Review and Measurements of Behringer A500 Amplifier

[gene_stl]

Crown and many others have DSP input channels that allow you to do whatever you want. Look in their "install" series.
https://www.parts-express.com/cat/p...eca:matches(.,"P_Searchable","1")]&PortalID=1

 

[Pulkass]

Crown and many others have DSP input channels that allow you to do whatever you want. Look in their "install" series.
https://www.parts-express.com/cat/power-amplifiers-live-sound/346?N=21952+4294967118+14087&Ne=10166&Nrs=collection()/record[endeca:matches(.,"P_PortalID","1")+and+endeca:matches(.,"P_Searchable","1")]&PortalID=1

Thanks!

 

[Pulkass]

I have a 3 way - elec x overed- 4 amped system, basically l would need a Dac ( which l have, but capable of 96 khz only) with -out -digital signal, that s the Cambridge 2010 edition, very good on XLR out, but at the moment l m using a Topping E30.

 

[gene_stl]

The Crowns that I have have analog intput to their DSPs . One would need to carefully measure latency but that is not very hard in this day and age.
I believe they have Analog Device Sharcs as their processor but don't quote me I haven't looked in a while.

 

[Pulkass]

What do you mean 'latency'?

 

[Deleted member 2944]

What do you mean 'latency'?

Latency, in this context, is simply the pure (frequency-independent) time delay between amplifier input and output.
In a normal amplifier it's not enough to worry about, but in a Class-D and/or an amplifier with built-in DSP it can be significant.

Dave.

 

[Pulkass]

Thanks.

 

[Pulkass]

I used a cheap Berhringer as a sub amp to good extent. Slightly modified as I added much larger heat sinks and an ultra low speed fan as the original fan I could hear. Not a HI-FI amp, but was excellent on a pair of Peerless XLSS subs. For kicks I tried it on my mains. NOPE. Helped hold up my dislike for class D. Terrible actually. If I was a garage band, I would keep an extra one of these in the van as they are so cheap as a PA backup.

my text

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Behringer A500 "Reference" Power amplifier. I purchased this unit on suggestions from members from Amazon for just $199 including Prime shipping.

Being targeted at the pro market, this is rack-mount unit with heft heatsinks on each side:

View attachment 17169​

Full compliment of inputs are provided from RCA to balanced XLR and TRS. No input selector is provided though and the manual warns against simultaneous connection to more than one input.

The plastic volume knobs feel cheap but otherwise, it seems to be a sturdy build.

The manual says it has a class AB output stage. I am assuming some kind of power rail voltage switching is used to keep power consumption generally low but I have not confirmed this.

For my testing, I used a 4 ohm dummy load and balanced XLR inputs. Let's get into measurements and see how she did.

EDIT: the first revision of this review had tested the A500 with the input switch set to bridged. It has now been updated in proper stereo mode.

Measurements
Let's start with our dashboard:

View attachment 17176

Even though I was using balanced input and outputs from the amplifier, we see large contributions from noise from the power supply in the form of 120 Hz and multiple harmonics.

The harmonic distortion is quite high too with distortion spikes seemingly going on forever. So even if the power supply was 100% quiet, it would likely still not get better distortion/sinad rating. A dismal showing regardless, underperforming good DACs by whopping 40 db!

Signal to noise ratio is rated at 100 and I get numbers reasonably close to it:
View attachment 17171

Here is distortion versus power:

View attachment 17177

Sad to see a class AB amp not be able to outdo the switching amp in the Topping TP60 with respect to distortion and noise where the two overlap.

Thankfully the Behringer A500 has copious amount of power, producing nearly 170 watts prior to clipping. Behringer's rating is 180 watts at 1% distortion which seems like an honest rating.

Frequency response is OK but not as flat as it should be for a power amp in the audible range:
View attachment 17173

If there is rail supply switching, then it likely has an output filter to get rid of switching noise from that and as a result, start to roll off the response as we see above.

I think we have a good picture of A500 performance so let's not torture ourselves anymore.

Conclusions
We seem to have a stream of bad luck with bargain amplifiers. Sure, they provide exceptional value in how little they charge per watt. I know I can't make and ship the empty case of this amplifier for $199. But still, we want good distortion specs that rise up at least to some of the worst DACs we have ever tested. Heck, these numbers are no better than some analog formats!

Given the high distortion levels and somewhat uneven frequency response, I can't recommend the Behringer 500. If you just want loud amplification, then you do have a bargain here.

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As always, any questions, concerns, comments, corrections, etc. are welcome.

If you like this review, please consider donating using Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/audiosciencereview), or upgrading your membership here though Paypal (https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...eview-and-measurements.2164/page-3#post-59054). It will enable me to pay for gear that is not offered for loan.

Connected it right now, to my new subwoofer, mono, heavy noise, low frequency noise and pulsating taaks! It s an old A500--I have tested it recently on 'the spot' with just two cheap spekers, but in stereo mode it did not give any problem.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Very interesting reading through this thread.

Amir’s review is great and is, I’m sure, peerless in its accuracy. As I’m sure the Matrix hi-fi session was.

Along with comments in a number of other threads, I've come to the following conclusion. Amir uses test measurements and judges results on what humans can and can’t hear, with certain thresholds for distortion, etc. However, whilst it’s technically possible to hear those issues in perfect conditions, the thresholds appear to be different for most humans in most real-world listening situations.

Perhaps we need to have a second set of parameters?

 

[daftcombo]

Is it true that there are two versions of the Behringer A500:

- and older one with a bright blue LED?
- a newer one with an orange LED (like on Amir's picture)

with major changes between the two versions, and that the newer is audibly better?