• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Behringer A800 Stereo Amplifier Review

wje

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 13, 2020
Messages
425
Likes
560
Location
Virginia
In Germany the price just went up from 169€ to 179€. But currently it's out of stock in most of the shops.

The wholesale price could be going up because of the Coronavirus. It appears many factories, and shipping operations have greatly cut back because of this health scare.
 

hansik

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2020
Messages
77
Likes
102
Yes I was also thinking about that, though I will only need them at the end of the year in my new home theater. But that price...:)
And I'm afraid one guy at Behringer will suddenly notice that it's 50% cheaper than in the States LOL.
 

1roger

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2020
Messages
80
Likes
17
did this review touch on the bridge capability of the amp. and if it can function with under 4 ohm impedance loads

will there potentially be sonic benefits using two of these in bridge as `monoblocks` for hifi towers
 
Last edited:

A800

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
734
Likes
615
It might get hot I guess.
 

wje

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 13, 2020
Messages
425
Likes
560
Location
Virginia
did this review touch on the bridge capability of the amp. and if it can function with under 4 ohm impedance loads

will there potentially be sonic benefits using two of these in bridge as monoblocks for hifi towers

What speakers are you running? Approximate size of your room? Most people wouldn't need much more than the A800 provides unless you love it very loud, or have speakers that are not too efficient.
 

1roger

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2020
Messages
80
Likes
17
hello wje. speakers are XTZ 99.36. impedance(on the backplate) says 4-8ohm. sensitivity is about 88-89db. its rated at 200wrms and 500w peak
 

wje

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 13, 2020
Messages
425
Likes
560
Location
Virginia
You might consider something like the Behringer NX6000D instead. You can get a lot of power with that amp and not have to bridge it. I am using one off and on and I don't have to set the control/gain knobs too high to get a lot of performance and volume.
 

1roger

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2020
Messages
80
Likes
17
You might consider something like the Behringer NX6000D instead. You can get a lot of power with that amp and not have to bridge it. I am using one off and on and I don't have to set the control/gain knobs too high to get a lot of performance and volume.

and SQ is more or less comparable?
 
  • Like
Reactions: wje

wje

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 13, 2020
Messages
425
Likes
560
Location
Virginia
and SQ is more or less comparable?

Yes. In fact, when comparing my A500 to the A800, I could tell very little difference. Comparing the A500 to the NX6000D, the highs seemed a bit better with the NX6000D, but with slightly less mid-range than the A500. However, that was with the DM602 S3 B&W speakers, which can experience a bit of mid-range bloat from the 7" Kevlar woofer. Again, these are my impressions, but so many want to quickly write these off as P.A. amps, but the performance and sound quality has been on par, to my ears, with other amplifiers I've owned and currently own.
 

1roger

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2020
Messages
80
Likes
17
allright id have to consider the nx series as well then. how does in your view the a800 stack up to `500-1000` dollar class ab amps
 
  • Like
Reactions: wje

wje

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 13, 2020
Messages
425
Likes
560
Location
Virginia
allright id have to consider the nx series as well then. how does in your view the a800 stack up to `500-1000` dollar class ab amps

Pretty well. I have the Cambridge Audio 851W Azur amplifier too. Which is a $1,699 (US $) amplifier.
 

1roger

Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2020
Messages
80
Likes
17
Pretty well. I have the Cambridge Audio 851W Azur amplifier too. Which is a $1,699 (US $) amplifier.

id say.. that is pretty impressive. btw listening room is more or less 35 square meters
 
  • Like
Reactions: wje

A800

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Messages
734
Likes
615
The A800 has amazing punch, precision and clarity.
Especially for the money involved.
I don't know about the NX though.
 

Cptrips

New Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2020
Messages
3
Likes
4
I got this amp about a month ago. I had amazon deliver it. First off I noticed how little the amp is. 800 watts in this box, I don't think so. And the plastic face didn't make me feel any better. I plugged it in to my main outs ( rca cables) on my Yamaha receiver. My Yamaha is rated at 110w x 2 at 8 ohms. My front speakers are Infinity Kappa 7s. 12" 3 way 4 ohm speakers rated at 250 max watts. Part of the infamous amp killer line from Infinity. 12 gauge monster cable connected with bare wires at both ends. Made sure everything was off and plugged in amp. Turn amp all the way down and powered up. And immediately got hum as I turned amp up. Got a two prong power plug and plugged amp into that no hum, as matter of fact, no noise at all even with Yamaha turned on.

First impression (hdcd source Yamaha bd-s681) was my speakers were much crisper with the extra power but sounded a little like PA speakers. This was at normal volume which for me is three of the green lights on front of amp. Gain controls on amp at 75%, 50% on Yamaha. About 85db. After 45 minutes of listening to different stuff between hdcd and vinyl. I decided it was time to see what it had. Amp turned up to 95%, 75% on Yamaha. Stupid loud. Both yellow lights on amp lit and dancing. Steely Dan's "Bodhisattva" blasting away. I'm sure speakers dropped below 2 ohms but never complained. Clean, loud with the best bass coming out of those speakers in the 30 plus years I've owned them.

After now living with the amp for over a month. My home theatre sounds great even without a sub woofer. My Kappas really appreciate the extra power. Much brighter and the bass is really tight. Still for music the sound seems to lack warmth (depth) maybe. At times a little like a PA system not HIFI. No way this amp puts out 800 watts but still more power than I need. Maybe that's just class D power. All in all I think it is a great bang for the buck power amp.
 

Attachments

  • Behringer a800.pdf
    207.1 KB · Views: 267

HumbleDeer

New Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2020
Messages
2
Likes
1
Location
Bruges, Belgium
In Germany the price just went up from 169€ to 179€. But currently it's out of stock in most of the shops.
Ay, don't worry too much about the price hikes. Keep checking different sites. I got mine for 172 from Bax-shop. They're a local Dutch shop that sells gear. The prices will fluctuate, and that's normal! They'll drop again too. :)

I got this amp about a month ago. I had amazon deliver it. First off I noticed how little the amp is. 800 watts in this box, I don't think so. And the plastic face didn't make me feel any better.
This is normal. Cut costs somewhere ;)
Got a two prong power plug and plugged amp into that no hum, as matter of fact, no noise at all even with Yamaha turned on.
See about getting a ground loop isolator for your audio cables instead. Leaving an amplifier ungrounded seems and probably is really unsafe, and the only other return path it has is your audio cables.
First impression (hdcd source Yamaha bd-s681) was my speakers were much crisper with the extra power but sounded a little like PA speakers.
Is that a good thing for you, or a bad thing? What makes you feel they sound like PA speakers? Is there a certain range of frequencies you feel is different? Or is it just the sheer difference between your receiver and the new amp?
This was at normal volume which for me is three of the green lights on front of amp. Gain controls on amp at 75%, 50% on Yamaha. About 85db. After 45 minutes of listening to different stuff between hdcd and vinyl. I decided it was time to see what it had. Amp turned up to 95%, 75% on Yamaha. Stupid loud. Both yellow lights on amp lit and dancing. Steely Dan's "Bodhisattva" blasting away. I'm sure speakers dropped below 2 ohms but never complained. Clean, loud with the best bass coming out of those speakers in the 30 plus years I've owned them.
Don't worry too much about the impedance drop. They can handle it, musically. And the only risk is that they got hot, for which the chips themselves have internal shutdowns.
After now living with the amp for over a month. My home theatre sounds great even without a sub woofer. My Kappas really appreciate the extra power. Much brighter and the bass is really tight. Still for music the sound seems to lack warmth (depth) maybe. At times a little like a PA system not HIFI. No way this amp puts out 800 watts but still more power than I need. Maybe that's just class D power. All in all I think it is a great bang for the buck power amp.
Warmth is often a product of distortion that many like. It's a fairly subjective preference. The amplifier surely doesn't produce its rated power. That's quite usual to see from Behringer, even if it's a bit nasty. It does about 250 watts at 4 ohm and 150 at 8 ohm I think? Class D is a lot more efficient, but with them being so efficient it's also easy to fool with the numbers because you can shortly overpower them and say "Look ma, more power!"

Cheer, Anna
 
  • Like
Reactions: wje

gasolin75

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Sep 19, 2019
Messages
593
Likes
131
Location
Denmark
did this review touch on the bridge capability of the amp. and if it can function with under 4 ohm impedance loads

will there potentially be sonic benefits using two of these in bridge as `monoblocks` for hifi towers

The amp is not rated to be 2 ohm stabel according to thomann.de
 
  • Like
Reactions: wje

gasolin75

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Sep 19, 2019
Messages
593
Likes
131
Location
Denmark
I got this amp about a month ago. I had amazon deliver it. First off I noticed how little the amp is. 800 watts in this box, I don't think so. And the plastic face didn't make me feel any better. I plugged it in to my main outs ( rca cables) on my Yamaha receiver. My Yamaha is rated at 110w x 2 at 8 ohms. My front speakers are Infinity Kappa 7s. 12" 3 way 4 ohm speakers rated at 250 max watts. Part of the infamous amp killer line from Infinity. 12 gauge monster cable connected with bare wires at both ends. Made sure everything was off and plugged in amp. Turn amp all the way down and powered up. And immediately got hum as I turned amp up. Got a two prong power plug and plugged amp into that no hum, as matter of fact, no noise at all even with Yamaha turned on.

First impression (hdcd source Yamaha bd-s681) was my speakers were much crisper with the extra power but sounded a little like PA speakers. This was at normal volume which for me is three of the green lights on front of amp. Gain controls on amp at 75%, 50% on Yamaha. About 85db. After 45 minutes of listening to different stuff between hdcd and vinyl. I decided it was time to see what it had. Amp turned up to 95%, 75% on Yamaha. Stupid loud. Both yellow lights on amp lit and dancing. Steely Dan's "Bodhisattva" blasting away. I'm sure speakers dropped below 2 ohms but never complained. Clean, loud with the best bass coming out of those speakers in the 30 plus years I've owned them.

After now living with the amp for over a month. My home theatre sounds great even without a sub woofer. My Kappas really appreciate the extra power. Much brighter and the bass is really tight. Still for music the sound seems to lack warmth (depth) maybe. At times a little like a PA system not HIFI. No way this amp puts out 800 watts but still more power than I need. Maybe that's just class D power. All in all I think it is a great bang for the buck power amp.

According to my link 300watt in 4 ohm but it's not surpose to be stabel in 2 ohm so i might reduce power when the connected to 2 ohm speakers

Sound; It's a class d amp it don't sound as warm as an ab amp, class d amps often sound dry and a little bright as can a pa system but it helps with the warmth,full bodied sound when using big pa subwoofer
 
  • Like
Reactions: wje

rvsixer

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Apr 6, 2018
Messages
605
Likes
409
Location
Somewhere at the base of the Rockies....
Top Bottom