you probably know but in any case.. behringer say themselves about the a800: Independent DC, LF and thermal overload protection on each channel automatically protects amplifier and speakers
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Benchmark AHB2 vs Quad artera vs hypex class d
- Thread starter Pjetrof
- Start date
you probably know but in any case.. behringer say themselves about the a800: Independent DC, LF and thermal overload protection on each channel automatically protects amplifier and speakers
Just replaced the Saxon (10 year old crap caps) in one on the subwoofers last week. Replaced them in another sub five years ago.
Brown ooze was running down the cap and on the board.
I think this situation has improved. But several manufacturers were financially ruined by the warranty costs and loss of reputation. Not just audio.
On the amplifier plate it proudly listed “Designed in USA, Made in CHINA”. How things have changed.
My amps were manufactured and designed in France. Expect a long life.
Brown ooze was running down the cap and on the board.
I think this situation has improved. But several manufacturers were financially ruined by the warranty costs and loss of reputation. Not just audio.
On the amplifier plate it proudly listed “Designed in USA, Made in CHINA”. How things have changed.
My amps were manufactured and designed in France. Expect a long life.
TomJ
Active Member
Re Quad Artera Stereo, yes that looked interesting to me too. It has good power (165/265w, HFN) but seems to be limited in its output current by a small power supply (488w max output, couldn't find its VA spec) and caps (based on a teardown photo, couldn't find that spec either). Just for comparison, the power supply in my current amp (20 yr old Krell) has 1850w max output and a 2kVA rating. So I never tried one, decided to limit my short list to the AHB2 and Purifi which both deliver good output current. Hope that's helpful (?).
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Can you provide a link to this post? I frequent the HUG and have never seen it. It seems odd, as ASs official position on amplifiers is that it doesn’t matter what you use so long as it has sufficient power.
OP
Pjetrof
Active Member
- Thread Starter
- #86
iffy? That aint fair if you say ASR is good forum etc you cant call the a800 iffy cause AS mentioned something!
thats the point i m trying to make!
see review ASR amir never called the a800 iffy! ASWas wrong!
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...behringer-a800-stereo-amplifier-review.10499/
OP
Pjetrof
Active Member
- Thread Starter
- #88
i m relaxed specially in this times of corona.
but we have to agree that we disagree
it is not because the berhinger is only 200 euro that you can say it is iffy.
a few weeks after AS mentioned about price and reliability he put a thead on HUG recommended amps by klippel.Have you seen the price of the cheapest on that list?? Sarcastic question!
I've powered many pairs of speakers with a single AHB2 in a rather large room. I sit about 9.5 feet from the speakers. The only time I've witnessed the clip indicator illuminate was during a loud crescendo through my Maggie .7s. The particular song has an incredible dynamic range and was playing quite loud. With any other pair of speakers my ears cry uncle before the amp does.
A couple of friendly points:
1) Sarcasm isn’t often seen as the best way to convey that one is relaxed, especially to people that you don’t know on the WWW. It’s up to you how you communicate obviously, so just a thought really.
2) On HUGs position:
‘You cannot make a mistake, aside from perhaps not having enough watts available to play as you like.’
Alan Shaw has gone to extraordinary lengths over the years to discourage arbitrary discussion of amplifiers and for good reason. The subject gets far more attention than is warranted, amplifiers have been a commodity for years, and one has to venture far into high cost wilful idiocy to find one that won’t work with more or less any speaker. You certainly can’t buy an amp that will fail in any mainstream av store.
That said, for what ever reason audio enthusiasts won’t stop thinking and talking about amplifiers. On this site we obsess about performance beyond the thresholds of audibility when we all know that we are long past the point where it matters. That’s fine. In the wider audio world a huge amount of money is sunk into telling audiophile consumers that there is some secret to a good amp and you need to spend, spend, spend to be in on it. You don’t, it’s almost impossible to buy one that won’t work with any speaker.
Alan Shaw was skeptical that a £200 amp could have received the necessary QA to recommend it. He didn’t say ‘plug your Harbeths into a a800 and it voids the warrantly’. He effectively said ‘be cautious about how cheap you go as if you send in an speaker that has clearly been fried by a broken amplifier we won’t repair it under the warranty’.
The list you refer to is a list generated by HUG users. The only purpose of that list in ASs mind is to limit pointless amplifier discussion to one thread rather than have endless discussion that just distracts from the main issue. Amps don’t matter anymore in most use cases.
Maybe AS was wrong to assume that a £200 couldn’t be good enough on QA grounds. I’m happy to assume it is safe on the basis of the evidence presented on this forum. But it has to be acknowledged that £200 amplifiers that can drive 85db speakers safely are few and far between, and the rule of thumb around rock bottom costs and quality is still a useful one, but as with all rules of thumb, will have exceptions, possibly increasingly so. We live in interesting times.
OP
Pjetrof
Active Member
- Thread Starter
- #91
Again we have to agree that i disagree!
Indeed i dont know Willem but been in few conversation with him.
you cant be speaking higly about this forum and certain amps!
The A 800 is been tested good on this forum!
And because AS saying something just based on the price agree with him!
And few weeks after that discussion AS comes himself with a Z list with cheaper amplifiers.
also been in conversation with AS in privat conversation.
And no i m not referring to the list generated by HUG users.
I m referring to the flawless reference list Z list. Thread started by AS!
And i m not defending the a800. I ve been playing with all sorts of amplifiers! My most expensive one was accuphase 650.
Cause of this forum and the Harbeth forum, i bought the a800 as a test case!
i m not talking about reliability or anything else!
audibility i couldnt hear diffrence!
my to use amplifier is quad qsp pre and amp btw.
And if i come over wrong or not relaxed, it has to do with me not being able to write good and especially not in english.
i dont get angry or stressed out over hifi. I love music, but i also have an opinion and like to share that.
Especially if people start judging things because of price! And not facts!
Ok, I don’t think we disagree fundamentally. I do think that price is a ‘fact’ that whilst not determinative of quality, is a relevant heuristic at the bottom end, if not at the top. Like all heuristics it doesn’t tell the whole story all of the time.
A800 is built to a pricepoint.. simple as that. great sound for the cost. but you can`t expect cheap china internal components to hold up as quality components..just how it is. for some reason they might tho, who knows^^ ..but it would go against the pricepoint AND behringers general reputation
The Artera and AHB2 are compared in this Artera review...
www.theabsolutesound.com
Quad Artera Play Linestage/DAC/CD Player and Stereo Power Amplifier - The Absolute Sound
Quad Artera Play Linestage/DAC/CD Player and Stereo Power Amplifier -
www.theabsolutesound.com
I have always respected Robert E Greene, but I wonder about his hearing acuity given his age. By and large I think there are very good arguments to be made for bandwidth limited amplifier designs. Interestingly the measurements recently posted in another thread of the Artera and its more bandwidth limited predecessor the QSP show the latter measured marginally better. Anyway, I doubt any of these measured differences are actually audible - I am still more than happy with my refurbished Quad 606-2, the even more bandwidth limited ancestor of the QSP/Artera.
A decent refurbished 606/707/909 should be available for well under $1000 nowadays... (circa $600 or $700 I believe) - an AHB2 is circa $3000 ... in terms of value for money the Quads are champions! -and in audiophile terms, they remain an excellent performer. My power amp fleet has a 606mk2 (refurbed) a 707 (original), a 303 (refurbed) and 2x Crown XLS2500 - I probably should thin the herd...