Behringer EP2500 Stereo Amplifier Review

[DanielT]

Horrible, powerful but horrible.

I heard from several people i know that are into hifi (subjective hifi...) that those t.amps are the real deal.
one even claiming his t.amp sound better than his mcintosh.
but on the other hand one claimed that this radio antenna looking cable made a world of difference so i dont take any advise from them anymore.

To hear or not hear. ... differences. That is the question. Here's a blind test with, among other things, a Behringer A500 amp. I won't spoil their results, you can read about them in the link below. The result was at least what I suspected it would be:

Matrix HiFi --> Blind testing high end full equipments

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Horrible, powerful but horrible.

I heard from several people i know that are into hifi (subjective hifi...) that those t.amps are the real deal.
one even claiming his t.amp sound better than his mcintosh.
but on the other hand one claimed that this radio antenna looking cable made a world of difference so i dont take any advise from them anymore.

I’d take advice like this with a grain of salt as well. Even though it might be more true than not and that he might not hear a difference.

Thomann produces this 3U powerhouse.

Spoiler: T.amp Proline 3000

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Ideal for Susvara owners

 

[Tovarich007]

Amir's conclusion of this test sounds a bit stange to me : OK, a professionnl amp has to be powerful, but not only, so i don't think this amp "does the job" good as Amir wrote. There are tons of pro amps not very expensive which offer better performances and are much lighter and less noisy.
that's an under average amp, IMHO.

 

[uwotm8]

Ideal for Susvara owners

Might happen it's enough for old Dynaudio as well (in early 2000s audiophiles were on a quest of pumping those properly, legend says the endgame was to hook 'em straight to nearby nuclear plant).

 

[Bacchusoo7]

Amir's conclusion of this test sounds a bit stange to me : OK, a professionnl amp has to be powerful, but not only, so i don't think this amp "does the job" good as Amir wrote. There are tons of pro amps not very expensive which offer better performances and are much lighter and less noisy.
that's an under average amp, IMHO.

I think it's because this amp is really aimed at PA work. Fan noise doesn't really matter in a club/bar setting but getting those vocals over a pair of half-stacks does.

 

[Ron Texas]

Fine for PA use, but I'll keep my Crown XLS 1502 for the house.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Might happen it's enough for old Dynaudio as well (in early 2000s audiophiles were on a quest of pumping those properly, legend says the endgame was to hook 'em straight to nearby nuclear plant).

Which ones?

Contour 2 or 3, I assume? I've been searching for a pair of Contour 2s for years. Unfortunately, I fear most have been salvaged for their prized tweeters and mid-dome drivers.

 

[prerich]

Class D? Tons of crossover-like looking distortion, dead zone if class D. Horrible.

It's class AB a heavy piece of gear.

 

[prerich]

It's class H but still horrible,the noise alone is enough for an enormous hard pass.

Thanks Amir!

You're correct - I had one years ago and thought it was Class AB - but I think you're correct at class H

 

[uwotm8]

Contour 2 or 3, I assume?

Yes, and others of that era, the first iteration of Confidence for example.
Never heard these tho; however, managed to listen Confidence C1 and put it to my list of a few truly reference-grade bookshelf speakers.

It's class AB a heavy piece of gear

It's H due to its manual

 

[peniku8]

Everyone only buys active speakers, except for the giant PAs. But there LAB has a market share of about 90% because they also build a lot of OEM. Like Lacoustik, Kling& Freytag, Martin etc...

L haven't been using Lab amps since about a century ago d&b and L'acoustics are both so large I wouldn't be surprised if their amps were developed completely in-house. And these two combined are probably the majority of the market share already, so Lab's is more like an order of mangnitude lower than your 90% estimate. With the amount of manufacturers working with Powersoft, I also wouldn't be surprised if they overtook Lab.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Yes, and others of that era, the first iteration of Confidence for example.
Never heard these tho; however, managed to listen Confidence C1 and put it to my list of a few truly reference-grade bookshelf speakers.


View attachment 429698
It's H due to its manual

The description in the manual means that the power supply is Class H, while the amplifier uses a traditional complementary NPN/PNP BJT design. In essence, the amplifier is a Class A/B with a dynamically tracking power supply that adjusts the voltage based on the signal.

 

[Fidji]

Measures like tube amp, but with 100x more power for 20x less cost. Not a bad deal.

 

[Raizo]

Nice review, thanks!
I've always been curious about how the Yamaha P2500S class-t amplifier measures.

 

[Tovarich007]

L haven't been using Lab amps since about a century ago d&b and L'acoustics are both so large I wouldn't be surprised if their amps were developed completely in-house. And these two combined are probably the majority of the market share already, so Lab's is more like an order of mangnitude lower than your 90% estimate. With the amount of manufacturers working with Powersoft, I also wouldn't be surprised if they overtook Lab.

Lab amps ? You mean Lab Gruppen ? (I haven't found another "Lab" brand for amps)

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Nice review, thanks!
I've always been curious about how the Yamaha P2500S class-t amplifier measures.

The P2500S and P3500S have the same design and use toroidal transformers, while the P5000S and P7000S feature an SMPS.
All models perform well, with variable fans that activate only above 50°C.
I have all of them on the shelf -highly recommended. Oh, and the handles are removable.

Spoiler: P3500S mesurements

«Mesures ampli YAMAHA P3500S : MISE A JOUR» - 30056383 - sur le forum «Amplificateurs de puissance» - 1358 - du site Homecinema-fr.com

Merci Sergio Disons que mon environnement professionnel me formate: nos designs electroniques sont valides par une caracterisation poussee, des rapports

www.homecinema-fr.com

 

[Sernyl]

I have no T(homann)-Amp under the hand, but it would be interesting to test one...
Any testers in EU ?

 

[ssashton]

The Alesis RA500 was a great amp for the money in a similar style. Now discontinued, would love to see it on the bench if you grab one used. Lower distortion than this, I'm pretty sure. I measured it at 1khz and was impressed (only a memory, no data saved). Is it the same internally as the Behringer A500? No; shielded transformer and clearly different Amp PCBs.

Alesis RA500

Alesis RA500 - RA500 Reference Amplifier

www.alesis.com

 

[Jonas_h]

I have no T(homann)-Amp under the hand, but it would be interesting to test one...
Any testers in EU ?

Unfortunately I don't have access to test equipment. But I would be surprised if the T.Amps are any better than the Behringer. Their spec sheets state higher distortion and they are also Chinese made amps like the Behringer.