Behringer A500 Amplifier: Objective Test Results

[jeffsg4mac]

(just kidding)

You've just thrown a monkey wrench in my thought process.

I need to replace my B&K Ref 7270. Been thinking about either the Gemstone Blue Diamond, Outlaw 7700 or the Emotiva MPS-1. All around $2K US for 7 channels.

I could buy seven A500's for that same money and end up 500W per channel.
(I getting wood just thinking about it)



Oh Lord, please save me from Loserwife's wrath!

EDIT: I think mulesteritus is a communicable disease.

Hmm, lets see 1253.00 for seven mono amps or 2000.00 or more for an all in one. Seems like a no-brainer to me

 

[vlad335]

Jeff another question.

Wouldn't it be better to use the TRS 1/4" or XLR inputs on these amps? These are balanced and at +4dbv as opposed to the RCA's which are unbalanced and operated at -10dbv. Please bear with me as I am a newbie but I would think these would be cleaner and play louder.

There is a massive thread over at AVS forums where they are using Crown amps. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=418666
Many over there are using the Art Cleanbox to convert RCA to XLR. Granted the Crown doesn't have RCA inputs but I think I read something over there that it would be better to have a balanced signal.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Jeff another question.

Wouldn't it be better to use the TRS 1/4" or XLR inputs on these amps? These are balanced and at +4dbv as opposed to the RCA's which are unbalanced and operated at -10dbv. Please bear with me as I am a newbie but I would think these would be cleaner and play louder.

There is a massive thread over at AVS forums where they are using Crown amps. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=418666
Many over there are using the Art Cleanbox to convert RCA to XLR. Granted the Crown doesn't have RCA inputs but I think I read something over there that it would be better to have a balanced signal.

The pre-outs on the receiver are RCA and unbalanced. It would not make sense to use an adapter to make them XLR since the amp has RCA inputs. If the receiver had XLR then yeah I would use them. Volume is not an issue I can tell you that. The gains are less than 3/4 up and most of my level adjustments in the reveiver are at or near the 0 point.

 

[highfihoney]

Krell's specs show that they double down but it is possible that they simply understate their 8 ohm output to make it look like its power output doubles into 4 ohms.

From my own experiences with krell amp's i'd say that's pretty accurate,i have an old krell ksa 150 that i had worked on & while it was in the shop it was bench tested at over 250 wpc at 8 ohms but its only rated for 150 wpc at 8 ohms.

 

[highfihoney]

Hifihoney, WE GOT POWER NOW

Awesome

maybee i missed it in a previous post but how are you powering all those bad boys? single or multiple circuts?

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Awesome

maybee i missed it in a previous post but how are you powering all those bad boys? single or multiple circuts?

I had two 20 amp lines available and I ran two more. I have 3 on one 3 on another, the sub amp by itself and all the other stuff on the last. So I got Juice too

 

[mike c]

I dont suppose you opened up your units did you? (edit: looks like you did, did you take pics inside?)

how many capacitors do the a500s have and how many microfarads each? (from online pics, looks to be 2 caps per channel - dont know microfarad rating ... 5500 or 3300?)

what about your ep2500 ... feeling curious?

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I did open them up but I did not take pics, I have a vacation stretch coming up in the next couple of days. I will do it then and post some real good pics of the insides of these guys.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

what about your ep2500 ... feeling curious?

I did not open the 2500 up but here is a pic from Behringer's site.

 

[mike c]

thanks jeff.

ep2500: but 4 caps each channel of how many microfarads?

 

[highfihoney]

I had two 20 amp lines available and I ran two more. I have 3 on one 3 on another, the sub amp by itself and all the other stuff on the last. So I got Juice too

glad to hear it,good wall power made all the difference in the world for me,every time i turned my amps on it seemed like my wife wanted to vacume or use her iron & we would trip a circut ,after getting 20 amp lines i have no worries now.

im also interested in seeing some nude pic's of the amp's when you get time.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

glad to hear it,good wall power made all the difference in the world for me,every time i turned my amps on it seemed like my wife wanted to vacume or use her iron & we would trip a circut ,after getting 20 amp lines i have no worries now.

im also interested in seeing some nude pic's of the amp's when you get time.

Are we allowed to post nudity on the forums?

I will have plenty of time now, I just was laid off from my job Oh well, we all saw it coming.

 

[majorloser]

Jeff,

Sorry to hear about the job. Hopefully everything will work out.

Dave

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Thanks, it will. I actually just turned one down 2 days ago. Not enough money. There are a ton of tech jobs out there and we will be ok. Thanks for the concern.

 

[billy p]

Sorry to

hear that as well. Laid up or laid off "sucks" but R & R Ninja said,"this will give me more time on the forum now". So then take the time and have some fun.
Regards, BILL

 

[vlad335]

Ok... I decided to try alittle experiment.

I borrowed one of the backup amps from our PA system today. As you can see, it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. It's a PAS 800 amp and I can find absolutely nothing about it online. Whats cool is that it has RCA inputs, although they completely rusted. LOL.

OH MY!!!!!

I can't freakin believe the sound! I pulled out my CD collection and have been listening to music for 2 hours. Everything is so clear and powerful. Unbelievable difference. Even my wife who could usually care less wanted me to put on her Prince and Reba Cd's.

I have got to sell some stuff! I want PowerAmps now!

 

[AdrianMills]

Ok... I decided to try alittle experiment.

I borrowed one of the backup amps from our PA system today. As you can see, it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. It's a PAS 800 amp and I can find absolutely nothing about it online. Whats cool is that it has RCA inputs, although they completely rusted. LOL.

OH MY!!!!!

I can't freakin believe the sound! I pulled out my CD collection and have been listening to music for 2 hours. Everything is so clear and powerful. Unbelievable difference. Even my wife who could usually care less wanted me to put on her Prince and Reba Cd's.

I have got to sell some stuff! I want PowerAmps now!

Those are Klipsch right? I'm surprised you'd notice such a difference on sensitive speakers like that.

How about level matching?

 

[vlad335]

Those are Klipsch right? I'm surprised you'd notice such a difference on sensitive speakers like that.
How about level matching?

Like I said, huge difference. Just can't say enough for huge power reserves. When I would listen to Cd's in stereo mode before, things would get a little jumbled at louder levels. Not actually distorted I don't think, just a loss of detail and focus. Keep in mind my receiver is no slouch, Yamaha RX-V3200, but it can't compete with this beef.

What impresses me most is this amp is beat to hell. The RCA inputs are rusty and the thing is clogged with dust. I couldn't find any RCA stereo cables so I went to Walmart and bought a 4.00 pair just to try this. I'm sure this could only get better with better amps and cabling.

The speakers are actually Acoustech. 96db horns similar to the Klipsch. I read somewhere that they are produced in the same factory in China as the Klipsch reference series.

As far as level matching, my towers in 5.1 are somewhat louder with this amp. I turned the gains to about 2:00 when watching War of the Worlds last night.

I am now thinking of 4 Behringer A500's, 3 in mono for the fronts and 1 stereo for the rear surrounds. Actually, more that just thinking, I am obsessing over this now.

 

[jaxvon]

Do I see Belden speaker wire? Where'd ya get it?

 

[vlad335]

Do I see Belden speaker wire? Where'd ya get it?

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm