a500 or m-85s?

[svartgotik]

I have a Pioneer Elite VSX-74txvi as my receiver, and I've been thinking of maybe using it as a pre/pro and getting about 5 separate amps to drive my speakers. (Def Tech BP7004s, Klipsch RC-3, Klipsch SS.5s)

For awhile, a fantasy of mine was getting 5 old Yamaha m-85s. My brother had one of those "party" systems when he got out of the Army (CV pd-9s and yamaha c-80/m85 setup). I've been nostalgic about his setup, which is why I want to incorporate the m-85s. However, after reading though some posts, the Behringer a500 seems to be held in high esteem here.

I'm a musician, and have owned some Behringer gear and know they work great new, but the build quality can somewhat make them lose value over time and some products are hit and miss (e.g. a mixer that develops scratchy pots after a couple months, a tuner that's pretty unresponsive out of the box that had great reviews).

I'm thinking from an availability standpoint alone, the Behringer setup would be ideal. However, those old Yammys are built like tanks. Is there anyone here that's owned the A500s for awhile now that can comment on the longevity of them?

 

[Lordoftherings]

No, but did you ever consider the Emotiva XPA-1 mono blocks?

Or a combination of Emotiva XPA-2 with XPA-5? That's the one I will seriously consider. Total cost: $1,598 or wait for the next sale, you might shave a couple hundred clams. Reliability is their interest on consumer satisfaction.
Value is off the chart. Power & Performance is in your alley.

Bob

Note: I will get my XPA-3 pretty soon, and who knows what I will be getting next from Emotiva. Maybe a couple of XPA-1 with an XPA-2? That should help getting some neighbours out of the area! Or get me arrested and put in jail!

 

[lsiberian]

I have a Pioneer Elite VSX-74txvi as my receiver, and I've been thinking of maybe using it as a pre/pro and getting about 5 separate amps to drive my speakers. (Def Tech BP7004s, Klipsch RC-3, Klipsch SS.5s)

For awhile, a fantasy of mine was getting 5 old Yamaha m-85s. My brother had one of those "party" systems when he got out of the Army (CV pd-9s and yamaha c-80/m85 setup). I've been nostalgic about his setup, which is why I want to incorporate the m-85s. However, after reading though some posts, the Behringer a500 seems to be held in high esteem here.

I'm a musician, and have owned some Behringer gear and know they work great new, but the build quality can somewhat make them lose value over time and some products are hit and miss (e.g. a mixer that develops scratchy pots after a couple months, a tuner that's pretty unresponsive out of the box that had great reviews).

I'm thinking from an availability standpoint alone, the Behringer setup would be ideal. However, those old Yammys are built like tanks. Is there anyone here that's owned the A500s for awhile now that can comment on the longevity of them?

The A500s are very powerful amps and may be more than you need. However they unlike other suggestions will allow you to use eq's and crossovers with much greater ease.

You will want 4 of them to drive 7.1

Pair them with three DCX 2496s and you have my dream pre-amp /processor/amp combo.

However I will probably end up just doing a DCX 2496 and something cheaper with more outputs.