton 800B and the Bugera Veyron M/T amps.

Edited October 12 by lemmywinks

[sanbass]

On 12/10/2024 at 10:38, Lozz196 said:

The RH450 is a nice amp. There was a bit of hoo-ha re it’s claimed power being greater than what it actually puts out but having used a few they’re plenty loud. I don’t know about the BQ but I’d be happy to own and use an RH450 as a regular gigging amp.

Thanks that's really useful!

[sanbass]

On 12/10/2024 at 16:43, alexa3020 said:

I had the BQ500 for a short while. I really didnt like it. At higher volumes the notes sounded really compressed and unnatural. The RH450 was quite a highly regarded amp. I never used one but Id go for that over the bq.

 

Cheers - yeah the RH seems to be more highly regarded judging by the comments. Was the Spectracomp anything to do with the over compressed sound?

[sanbass]

On 12/10/2024 at 21:33, Killerfridge said:

I use the RH750 as my regular (essentially the same but with more power) and it's really top notch. The RH series comes from a different era of TC, when they cared and made good quality bass gear; I wouldn't put it in the same league as the BQ series

Cheers Killerfridge. I'm  guessing the RH came out before the BQ- do you know what year that was?

[alexa3020]

1 minute ago, sanbass said:

Cheers - yeah the RH seems to be more highly regarded judging by the comments. Was the Spectracomp anything to do with the over compressed sound?

No, the BQ had a dial for a compressor. I think it was called Thrust? My feeling was that the compressed sound was something to do with stuff happening in the background.

It actually put me off class d heads. But actually its the amp that was the problem.

[sanbass]

On 13/10/2024 at 00:13, lemmywinks said:

The issues people had with the RH450 weren't related to how loud it is, more down to what it does in order to attain that volume given its low power rating. Definitely one to try out to see if you like it or not as it has a baked in sound which may suit you or may not. Both my amps are TC (BH series) but I didn't like the RH much when I tried one. The RS cabs are decent and light years ahead of the BC cabs which sound like they're underwater, a little bulky and heavy by modern standards though. Very cheap on the used market as are the K series.

 

Other contenders for the low price, high power micro amp segment would be the Harley Benton 800B and the Bugera Veyron M/T amps.

Great thanks, helpful to know that about the amp. I'm planning on getting one of the K series cabs. Do you reckon they're better quality than the RS ones?

[sanbass]

20 minutes ago, alexa3020 said:

No, the BQ had a dial for a compressor. I think it was called Thrust? My feeling was that the compressed sound was something to do with stuff happening in the background.

It actually put me off class d heads. But actually its the amp that was the problem.

Okay. Is there an amp you'd recommend at a similar price point?

[alexa3020]

7 minutes ago, sanbass said:

Okay. Is there an amp you'd recommend at a similar price point?

I'd personally go second hand. Id consider all the main players really Ashdown, ampeg, markbass. I like the trace elf at the same price point new, but I dont know if that would have enough power for you

[Killerfridge]

10 hours ago, sanbass said:

Cheers Killerfridge. I'm  guessing the RH came out before the BQ- do you know what year that was?

Yes, the RH line came out in 2010, before the Behringer acquisition, and the BQ was 2019(?), well after. Whether or not that has anything to do with the perceived quality I don't know, but the 2010s are generally considered their "best" era. Everyone was using the RH series to some degree (Rocco Prestia, Mark King, Janek Gwizdala etc.), but then at some point they just stopped supporting the gear and a lot of the artists lost faith.

 

In terms of voicing, the RH is definitely a more "vintage" sounding amp, not super pingy, but warm and full. It works really well in a band context.

[xgsjx]

On 12/10/2024 at 21:33, Killerfridge said:

I use the RH750 as my regular (essentially the same but with more power) and it's really top notch.

Weren’t the 450 & the 750 both 236 watts?

[Woodinblack]

236 long term RMS, different peak. They have the same amplifier but the 750 has a bigger power supply so can supply more instantaneous current

[lemmywinks]

38 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

Weren’t the 450 & the 750 both 236 watts?

 

 

Don't start this again, you'll have all the TC Group fans telling you how loud they are, even though volume was never the issue!

 

 

But yeah, according to TC (so take this with a grain of salt the size of Pluto) they did have a real 450w or whatever power section but this was limited to 236w in both models so they could do their digital "valve" APM stuff. All irrelevant if it produces a sound you like at the volume you need but it is something worth mentioning, it's ok to like an amp and still point out why it might not be suitable for other people based on things it does/doesn't do.

 

If you like decent digital valve emulation then try one, if you want clean, uncompressed lows and sparkly highs as an option then get a Reidmar or something.

 

[xgsjx]

Soundwise, I hadn’t heard anything bad from users (that I recall). The only other issue I heard of was the knobs on the front weren’t the best of quality, though how many that affected, I don’t know. 

[Woodinblack]

THe knobs certainly weren 't good. Back originally you could just write to them to ask for new ones, but then behringer stopped that.

[Killerfridge]

On 22/10/2024 at 09:34, lemmywinks said:

 

 

Don't start this again, you'll have all the TC Group fans telling you how loud they are, even though volume was never the issue!

 

 

But yeah, according to TC (so take this with a grain of salt the size of Pluto) they did have a real 450w or whatever power section but this was limited to 236w in both models so they could do their digital "valve" APM stuff. All irrelevant if it produces a sound you like at the volume you need but it is something worth mentioning, it's ok to like an amp and still point out why it might not be suitable for other people based on things it does/doesn't do.

 

If you like decent digital valve emulation then try one, if you want clean, uncompressed lows and sparkly highs as an option then get a Reidmar or something.

 

I think that's spot on. The thing they aren't great at doing is the sparkly modern sound; they sound like a loud old tube amp and if that's your thing it's great.

 

Re: knobs - yes, they're awful but fairly easy to replace

[xgsjx]

17 minutes ago, Killerfridge said:

I think that's spot on. The thing they aren't great at doing is the sparkly modern sound; they sound like a loud old tube amp and if that's your thing it's great.

 

Re: knobs - yes, they're awful but fairly easy to replace

Agreed.  Other than the claimed watts & the knob quality, I’ve only heard good things about the RH heads. 

But it’s not an answer to the question. 
I was querying if the 750 did actually have more power than the 450 or if they were both the same?

 

Here's a follow up question…

If they were both the same wattage, was the 750 louder than the 450 & if so, how?  Did they maybe restrict the output on the 450?

 

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, xgsjx said:

Here's a follow up question…

If they were both the same wattage, was the 750 louder than the 450 & if so, how?  Did they maybe restrict the output on the 450?

 

They were both the same RMS sustained wattage, however, no bass amp runs like that as a bass doesn't produce a sustained signal. The 750 has a bigger power supply so can supply more instantaneous current than the 450 and a higher voltage, so has more transient power.