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Behringer Truth B2031A - how truthful is it? (review / modding)

amirm

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FYI, it has been a massive aggravation getting Behringer to do anything about this speaker. First you had to register with some random site called "music tribe." Registration was lengthy and aggravating. I got through it but a day or two they bounced it back to me asking for receipt which I had already provided. I did again by taking a screenshot of Amazon order history. They went dark until today but refused that one more time:

"Dear Amir,

Thank you for your patience. Based on your description, your device will need service for the fault to be corrected. Service may be covered under warranty.


  • Product: Behringer - B2031A
  • Serial Number: S210101037252
The proof of purchase you've submitted is not valid for warranty validation.

Please provide a purchase receipt that has the name of the store, date of purchase, product purchased, and price of the item clearly legible."


The heck are they looking for here? My cut and paste had everything they needed. Anyway, I saved the whole invoice this time and mailed it one more time. I also let them know again that this is a sample for review. Something tells me this is farmed out support and they could care less. :(
 

Bruce Morgen

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FYI, it has been a massive aggravation getting Behringer to do anything about this speaker. First you had to register with some random site called "music tribe." Registration was lengthy and aggravating. I got through it but a day or two they bounced it back to me asking for receipt which I had already provided. I did again by taking a screenshot of Amazon order history. They went dark until today but refused that one more time:

"Dear Amir,

Thank you for your patience. Based on your description, your device will need service for the fault to be corrected. Service may be covered under warranty.


  • Product: Behringer - B2031A
  • Serial Number: S210101037252
The proof of purchase you've submitted is not valid for warranty validation.

Please provide a purchase receipt that has the name of the store, date of purchase, product purchased, and price of the item clearly legible."


The heck are they looking for here? My cut and paste had everything they needed. Anyway, I saved the whole invoice this time and mailed it one more time. I also let them know again that this is a sample for review. Something tells me this is farmed out support and they could care less. :(

"Music Tribe" is just the blanket brand for all Behringer-owned/affiliated product lines, sort like "Harman" is in relation to JBL, Revel, Infinity, Crown, etc.
 

YSC

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FYI, it has been a massive aggravation getting Behringer to do anything about this speaker. First you had to register with some random site called "music tribe." Registration was lengthy and aggravating. I got through it but a day or two they bounced it back to me asking for receipt which I had already provided. I did again by taking a screenshot of Amazon order history. They went dark until today but refused that one more time:

"Dear Amir,

Thank you for your patience. Based on your description, your device will need service for the fault to be corrected. Service may be covered under warranty.


  • Product: Behringer - B2031A
  • Serial Number: S210101037252
The proof of purchase you've submitted is not valid for warranty validation.

Please provide a purchase receipt that has the name of the store, date of purchase, product purchased, and price of the item clearly legible."


The heck are they looking for here? My cut and paste had everything they needed. Anyway, I saved the whole invoice this time and mailed it one more time. I also let them know again that this is a sample for review. Something tells me this is farmed out support and they could care less. :(
Just this alone would make me blacklist anything from them. Every product can have a chance of breaking down and this level of customer service means it’s basically a free market gamble. You might get a great deal on good performer but when a dud comes you are alone
 

krabapple

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FYI, it has been a massive aggravation getting Behringer to do anything about this speaker. First you had to register with some random site called "music tribe." Registration was lengthy and aggravating. I got through it but a day or two they bounced it back to me asking for receipt which I had already provided. I did again by taking a screenshot of Amazon order history. They went dark until today but refused that one more time:

I must have missed the post(s) where you acquired one, and found it defective....link?
 

AlexanderM

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I must have missed the post(s) where you acquired one, and found it defective....link?
 

hollis

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Hosted a six speaker shoot out the other week. Basic science applied (mono listening, single blind, volume matched), but was not robust at all (no visual screen, different locations in the room, listeners at different locations).

Main takeaways: the smaller 2030a failed at the SPL needed to play over ~15 people talking. 2nd runner up for failure was the small Rokit, it more fell apart soundwise. The larger Rokit had worse sound quality at reasonable listening levels, but held together much better flat out. The 308mkii we felt was useless for mixing audio, (this is a recording studio) but had the most sub-bass and "sparkle"... thats pretty much all it had though. 2031a and T5V were the top of the heap. After 2hrs of spirited listening the T5V plate amp was still the coldest of the bunch. Several folks left and placed orders for the Adams. I did as well. I had trouble getting folks to listen on-axis, and even then, the AMT Adam still outshone them all. Sweetwater will exchange my 2030a for t5v + some cash, so now I just have 3.5x 2031a for sale now, any takers?
 

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Bruce Morgen

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the smaller 2030a failed at the SPL needed to play over ~15 people talking.

Interesting. I would guess that this is an amplifier limitation, since the passive 2030P actually excels at high volumes -- or so both Amir and yours truly have found. I use four 2030Ps (driven by a pair of Aiyima A07s sharing a 48V 10A SMPS) as my ambience/surround speakers and, FWIW, I couldn't be happier with them in that role.
 

hollis

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Interesting. I would guess that this is an amplifier limitation, since the passive 2030P actually excels at high volumes -- or so both Amir and yours truly have found. I use four 2030Ps (driven by a pair of Aiyima A07s sharing a 48V 10A SMPS) as my ambience/surround speakers and, FWIW, I couldn't be happier with them in that role.
Very good to know. I originally bought them as surround/ambiance channels, but then discovered the T5V as they were enroute. Never even opened the box until the shootout. What are you using for upmix to your ambiance?:
 

Digby

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2031a and T5V were the top of the heap. After 2hrs of spirited listening the T5V plate amp was still the coldest of the bunch. Several folks left and placed orders for the Adams. I did as well. I had trouble getting folks to listen on-axis, and even then, the AMT Adam still outshone them all. Sweetwater will exchange my 2030a for t5v + some cash, so now I just have 3.5x 2031a for sale now, any takers?
Do you have any impressions to share as to the difference between the two? Pro and cons of each speaker.

It would also be interesting to see to what extent similar impressions were shared by the group.
 

krabapple

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Hosted a six speaker shoot out the other week. Basic science applied (mono listening, single blind, volume matched), but was not robust at all (no visual screen, different locations in the room, listeners at different locations).

Main takeaways: the smaller 2030a failed at the SPL needed to play over ~15 people talking. 2nd runner up for failure was the small Rokit, it more fell apart soundwise. The larger Rokit had worse sound quality at reasonable listening levels, but held together much better flat out. The 308mkii we felt was useless for mixing audio, (this is a recording studio) but had the most sub-bass and "sparkle"... thats pretty much all it had though. 2031a and T5V were the top of the heap. After 2hrs of spirited listening the T5V plate amp was still the coldest of the bunch. Several folks left and placed orders for the Adams. I did as well. I had trouble getting folks to listen on-axis, and even then, the AMT Adam still outshone them all. Sweetwater will exchange my 2030a for t5v + some cash, so now I just have 3.5x 2031a for sale now, any takers?
I'm bemused that any takeaways were taken away from this it all.
 

Bruce Morgen

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What are you using for upmix to your ambiance?

I'm strictly (very!) old school on that account (so far): Yamaha DSP-1 and DSR-100 Pro from the mid-1980s fed by a Topping E30 DAC. I've yet to encounter anything modern that can do what the DSP-1 does, at least not at a sensible price and in a reasonable size.
 

hollis

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Do you have any impressions to share as to the difference between the two? Pro and cons of each speaker.
T5V
- much lighter in weight, would be easier to mount
- HF shelf in the measurements seems like it would be subjectively bright, but folks seemed to prefer it (tv store vivid mode effect maybe?)
- amp ran the coolest of the bunch
- more subjective bass than 2031a

2031a
- seems like it could go louder
- so heavy I'd be afraid to mount it to drywall
- front ported so possibly would have less issues right up against a wall
- more even bass to mid bass, could be more neutral to mix on

We didnt have the gain structure to make either one distort with a couple of loud hip hop tracks.
 

hollis

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I'm strictly (very!) old school on that account (so far): Yamaha DSP-1 and DSR-100 Pro from the mid-1980s fed by a Topping E30 DAC. I've yet to encounter anything modern that can do what the DSP-1 does, at least not at a sensible price and in a reasonable size.
Coolness! Checking out eBay as we speak.

I have been using the Jriver JRSS upmixing with positive results. So positive that I kicked off this evaluation project before I go from 4.1 to 6.1 (phantom center for HT, no center at all for music).
 

puffreis

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It was interesting in my comparisons that the older version of the Behringer (2031 without suffix) offered better performance. Especially in the low bass range ! Also, the high frequency had to be lowered more on the B2031A (HT -4).

Here the comparison B2031A, B2031, B2031P, JBL LSR 308 and Wharfedale Linton:

Behringer VS.jpg


Here the difference in the bass range B2031 and B2031A:

Behringer 2031vs2031A.jpg


Here is the comparison B2031, B&W 606, Dynaudio Contour 1.1 and Revel Concerta 2 M16 (bought according to Amir's rating) seven months later:

Behringer VS Revel.jpg
 
Last edited:

Digby

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It was interesting in my comparisons that the older version of the Behringer (2031 without suffix) offered better performance.
What is your subjective opinion on all the speakers you tested above?
 

puffreis

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None of the speakers shown above were a failure.
These were already the better ones, which can also be seen in the following diagram (I tried to adjust to the same level at about 350Hz).
The curve in red is an average of the JBL LSR and Linton:

2022-09-07 15_14_13-Window.jpg


What amazed me were the tiny Dynaudios.
What they knocked out of that small enclosure is really remarkable.

The best in this comparison I would rate the Revel and Behringer B2031.
 

YSC

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None of the speakers shown above were a failure.
These were already the better ones, which can also be seen in the following diagram (I tried to adjust to the same level at about 350Hz).
The curve in red is an average of the JBL LSR and Linton:

View attachment 229295

What amazed me were the tiny Dynaudios.
What they knocked out of that small enclosure is really remarkable.

The best in this comparison I would rate the Revel and Behringer B2031.
I think since it's mostly a clone of a great design, when it works it's not surprised to be good, but failure rate is kind of... really troublesome. the dynaudio seems they have quite some good drivers?
 

regan

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Would 2031A be a better choice than Kali lp 8 v2?
 
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