This thread has been going on for a while, so maybe I'm too late to chime in.
A couple of folks have suggested one of the lightweight Class D digital amp heads and a small cabinet as an alternative to the Boogie combo. I'd really encourage you to give it a try.
A lightweight combo is going to be slightly harder to move, but will more than make up for it in flexibility. I don't go out much anymore, but my main rig is usually a Boogie Bass 400+ with an ancient Guild/Hartke 4x10 cabinet. Heavy, but great sound. I still have my 1970's blackline SVT head too, which sounds the best, but doesn't get to go in the truck unless it loads itself.
Along the way, I bought the original SWR Redhead when it first came out (must have been around 1989), as a more compact alternative. This was something like 270 watts with 2x10 speakers and an annoying horn. I regretted it from the first time I used it in a rehearsal - it was heavier and bulkier than my Hartke cab (even though the original Guild/Hartke is quite a bit lighter than the Samson/Hartkes that most of you are familiar with), it had no bottom end and was not loud. Too many compromises to make a combo, especially if you play in a loud band. I got a decent sound out of it when I plugged the Redhead amp section into the Hartke (with or without the SWR speakers), but it was vastly inferior to the Hartke and SVT in all measures.
This is the problem of the combo - to keep it a transportable size, there's compromises in the sound that you may regret later on. And, if this is the case, you basically will have to flush the entire amp and start over again.
The combo can work in certain environments - I think if you play in a quiet jazz band that might work. But even if you like the sound and it's not loud enough, it's not going to work in the long term. I actually have a 70's Ampeg B-15 that I love the tone of (it's not like an SVT at all), but it's also got about 40 watts, so only useful in a very quiet setting.
After a lot of unsatisfying experiences with solid state amps, I started liking a few of the new superlight amps. The ones that you really should try are the Genz-Benz ones (the little 600 and 900 family models are very popular). I wasn't that crazy about the EQ, although I think they GBs are very loud for the bucks. I liked the TC electronic 450 (which is notorious because it really has about 200 watts) - it's got a very different tone than the GB which I prefer. Ultimately, I got a EBS Reidmar, which is very similar to the TC with less flexible EQ and a better compressor. It sucks compared to my Boogie or SVT, but at 5 lbs, weighs less than a set of replacement tubes.
It's still not portable with my Hartke. I was never crazy about most of the 2x10 cabinets out there, which were a good size, but gutless and heavy. I happened to try out a midline Eden E-series 2x10 Neo cab which is quite a bit less gutless and shockingly weighs less than 30 lbs. It too sucks relative to my main rig, but with the entire amp under 40 lbs, it's pretty workable, and the Neo cab is amazingly loud.
I think the cab is discontinued due to increases in the price of neodymium, but I got my cab for less than $300 from The Bass Place in Arizona (they had a moving sale a few months ago, so might be a little higher now). If you can get the cab for cheap, the entire rig will be well under $1000, definitely worth it.
David Fung
