Okay, a cat then
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Here was my thinking on the 800.
I like the Fender stuff and I wanted a separate head and cabinet for reasons of versatility and portability. You can take it apart and each piece would be easier to carry and you only have to bring what you need for any particular situation. Also, as your tastes change you can swap in different cabinets or heads without having to spend so much money replacing everything with different combo amps. That was the theory.
As to how powerful it is, @Gio described his 600 watt rig like this…
I get their is a huge difference between Fender and Mesa Boogie. I’m just using this to illustrate the power of even 600 watts.
I just wanted something that could easily work in a full band situation with enough wattage that I didn’t have to worry about it for a long time. What I wanted was the Rumble 800 head as a 500 watt amplifier. I looked at getting a used Rumble 500 head (they’re discontinued) but there is a known problem with the volume knob that Fender won’t fix and I didn’t want to deal with that. So that left me with the 800 as the only real option if I wanted to stay with getting a Fender head.
Originally what I wanted was a Rumble 500 but with a 15" speaker. The closest thing Fender has is the Rumble 200 but it’s too expensive for what it is and for the money it just doesn’t seem like a very good deal compared to buying a Rumble 500. But, if I wanted 15" speakers then I had to go separate head and cabinet.
I know all that is all over the place. Just consider it an example of the frustration that can happen when you think you know what you want but it isn’t made that way.
Then this post happened… How can I be heard through the mix ( a non scientific approach to sound) - #53 by Gorch
That’s when I decided, no matter how much I really like the Rumble 800 head, I had made it all way more complicated than it needs to be.
I returned the 800 today and ordered a Rumble 500 combo. If I need more, I’ll just pick up a second 2x10" cabinet.
With that in place I’m going back to focusing on my playing. In a couple of years I’ll revisit what else I might want in an amp.
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@PamPurrs If I was in your situation, gear wise, and wanted to upgrade something, I would start looking into what could give you a tone you might like more than the Fender.
Ampeg and the Aguilar Tone Hammer both can add more warmth to your tone.
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Here’s a big cheers to making things more complicated than they have to be!!
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I’m sure I could have kept on with that forever but I got some pressure from people who want me to come play and I needed to lay this to rest to get ready for that.
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The standalone Rumble amp heads are no doubt nice amp heads but before anyone buys one just because it seems like a natural upgrade from the Rumble combos, I just want to point out that there are a very large number of excellent amp heads in that price range, with different tonal characteristics.
Honestly I think picking an amp head and cab in that range would probably be harder choice-wise for me than picking the next bass to buy.
As a concrete example, a while back Pam started this thread:
While it’s not clear to me that the bassist in that video is actually playing through that Ampeg stack, the bass tone there definitely sounds like it’s going through a warm, slighly overdriving Ampeg to me, so he probably is.
Broadly speaking an Ampeg will generally have slightly different tone coloring than a G-K, which will be different than a MarkBass, which will be different than a Fender, etc.
And some amps (TC, etc) tend to be super transparent.
It’s another case where you should try a lot of them.
And you may end up with a Fender! They sound great. There’s just a lot of choices out there.
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Not to further and unnecessarily emphasize my lack of knowledge in this area, but don’t G-K in particular sound not just slightly, but significantly different than some of the other brands mentioned here?? Much more mids to begin with (if that is the best way to describe it)??? At least, that is what my ears tell me every time I hear a sound sample involving a G-K amp.
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I would describe the way some G-K sound to me as being sharper, more aggressive, with well defined high end and mids. Whereas I would describe Ampeg as more warm and round, sounding kind of scooped while still retaining a punchy warm midrange (many Ampegs have an option to boost the very low and very high end, and it sounds kind of distinctive.)
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Exactly what I hear! Whew, my ear/brain combo is not entirely useless in this area 
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I run G-K. And yes you hear correctly. In fact, I roll back most of the highs from my EQ.
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I remember when we were budding garage band musicians in the 80s, we thought GK was the sh*t… of course, none of us kids had any real idea as to why, but I guess it was to a large degree because they had a cool design and those blue LEDs(?) and then that cool name, which sounded like how William Gibson would name an AI-driven amp 
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Eric: I originally started with a Rumble100, but eventually upgraded to a Rumble500 combo and its been perfect for what I need now and hopefully into the near future. Its a bit overkill at this point since it sits at home and most of my noise is enjoyed through headphones. (Except for the times I take it once or twice a month for band rehearsals.) But I really wanted a long term solution that would not require an upgrade. That entire Rumble combo series amps are crazy lightweight, even the 500! Im not a big guy, but its pretty easy to carry short distances and fits easily in my trunk, so that’s a plus.
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yeah that’s an impressive feature indeed ! the Rumble 500 weights less than half the weight of the 220w Ampeg I just sold ! impressive.
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I may just go with the Rumble 500 as my next upgrade. It does have the capability of connecting an additional speaker if needed.
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Congratulations! You finally got to sell it. 
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@lee_editorial did you notice a significant difference in quality when you upgraded from the 100 to the 500? I’m thinking of doing the same thing.
Were you able to sell your 100 fairly easy?
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I think the quality is really very similar for that entire series, just more firepower as you go up… I actually started with a 40, decided early on I wanted something bigger and probably had the 100 about 6 months. At that point I started gaining a little confidence and the idea that I might actually be able to start playing with others at some point convinced me to go bigger. Although truth be told, from what I read the 100 is a decent size for small venues, restaurants, etc
I happened to find a really good deal on ebay for a used 500 in mint condition. A guys father had passed, so he was selling all his musical gear. My 100 sold really quickly- i just priced it with shipping at amount that was average or perhaps a little below. I think the Rumble series is very popular, so it would just need to be at rate that makes sense as compared with buying new.
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Holy Sh!t!!! 