I have a high regard for these Behringer amps, the A800 I use has been solid and reliable, despite feeling cheap and low rent (in fairness it was actually cheap) it seems to be a pretty well made product. For what it is used for (the sound desk in a church) it is great. However, if I was going to buy a low-ish cost high power amp of that type for home use (and I think they're more than adequate for home audio use) I think I'd go for a Crown equivalent. Crown are more expensive but they're still good value and they seem to have a nicer build and feel than Behringer.
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Review and Measurements of Behringer A500 Amplifier
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Or the discontinued Yamaha Pxx00s series. The P3500s was measured here: https://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum...mpli-yamaha-p3500s-mise-a-jour-t30056383.html And it measured very well, not 'just adequate'. And, of course, built quality is fine.
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This should not surprise anyone familiar with level matched blind testing. From a FR standpoint, samples of the Behringer product have shown a slight HF dip which possibly, just possibly, could be reliably heard by someone with exceptionally fine hearing, and on certain recordings. With highly sensitive and relatively low distortion speakers (horns), at loud levels, distortion could be an audible factor. I'd like to see a test under those conditions. just for fun. Aesthetically, it's a pretty agricultural looking piece of machinery. Not going to impress anyone, like an Accuphase. At 50 times the price--If that's important. Will it hold up, long term? If it breaks, after a couple of years, just throw it out and get a new one. For what it is, and for many applications, it serves the purpose.
The PS series is still availabile ..
Is there a two itterations with the same name? Older V1 & new V2?
This claim is true for ALL power amplifiers.
This is also proven in (very) high-end amplifiers, which in fact DO NOT have volume control(s).
These are different beasts: Yamaha Pxxxxs are PA amps, on contrary Behringer's Ax00s are "Studio Reference" ones...
Behringer, as of about 7 years ago, was designing schematically simple gear, and producing it from inexpensive components, with barely any quality assurance. I bought several B-stock DEQs. Real cheap. They started randomly failing after couple of months.
Investigation revealed misaligned pins on internal connectors to power supply. Pins contacted at a point rather than being fully enveloped. Oxidation set in, and the point contacts developed non-trivial resistance. On all of the the units. Very easy fix, and they worked flawlessly thereafter.
The A500 though, I owned for whopping 2 days. My understanding is that it is designed to work at or near maximum volume, paired with PA speakers. Thus no attention to THD at low and high frequencies, especially at low amplitudes.
I was cycle touring in Italy when the remark about the Yamaha Pxxxx series was posted so I did not see it. The suggestion is mistaken, as should be obvious from the French test that Iinked to. For me it was a good reason to buy a p2500s for my son's low budget high quality audio system. It sounds absolutely fine and unlike the Behringer A500 manufacturing quality is impeccable. This one is a known survivor in rough use.
I don’t have it anymore, and don’t remember the model number, yet Yamaha made curiously interesting 5.1 amps for a while, early in the home theater game. They took their excellent stereo amp and added 4 really awful channels to it. THD and slew rate were like order of magnitude apart. As a stereo amp, it ought to be a huge bargain. Used 5.1 amps are ridiculously cheap these days.
Sure. The thread is about the Behringer A500, so we branched off already with Yamaha. I just branched a bit more
Still in the context of sub-$200 amps though.Valid points were made about the superior consumer stereo amps from 1980s and early 1990s, and how their deteriorating caps may be problematic. I also agree that the economic crisis of early 2000s killed off that class of mass-produced yet high SQ amps.
My point is that there was a "tail" of those glorious days - mid-1990s to early 2000s - when some home theater amps were still based on older-era high quality stereo amps.
Later, the competitive pressures to add more channels, and more audio and video processing circuits, severely limited space and budget available for SQ engineering in the home theater amps.
So, the older home theater A/B/H amps shouldn't be dismissed as a class, but considered model-by-model. They are fresher, and the deterioration of components may be not as pronounced as in stereo amps from the 1980s.
I use three A500s in my active home stereo system, and have no issues with them whatsoever. Distortion is around 0.02% at all powers and frequencies above 1w. Below that, THD+n is noise limited, but pure THD is low enough not to be a problem. They're hardly SOTA, but entirely adequate for the task.
Their only problem is they're too cheap to be credible.
S
What you are saying appears to contradict what Amir measured in a stock A500. Did you adjust the quiescent current of the output stage to get to that THD? Or perhaps A500 needs other adjustments to get there?
I have four A500s, one I used for PA purposes, and three at home, and they all four measure substantially the same without any adjustments.
S
But there's NO Crown equivalent(s) AFAIK.
I went through the process of deciding on a Pro/Commercial amp some years ago for up to 500Hz use. I purchased a Yamaha XP1000. In hindsight the Behringer would have been just fine and less expensive. The Yamaha is 'built-like-a-tank' but for home use this is probably overkill.
Ok, I found this interesting owner review for the A800:
Hope that inspires.
JerseyDave said:Class D Has Truly Arrived!! Fantastic Amp!!!
I had the previous model … The A500… In bridged mono and used one amp for each speaker. Now I’m using one A800 in stereo for my Martin Logan electrostatic Speakers. The A800 has enough power so I don’t need two amps any longer. Also the A800 sounds better and runs cool even at high volumes. The new technology definitely works. It’s actually cleaner and has more detail at all frequencies. I’m cutting the signal going to the Speakers way down below 80 HZ because I’m using Subwoofers for the lows. This makes the amp have less work to do so it helps it have more headroom but I did that when the A500’s were on the system and the A500’s got Very hot. They never shut down but the point is I’m Absolutely sure the new Amplifier is better in Every Way. The signal to noise ratio is Fantastic. Absolutely no noise between tracks at all. Runs cool. Plenty of Power.
Sounds Fantastic. Could not be happier. It’s Amazing it’s only 7 pounds. I might buy another one to try on my PA system out of curiosity.
Hope that inspires.
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Hi,
I just picked up a used but great condition Behringer A500 for 90€.
It's working, but there's a nasty noise (not too loud though) in the speakers with the RCA intput.
Is it worth getting RCA to XLR cables, or is it better to get a XLR out DAC?
I just picked up a used but great condition Behringer A500 for 90€.
It's working, but there's a nasty noise (not too loud though) in the speakers with the RCA intput.
Is it worth getting RCA to XLR cables, or is it better to get a XLR out DAC?
If your source (DAC) is have balanced outs go XLRs (or TRS jacks) of course !
I found a very interesting article about compatibility with dipole-woofers here: http://redspade-audio.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-behringer-a500-power-amp.html. Also, lack of relays and damage of the power cord are also interesting findings.
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