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Behringer A800 Stereo Amplifier Review

sergeauckland

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really ? i don't wanna have the ability to change the crossover freq. I just would use the active crossover to be able to go from L/R mono to 2x the a800 2x mono
Yes really! If you want to use an electronic crossover before the power amps, you MUST remove or bypass the passive crossover.

Otherwise, you're just passive biamping, which has no benefit, with the added complication of an active crossover screwing up the frequency response.

S.
 

Pulkass

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really ? i don't wanna have the ability to change the crossover freq. I just would use the active crossover to be able to go from L/R mono to 2x the a800 2x mono
What electronic x over are you using, loudspeakers ???
 

Pulkass

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atc

atc scm12 pro. I don't have it now but would buy the Behringer cx2310. but I doubt I buy it if I have to open the atc. thanks for your help
Don t do absolutely anything, the ATC is a very good monitor, no electronic X over needed whatsoever, spend on very rigid, heavy, damped, de coupled stands, for my two way bookshelf l m using Yamaha studio stands, high, perfect. Unfortunately no more produced, l filled them with sand. I m using the electronic X over for my DIY behemoths, born with no cross overs. 3 stereo amps Behringer and one crown XLS for the subwoofer. Spend on room treatment too.
 

backfisch321

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Don t do absolutely anything, the ATC is a very good monitor, no electronic X over needed whatsoever, spend on very rigid, heavy, damped, de coupled stands, for my two way bookshelf l m using Yamaha studio stands, high, perfect. Unfortunately no more produced, l filled them with sand. I m using the electronic X over for my DIY behemoths, born with no cross overs. 3 stereo amps Behringer and one crown XLS for the subwoofer. Spend on room treatment too.
yeah I stopt my plan again. I am using just 1 stereo a800 again. but the acts now with a cheap sub. I am very happy now. Its amazing how a sub can change the sound of your monitors. It kinda helps the overall sound from bottom to top a lot. even if the sub is very low in volume the sound becomes more 3d everything is more real. adding a sub is definitely a better option to add quality to your speakers. Thanks anyway @Pulkass and @sergeauckland
 

Pulkass

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yeah I stopt my plan again. I am using just 1 stereo a800 again. but the acts now with a cheap sub. I am very happy now. Its amazing how a sub can change the sound of your monitors. It kinda helps the overall sound from bottom to top a lot. even if the sub is very low in volume the sound becomes more 3d everything is more real. adding a sub is definitely a better option to add quality to your speakers. Thanks anyway @Pulkass and @sergeauckland
I have been having this huge 18 incher subwoofer sitting idle for two years, now it s working and giving that kick to my sound image. !
 

N1ck

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I have balanced connections and if i turn the gain dials past 2 oclock to max, i hear an increase in base noise coming from the tweeters on my kef 3160 and other speakers. Max ill set the gain on the behringer amps is 2oclock, which still has a small about of hiss coming from the speakers tweeters but very little. Its only audinle when putting ear right up to the speaker. At max gain, its very audible.
How does the A800 perform with you ci3160 speakers? I have ci4100s and am considering getting the A800 to power them and give my Denon AVR a bit of breathing space.
2 o’clock doesn’t seem that much.
 

Nightyard

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How does the A800 perform with you ci3160 speakers? I have ci4100s and am considering getting the A800 to power them and give my Denon AVR a bit of breathing space.
2 o’clock doesn’t seem that much.
Yeah, they performed very well indeed. My a800 amps sound as good as the class g amps in my arcam avr850 but can go louder.

Scenes that really utilise all channels sound incredible as every channel got all the power they could need

The amps in the arcam blew me away vs the marantz sr6012 i had before it, so there's that.

Ive sold the 3160rl speakers now. I have my behringer a800 amps for sale on ebay uk
 

zack20cb

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I use the A800 in my office with a JDS Atom Amp+ and a pair of Polk ES20 speakers. It's a good configuration and comes in well under $1000. The only thing I would change is to replace the Atom Amp+ with one of the Topping headphone amps that have a physical switch to control headphone vs preamp output.
 

sebastian___

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You're not supposed to change the volume of a power amp. Pro units offer you the ability too but many installers set it once and then pull the buttons off so nobody can mess with them by accident. You change the volume on the pre-amp.
In my case volume control is very handy, I have a 3 way electronically x overed , 3 amped system, tweeters amp must have volume full down, while switching off the whole rig, I have burned many a scan Speak tweeters coils, forgetting to do such maneuvre. Pre amp volume is down of course, but the surge in tweeters is very dangerous.

I don't understand why all PA have separate knobs like that. Even if they have a good technical reason, there are so many ways you could link two knobs like that, either mechanically, electronically and so on. There are already lots of "hifi" devices with separate knobs but positioned on top of each other so if you move one, the other will move as well, but you can easily move them separately.

From Behringer A800 user manual:

"Each channel features a volume control. Use it to adjust gain on your A800. Both volume controls should be turned all the way to the left whenever you power the unit up or down. If an active signal is present on the input, turning the volume down will protect your speakers and your ears from unwanted “pops” or transients."

Which makes sense. Even with high quality amplifiers I just feel better doing just what they are recommending as well. So imagine every time you turning those knobs down and then trying to figure out again how to push them up and balance them.
 

zack20cb

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Yup. All just part of its charm. I sometimes wish they had some soft-start circuitry on it, but I like my stuff simple, and the A800 is very simple.
 

Rja4000

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I don't understand why all PA have separate knobs like that.
Pro amplifiers are meant for multiple purposes.

One of them, probably the less common, being to drive a pair of full range speakers.

Even in that case, the amplifier volume knob is just one out of many level controls in the chain that may affect the channels balance.

So its "perfect" matching is of little importance.

But the ability to quickly and individually set the volume for each channel is important.

When you use it to drive 2 stage monitors, or 2 different ranges after a crossover filter, or speakers in different rooms, or main speaker and sub bass, or...

Pro use cases are just infinite.
Flexibility is a key word.
 
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LTig

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From Behringer A800 user manual:

"Each channel features a volume control. Use it to adjust gain on your A800. Both volume controls should be turned all the way to the left whenever you power the unit up or down. If an active signal is present on the input, turning the volume down will protect your speakers and your ears from unwanted “pops” or transients."

Which makes sense. Even with high quality amplifiers I just feel better doing just what they are recommending as well. So imagine every time you turning those knobs down and then trying to figure out again how to push them up and balance them.
You don't do this in a fixed installation. It's mandatory if you use them on the road.
 

sebastian___

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Pro amplifiers are meant for multiple purposes.

One of them, probably the less common, being to drive a pair of full range speakers.

Even in that case, the amplifier volume knob is just one out of many level controls in the chain that may affect the channels balance.

So its "perfect" matching is of little importance.

But the ability to quickly and individually set the volume for each channel is important.

When you use it to drive 2 stage monitors, or 2 different ranges after a crossover filter, or speakers in different rooms, or main speaker and sub bass, or...

Pro use cases are just infinite.
Flexibility is a key word.

But having knobs like in the attached pictures - would not prevent any of the use cases you mentioned. On the contrary, would add to the ease of use.

Dual knobs - easy to rotate simultaneously.

16664148-stereo-cassette-tape-deck-analog-vintage_output.png


120633373-middle_output.png


e429af7c4045998e1dd753f5eb47_output.png


IMG_2605_output.png
 

sebastian___

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I don't own one yet, but your reply "I don't like this" seems subjective. Or nostalgic.
I still didn't found a reason for why it would be worse or wrong to build gains to have some kind of synchronization between them.
 

Rja4000

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I don't own one yet, but your reply "I don't like this" seems subjective. Or nostalgic.
I still didn't found a reason for why it would be worse or wrong to build gains to have some kind of synchronization between them.
It is subjective, indeed. :)

Now, to explain a bit:
You may achieve such a concentric pot in 2 ways: with or without mechanical link between the 2 channels.

My integrated Amp (a venerable Pioneer A400X) has some kind of friction between the channels.
The good think is that you may easily turn the 2 together.
The drawback is that to change balance, you need to use your 2 hands, to fight the friction. Accurate setting is therefore not easy.

Some have no manual friction (was frequently found on cassette recorders, as you show in your photos). Then, the issue is that it's too easy to accidentally change the balance.

On top of it, and whatever the mechanical option, those pots are not linear, of course, so when you modify the volume, you also somehow modify the balance, since each pot slope may be slightly different, depending on the setting.

I told you: I don't like this.
It's unpractical for home use.
Don't even think about asking a pro to use this.
 
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Vini darko

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Eeeek just went to look at this amp again as I have new speakers on order that will benifit from extra power. The price has gone wild. They were £169 from release till very recently now £275 :oops: suddenly way less appealing.
 

nathan

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Oh yes, it can vary by a factor of two. It is worth using a price monitoring app to watch for price dips.
 
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