The bq250 is a little larger and heavier than some of the other small form bass amps. But it is not too
large or very heavy. It seems that these factors are inherent to the good quality of this head. I have a weak bass and I use it for home practice. I usually have to turn up the input gain to a higher level. When I turned up the gain fully clockwise, I was impressed that I heard very little if any noise and pumping up the output only resulted in a clean, clear sound that drove my 12 and 15 nicely. No noise gate was needed on this amp. This says a lot about the quality of this unit and you already saw the price !!!

I own an Ampeg SVT Classic, so I admit I am spoiled when it comes to bass tone. And until I bought this amplifier, the SVT was my only bass amp, and I wanted something more portable and practical for practices, smaller gigs, etc. (for those who don't know, SVT Classics are amazing all-tube amps, but they weigh 80 pounds. Not like, the entire rig; the amplifier unit itself weighs 80 pounds. They're great if they live in a studio or practice space, and they're essential for larger gigs because they can put out something like 800 watts. But they're overkill in pretty much any other situation.).

Anyway, I admit that I picked this particular unit because it met my incredibly discerning criteria (i.e. it was cheap and it would get here in time for the gig), but I was honestly blown away by the quality of the tone. I was hoping for "OK, I can live with that," but I honestly didn't miss my SVT at all. I could not be more impressed, especially considering how inexpensive these are.

I can't really comment on durability yet, since I've only been able to use it once, but it's wonderful having an amplifier that will fit in my cord bag that is probably 80% of the quality tone-wise of an all-tube amp (I haven't gotten to compare them side-by-side yet, but based on my initial impressions, I would be shocked if my opinion changed), but for a fraction of the cost and an even smaller fraction of the weight. There's a headphone input too, so it's also great for that.

Oh, the only other thing to note, and I guess the only thing I didn't really like, is that these do require a SpeakOn speaker cable, and not a standard speaker cable. So make sure to order one of those as well if you don't already have one. They also take a second to warm up, so don't panic if you plug it in, flip it on, and you don't get a green light/signal right away.

Other than that, I say buy without hesitation. It's a killer product, especially considering the price point.

Had an old Peavey 100 bass amp that started making noise and had been looking around for an inexpensive head that I could use with the Peavey's 15" speaker. I didn't need a whole new setup. I found this and it is so cool!! Has more features than I will need but it can crank out the volume and has many adjustments for tone. It is very well constructed and you can tell easily by the fit and finish! It does take a Speakon plug which it does NOT tell you!! I had not heard of them but found them quickly at Guitar Center!!

My gig rig is a Mesa Boogie 800+ head. I needed a backup/studio head and didn't want to spend too much. I honestly think this sounds just as good as my Mesa. I've been playing and gigging for over 45 years and have owned dozens of amps over the years. This thing is legit!

Ok I need to set the stage. I play metal, and I play a short scale bass that is tuned up to F# using lighter gauge strings making my 4 string bass essentially a 4 string baritone. This amp head is great because of the two mid settings, low mid and high mid, this makes dialing in a tone really easy! I do use overdrive pedals to get the aggression for metal. But this amp is actually my first bass head and I like it a lot. Oh yeah for regular bass time it's good for that too.
I imagine I will eventually upgrade but really this is a great head.