Subjective impression on the Behringer A800, after it for two months driving my entry-level Canton Karat 920 DC from the early nineties. With two comparisons at hand, one a not good at all Rotel RA921 integrated amp that I owned since I got it as a teen and a 1980s Philips power amp AH 380 rated at 125 watts into 4 ohms, but actually more powerfull; who's repective preamp AH 280 is also driving the Behringer at the moment with analogue RCA-in from a Focusrite 2i2/PC. All in all, not a setup for critical listening, but here is my experience anyway:
The Behringer A800 is very clear and offers plenty of detail, it can be a real joy. Compared to the Philips AH 380, which is not necessarily on the weak side and who's nicely lit VU-meters yet barely ever run higher than 2-3 watts in my living room, the Behringer has much more bass authority. The bass is not
boomy or resonant [formerly I wrote 'bassy', which can be missunderstood], it has a dry and brutal presence when it is in the source but never when there is none. While with the Philips, which is neither colored, the low frequencies sometimes vanish into a less persuasive transient, when it is just not fast enough to provide the energy. This led to some complaints when I was comparing both, because I was looking for the bass response in the Philips while it was clearly there, my neighbour later told me.
There are at least two things which I cannot explain technically, because I am not an engineer and I do not have the proficiency, but which I can clearly notice and which as such can be taken as a fact from experience: The midrange (sorry, no exact frequencies band, must be between 500 and 2000 Hz) of the Behringer is kind of hollow, it has little body. You will find yourself adjusting tone control if you are as lucky as me and own an oldy preamp. But it is hard to fight, even with PEQ. One could assume it is the speakers and yes, they are German 80s recipies which means a recessed mid in order to care for excessive tweeter off-axis energy integration. But: The Philips has very sweet sounding mids on the same speakers, they are present, smooth, silky, sound great. The Behringer is thin and there is a bit of an abyss. I assume this could be a matter of certain-order harmonic distortions which sweeten and fill the Philips sound in a good way, while the Behringer does not have them. The other thing: The Behringer pics up a lot of noise from the Focusrite 2i2 which gets its power from a noisy USB port. If you have a better setup, this could be a non issue for you.
Would I buy the Behringer again? At this price point, if you have some free money to spend, try it, it has its qualities. But I myself will try anoter ClassD product next time and hope it is smoother and sweeter in the mids.