Behringer A500 Amplifier: Objective Test Results

[beppe61]

Hi Beppe
My One and only pair of speakers i use are for Hifi, are the Tannoy MX4M,s.
...
When i first had the Samson to drive my Rotel RC960 BX, I used the Samson,alone in a biwired setup, it all sounded very clean and crisp. I was (before searching for the A500), going to maybe get another Samson 260, ...
Instead i thought i would try the A500, ...

Dear Sir,

thank you sincerely for your extremely kind and exceptionally valuable reply.
As I said I quite like the Samson, weak bass response apart.
Actually I see it very well apt to power a mid-high section in a multiampified system as you very well say.
I am very pleased to hear that the Behringer A500 could give more weigt in the bass while remaining quite musical and above all enjoyable.
I intend to use it alone on the full range because I deem the multiamplification solution just to complex for me.
Moreover it is cheaper than the EP1500 and it does not have any noisy fan to cope with.
Very interesting to know about the high performances of the Tannoy as well.
On the basis of my humble experience I have noticed that a very good power amp (i.e. powerful and musical) usually has the ability to extract the best from different speakers.
I mean a good amp is always a sensible point to start for bulding up an audio system.

To end all my ramblings (and please excuse my very poor english) in the next days I will purchase this A500 confident that it could be a good answer to my current audio problems.

Thank you so much again for disclosing your very valuable experience with me.
Kind regards,

beppe

 

[beppe61]

I will tout this big little amp as well.
I have one running in my system right now. It performs beautifully.
It is unbelievavly dynamic as well.
The power supply is very large and beefy. It out classes my HK receiver by a longshot.

Dear Sir,

may I ask you with which speakers are you using the A500 ?
Besides I am looking for the rating of the power transformer as well but I cannot find any precise information.
The transformer could be the first and most fundamental "bottle neck" for the current reaching the output devices all considered.
I own a pair of "current hungry" old Dynaudio and I have heard them sounding fine just with a pair of old monos M408 from Albarry (UK) until now.
The Adcom GFA 545 and the Samson Servo 260 failed giving a too weak and sloppy bass response.
These monos were speced at 20 A of peak current/channel.
They have very substantial power supply (the power engine after all).
I sincerely hope to see this kind of data (I mean peak current) in the specifications of any amp one day.
It would say something to the customers, much more than power on a pure resistor load.
Of course test conditions should be clearly stated to give any possibility of comparison between different amps.

Thank you so much.
Kind regards,

beppe
italy

P.S. please excuse my poor English.

 

[av-duck]

question about mono applications

noobie question, before I go ahead and order 2...

its rated @ 8ohms 500w, Im sure it works fine driving a 4ohm load (Maggie MG12), but just wanted to make sure what the cons are (if any) if I do. Better yet, is there a reason they did not show/suggest using it in mono on a 4ohm speaker ?

Thank You

 

[annunaki]

Dear Sir,

may I ask you with which speakers are you using the A500 ?
Besides I am looking for the rating of the power transformer as well but I cannot find any precise information.
The transformer could be the first and most fundamental "bottle neck" for the current reaching the output devices all considered.
I own a pair of "current hungry" old Dynaudio and I have heard them sounding fine just with a pair of old monos M408 from Albarry (UK) until now.
The Adcom GFA 545 and the Samson Servo 260 failed giving a too weak and sloppy bass response.
These monos were speced at 20 A of peak current/channel.
They have very substantial power supply (the power engine after all).
I sincerely hope to see this kind of data (I mean peak current) in the specifications of any amp one day.
It would say something to the customers, much more than power on a pure resistor load.
Of course test conditions should be clearly stated to give any possibility of comparison between different amps.

Thank you so much.
Kind regards,

beppe
italy

P.S. please excuse my poor English.

The A500 is running a pair of B&W Signature 7 SE inwalls in custom made B&W spec (volume) enclosures. They are running highpass at 60hz currently. I have run them full range as well and they sound great. The amplifier was a big step up.

 

[annunaki]

noobie question, before I go ahead and order 2...

its rated @ 8ohms 500w, Im sure it works fine driving a 4ohm load (Maggie MG12), but just wanted to make sure what the cons are (if any) if I do. Better yet, is there a reason they did not show/suggest using it in mono on a 4ohm speaker ?

Thank You

The reason is that it was not designed for that application plain and simple. You cannot expect everything from a $180.00 amplifier.

You cannot use it in a 4 ohm mono application because it is not stable at that impedance. 4 ohm mono would be like running it at 2 ohm stereo. You can try it but I will bet you will see some smoke shortly afterwards.

Put it this way, running the amplifier in a 4 ohm mono configuration would be like running an engine with a 6,000 rpm redline at 8,000 rpm, and expecting it to last.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

noobie question, before I go ahead and order 2...

its rated @ 8ohms 500w, Im sure it works fine driving a 4ohm load (Maggie MG12), but just wanted to make sure what the cons are (if any) if I do. Better yet, is there a reason they did not show/suggest using it in mono on a 4ohm speaker ?

Thank You

Spend a little more and get the Behringer Europower EP2500. It's stable to 4 ohms, and you can pick one up for $330 shipped at several places online. It's probably one of the best deals dollar for dollar you'll find for a two channel amp.

It's rated at 450x2 rms, full bandwidth, at .1% thd at 8 ohms; 650x2 at 6 ohms. Yes, the distortion rating is high compared to home specs, but I'm betting you'll never recognize that .1%. You may lose 30% spec'd power at .05% thd, but that's till more than you'll most likely use.

 

[jaxvon]

Problem is, the EP2500 has a fan. It isn't fanless like the A500. Keep that in mind.

 

[av-duck]

The reason is that it was not designed for that application plain and simple. You cannot expect everything from a $180.00 amplifier.

You cannot use it in a 4 ohm mono application because it is not stable at that impedance. 4 ohm mono would be like running it at 2 ohm stereo. You can try it but I will bet you will see some smoke shortly afterwards.

Put it this way, running the amplifier in a 4 ohm mono configuration would be like running an engine with a 6,000 rpm redline at 8,000 rpm, and expecting it to last.

I suppose I was just expecting too much for $180...

hmm, guess I'll have to consider getting an ep1500 or 2500 then...

Thank You

 

[beppe61]

The A500 is running a pair of B&W Signature 7 SE inwalls in custom made B&W spec (volume) enclosures.
They are running highpass at 60hz currently. I have run them full range as well and they sound great.
The amplifier was a big step up.

Thank you so much Sir for the very kind and valuable reply.
Kind regards,

beppe
italy

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Hey guys, I have six of these babys coming in on monday, I am going to bridge them all mono and use one for each channel and the rxv-2600 as the pre. I also picked up an EP2500 a week ago to run the subs Power baby, power I will post pics as soon as everything is setup.

 

[highfihoney]

Hey guys, I have six of these babys coming in on monday, I am going to bridge them all mono and use one for each channel Power baby, power

now thats what im talkin about

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Actually, I have not quite decided on the how I am going to configure them. 3 up front mono for sure. Then one for the LR rear, one for the LR back and one for the LR presence. Or Mono for the front and LR Rear and Stereo for the LR back and the yamaha for the front presence. Any thoughts?

 

[mike c]

hey jeff, if its not too much trouble ...
can you A/B the ep2500 vs. two bridged a500s? hehe

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Mike, I listened to the EP2500 against the receiver for it was worth. Certainly not a blind test by any stretch. All I can honestly say is I could hear nothing wrong with the EP2500 and it had enormous amounts of power. The only thing stopping me from getting 3 of the EP1500's is the fans. One fan is not to bad, you can not hear it during music or a movie, but 4 total would have been worse I am sure. It sounded great, as good as anything else I have ever heard. Do not hesitate, it is a monster on the subs. Next up is a sub project with some really good drivers. I will let you know monday after I run some more power outlets how the A500's sound though.

 

[WmAx]

Hey guys, I have six of these babys coming in on monday, I am going to bridge them all mono and use one for each channel and the rxv-2600 as the pre. I also picked up an EP2500 a week ago to run the subs Power baby, power I will post pics as soon as everything is setup.

Jeff.... I am sorry to have to inform you that it appears as if you have contracted a mysterious disease known as mulesteritus.

-Chris

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Jeff.... I am sorry to have to inform you that it appears as if you have contracted a mysterious disease known as mulesteritus.

-Chris

What happened did he do the same thing? LOL whats the cure doc?

 

[zildjian]

Jeff.... I am sorry to have to inform you that it appears as if you have contracted a mysterious disease known as mulesteritus.

-Chris

I had to go look that one up; I'm happy to report that it's not an STD.
jury is still out though about upgraditis.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I had to go look that one up; I'm happy to report that it's not an STD.
jury is still out though about upgraditis.

Was that an offer? Sorry but unless you look like this I am not interested And yes she is over 18

 

[zildjian]

Was that an offer? Sorry but unless you look like this I am not interested

WHAT!? NO! LOL. No idea how that was interpreted as an offer... but for what it's worth, nope, I definately don't look like that.

Edit: Jeff, I like the disclaimer you just added!!!

 

[jeffsg4mac]

WHAT!? NO! LOL. No idea how that was interpreted as an offer... but for what it's worth, nope, I definately don't look like that.

Edit: Jeff, I like the disclaimer you just added!!!

LOL, thought I better. It is Ga Young Kim, Womans Pool champ. She is not much over though LOL