Behringer A500 Amplifier: Objective Test Results

[vlad335]

I got my 3 Behringers last Saturday. Let me just say I am now in audio Nirvana! However, this wasn't the case when I first hooked them up.

They arrived after I started a stretch of 3 12 hour midnight shifts. I had the amps switched to mono but had the RCA cable plugged into channel B of each amp. What a horrible sound! My speakers had the fidelity of police sirens, only at half the volume! I had to go to work so I didn't have time to troubleshoot but was seriously bumming. Discovered my error after reading the online manual at work that night. What a dumbass!

Wired correctly the sound is vastly improved. However I did feel they were slightly harsh with female vocals initially. This has definitely smoothed out after running them for awhile. I know some people deny the need for a SS amp break in but I would have to say that there is truth to it.

I had a stereo Behringer tube mic preamp laying around here collecting dust (MIC2200) so I added it to the front tower channels before the amp last night. The sound is beautiful in stereo. Don't know if the tube really does anything in this unit but it has an excellent parametric EQ that really cleaned up the midbass on my speakers. Big upgrade, thinking of another for the center channel.

Today I noticed an SACD logo on my DVD player. Believe it or not, I never knew that it could play these discs and never heard one before. Went to BestBuy and came home with Michael McDonald:Motown and a Godsmack acoustic SACD (They only had about 10 sacd's to choose from) Dug up some cheap RCA cables around the house just to get it hooked up. WOW! I have never heard music so clear! I can't believe I never looked into this before. Bought a couple SACD's tonight online and simply can't wait till they arrive.

Things are definitely looking up.

 

[beppe61]

I got my 3 Behringers last Saturday. Let me just say I am now in audio Nirvana!
However, this wasn't the case when I first hooked them up.
...
However I did feel they were slightly harsh with female vocals initially. This has definitely smoothed out after running them for awhile.
I know some people deny the need for a SS amp break in but I would have to say that there is truth to it.
...

Dear Sir, I am writing just to say that I am experiencing the same situation in my current system.
Initially I found the amp almost unbearable: metallic, harsh, hard expecially on voices.
With use it has improved, but still is harsh in the midband and the bass is not as "big" as I would.
Maybe the 180W/4 ohm of the A500 are just not enough for my power hungry Dynaudio speaker (next step could be the mighty Crown XLS 402 at 450 W/4 ohm !).
How many hours do you have on your amps?
Are you using them full range?
By the way it is extremely interesting to know that a tube in the pre section can give a more musical sound.

Thanks a lot and kind regards,

beppe
Italy

 

[WmAx]

I
I had a stereo Behringer tube mic preamp laying around here collecting dust (MIC2200) so I added it to the front tower channels before the amp last night. The sound is beautiful in stereo. Don't know if the tube really does anything in this unit...

I recommend the Behringer T1953 if one wants to specifically add tube distortion to the signal. The T1953 has a user-adjustable mix of the tube in ratio with the signal, allowing for controlled coloration. You can even open the unit and change to different tubes for a different distortion characteristic.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHT1953

-Chris

 

[vlad335]

Dear Sir, I am writing just to say that I am experiencing the same situation in my current system.
Initially I found the amp almost unbearable: metallic, harsh, hard expecially on voices.
With use it has improved, but still is harsh in the midband and the bass is not as "big" as I would.
Maybe the 180W/4 ohm of the A500 are just not enough for my power hungry Dynaudio speaker (next step could be the mighty Crown XLS 402 at 450 W/4 ohm !).
How many hours do you have on your amps?
Are you using them full range?
By the way it is extremely interesting to know that a tube in the pre section can give a more musical sound.

Thanks a lot and kind regards,

beppe
Italy

Hello.

I am using them in Bridge mono. I never tried them in stereo but I suspect that may be your problem. Since they don't bridge into 4 ohms I don't know what to tell you.

I don't have many hours on them but have left them on since Sunday. I am also using these amps with a sub which my receiver crosses over at 90hz so they are not exactly full range.

I hope this helps.

 

[beppe61]

Hello.
I am using them in Bridge mono.
I never tried them in stereo but I suspect that may be your problem. Since they don't bridge into 4 ohms I don't know what to tell you.
I don't have many hours on them but have left them on since Sunday.
I am also using these amps with a sub which my receiver crosses over at 90hz so they are not exactly full range.
I hope this helps.

Thank you Sir for the kind and helpful reply.
I will go on with using it hoping in some kind of improvement.
On another hand I will try to listen the amp with a smoother preamp (maybe tubed) and solid core interconnects.

Kind regards,

beppe

 

[vlad335]

Thank you Sir for the kind and helpful reply.
I will go on with using it hoping in some kind of improvement.
On another hand I will try to listen the amp with a smoother preamp (maybe tubed) and solid core interconnects.

Kind regards,

beppe

Are you using the RCA's to input the amp? I found these to be somewhat noisy and not a really good tone. I use RCA cables from my receiver and RCA to 1/4" adaptors into the behringers.

 

[beppe61]

Are you using the RCA's to input the amp?
I found these to be somewhat noisy and not a really good tone.
I use RCA cables from my receiver and RCA to 1/4" adaptors into the behringers.

Yes Sir. I am using RCAs.
I will try the RCA to 1/4" adaptors you mention soon.
Actually I am getting a sensible hum from the speaker with front volume controls at max.
Maybe the cause is a ground loop as usual.
Besides I am thinking to bypass completely the volume controls and connecting the PCB inputs directly to a new pair of good golden RCAs.
I am sure that the volume controls add distortion in some way.
If only I had a schematic it would be safer for proceeding with any mods.
I will try to get it from the Italian distributor.

Thank you very much for you extremely kind and very helpful advice.
Best regards,

beppe

 

[majorloser]

It's Alive, It's Alive!!!

Franken-theater is up and running!
The seven (7) Behringer A500 amps are each bridged in mono and running their own channel of a 7.1 system.

Let me start out by saying that I followed a sensible plan of breaking in the amps properly....NOT!

The first thing that got auditioned was my favorite, Telarc's - Bach Organ Blaster - "Toccata & Fugue in D minor".
At about 110 dB
(That woke up the neighbors)
That CD can bring most systems to their knees quickly.

Followed shortly by T2 Extreme Edition.
Let's just say when the special T2 version of the THX intro came on I had wood (boing).

There is no.....let me repeat that....THERE IS NO comparison between the B&K 7270 and these beasts! I'm glad I made the switch and there will be no going back.

Also, after about 3 to 4 hours of use these amps barely get warm. My B&K Ref 31 pre/pro gets twice as hot. The B&K 7270 amp would be hot enough to cook meat on after a few hours.

Now bring on my two HSU VTF-3HO's and I'm ready.

Pictures are available in my thread under Loser Cinema.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22943

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Congrats, welcome to the club

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Major, if you get some gloss black spray paint, the knobs look much, much better black. I put on on Steely Dan's song Jack of Speed and broke out the SPL meter. My system is calibrated with the receivers tones set to 75db's at the 0 point on the knob and the gains on the amps just a tick past half way. I was reading a continuous 100db with peaks much higher with the volume at the 0 point and only running in stereo. Not a speck of any of distortion that my ears could detect. I was afraid to turn it up any more for fear of speaker and/or hearing damage. I think I am well over the THX cert thats for sure.

 

[WmAx]

Franken-theater is up and running!
The seven (7) Behringer A500 amps are each bridged in mono and running their own channel of a 7.1 system.

When I initially posted the objectively measured test results, and subsequently recommended this amplifier due to the relative low cost, I did not expect for people to go nuts like this! This is the 2nd person in this thread that has now purchased one for each channel, to use bridged, in home theatre. That's just nuts!

-Chris

 

[billy p]

Chris

both are mod's, must come with the job!

 

[vlad335]

When I initially posted the objectively measured test results, and subsequently recommended this amplifier due to the relative low cost, I did not expect for people to go nuts like this! This is the 2nd person in this thread that has now purchased one for each channel, to use bridged, in home theatre. That's just nuts!

-Chris

Thanks for starting this thread.

I bought 3 Behringer amps for L/C/R channels. It's not nuts, it sounds incredible! There is simply no substitute for lots of clean power.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

When I initially posted the objectively measured test results, and subsequently recommended this amplifier due to the relative low cost, I did not expect for people to go nuts like this! This is the 2nd person in this thread that has now purchased one for each channel, to use bridged, in home theatre. That's just nuts!

-Chris

Chris, where else can you get 120lbs of amps for a little over a 1000 bucks?

 

[mulester7]

.....a larger, deeper, pool of continuous watts gives a better sound quality????....awww, come on, Guys, you're pullin' my leg......

 

[BostonMark]

I feel like we have all made a discovery

Audiophiles rush in droves to their local music stores to replace their overpriced audio amps with pro music amps.

I actually started looking at Samson Amps at the Music store where my son takes his guitar lessons as a good possibility instead of buying expensive Rotel amps. The shop owner says the Samsons are very reliable, and I can get the 550 model for 240.oo. It is 190 watts per channel in stereo and it can be bridged in mono.

Whats next, using Marshall stacks instead of B&Ws?

 

[Nick250]

When I initially posted the objectively measured test results, and subsequently recommended this amplifier due to the relative low cost, I did not expect for people to go nuts like this! This is the 2nd person in this thread that has now purchased one for each channel, to use bridged, in home theatre. That's just nuts!
-Chris

I have it on good authority that Mules nipples got hard when he first started reading the thread.

Nick

 

[mtrycrafts]

Let me start out by saying that I followed a sensible plan of breaking in the amps properly....[]NOT!

Sounds sensible to me


The first thing that got auditioned was my favorite, Telarc's - Bach Organ Blaster - "Toccata & Fugue in D minor".

I need to break that one out of mothball and see what the boomboxes will do with it



Neat setup but your show surprised me, automatic

 

[mtrycrafts]

When I initially posted the objectively measured test results, and subsequently recommended this amplifier due to the relative low cost, I did not expect for people to go nuts like this! This is the 2nd person in this thread that has now purchased one for each channel, to use bridged, in home theatre. That's just nuts!

-Chris

Some are just nutty
Hard to turn down a great deal. Not many out there

 

[mtrycrafts]

both are mod's, must come with the job!

Hey, sharp eyes Must be for testing, never to be returned