Behringer A500 Amplifier: Objective Test Results

[wire]

hmmm, OK the pro's; quality and hefty power supply, quality output transistors, stable design, beefy heatsinks, balanced and RCA inputs, pro speaker connections, runs cool, runs quiet, rack mountable, sounds as good or the same as any other amp on the market ( yes it does Hifihoney I don't care what you think and yes I have heard Mac amps ) and under 200 bucks for a 130x2 or 500 mono amp. The cons; not the most pretty of amps, needs new knobs, lights need to be disabled for home theater use, Yep he is right, he convinced me. We are blind.

I am afraid we are not the blind ones my esoteric friend.

Now, if find out that Behringer is funding the DemocRATic party then I might reconsider

I never heard this amp . but seems like alot of ppl. swear by it .
As long as you guys and girls like it is all that matters .
It kinda reminds me of the old Carver gear , Some ppl. like it and some ppl. hated it .

 

[highfihoney]

What's the matter, the truth hurts? I'm a consultant in the industry, I have no agenda here. Again, just explaining why these amps are so cheap. A little sensitive about your pride of ownership perhaps?

It's pretty amazing how defensive you guys get just hearing the origins of this product.

Its funny how so many"consultants" & other people who work in the "industry" so proudly post that fact,i say big freakin deal,in my line of work the consultants are usually the least knowlagable but they are able to run the biggest line of crap & sell themselves,theres a saying that those who can do & those who cant consult.

I can read just fine,your post served no purpose except to be a mean spirited a$$ who wanted to hurt peoples feelings,there are people here who use & enjoy these amplifiers in their home & are proud of their systems,what point did your post have & what was gained from it.

People like you will never really understand this hobby,its not about what you or i think or who has the coolest system or who has the most useless information or who can post the most google links to reinforce their own veiw point its about having fun with audio & getting the most enjoyment out of our systems,your post did not help anybody have fun or achieve a better sounding system.

 

[highfihoney]

hmmm, OK the pro's; quality and hefty power supply, quality output transistors, stable design, beefy heatsinks, balanced and RCA inputs, pro speaker connections, runs cool, runs quiet, rack mountable, sounds as good or the same as any other amp on the market ( yes it does Hifihoney I don't care what you think and yes I have heard Mac amps ) and under 200 bucks for a 130x2 or 500 mono amp. The cons; not the most pretty of amps, needs new knobs, lights need to be disabled for home theater use, Yep he is right, he convinced me. We are blind.

I am afraid we are not the blind ones my esoteric friend.

Now, if find out that Behringer is funding the DemocRATic party then I might reconsider

Hi jeff,im glad your happy with the a500's & like them as much as any other amp,what i dont agree with is that guys response to this thread,i truly believe that there are people who fully intend on hurting peoples feelings by insulting their gear in the threads & this guy is a classic example.

People are proud of their systems & when posters like this guy act as they do its no different then the audio snobs who look down on everybody who dont run an esoteric goldmund system with a $50,000 cdp.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Hi jeff,im glad your happy with the a500's & like them as much as any other amp,what i dont agree with is that guys response to this thread,i truly believe that there are people who fully intend on hurting peoples feelings by insulting their gear in the threads & this guy is a classic example.

People are proud of their systems & when posters like this guy act as they do its no different then the audio snobs who look down on everybody who dont run an esoteric goldmund system with a $50,000 cdp.

Yep, they are a steal for the price and I agree with you.

You don't believe me though do you? Do you really feel transistor amps sound different when levels are matched? Do you disagree with this statement from the audiocritic? I have found this to be accurate myself.

" (As I have said, and written, innumerable times, any two amplifiers with high input impedance, low output impedance, flat frequency response, and sufficiently low distortion and noise will sound exactly the same at matched levels if not clipped.)"

 

[highfihoney]

Yep, they are a steal for the price and I agree with you.

You don't believe me though do you? Do you really feel transistor amps sound different when levels are matched? Do you disagree with this statement from the audiocritic? I have found this to be accurate myself.

Its not that i dont believe that all well made amps sound alike when all levels are matched because i know they do its that the whole "level matched" deal is a catch 22 that only covers half the bases,level matching does not account for an amp being driven hard & each amps ability to hold its specs.


My veiw on this whole deal is this,all amps are not created equal being that when driven to different levels of power no 2 amps will perform the same,no 2 amps will produce the same levels of distortion when driven to different levels no matter what the specs say & this is where i find the differences to be the easiest to hear.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Why is no one pushing the $249 27lb. Radio Shack PA amplifier, or any of the Pyramid DJ pro amps? If $ per watt is the goal, aren't there better deals out there? After all, if a DJ amp covers the entire audible bandwidth, and can run quietly, whats the deal with the A500? Most internal cooling fans can be disabled with pro amps, and many aren't needed when driving home speakers.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Why is no one pushing the $249 27lb. Radio Shack PA amplifier, or any of the Pyramid DJ pro amps? If $ per watt is the goal, aren't there better deals out there? After all, if a DJ amp covers the entire audible bandwidth, and can run quietly, whats the deal with the A500? Most internal cooling fans can be disabled with pro amps, and many aren't needed when driving home speakers.

I am sure there are a lot of good deals out there in the pro audio world. I don't know about PA amps, but there could be some deals there too. It would certainly be worth checking into.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Its not that i dont believe that all well made amps sound alike when all levels are matched because i know they do its that the whole "level matched" deal is a catch 22 that only covers half the bases,level matching does not account for an amp being driven hard & each amps ability to hold its specs.


My veiw on this whole deal is this,all amps are not created equal being that when driven to different levels of power no 2 amps will perform the same,no 2 amps will produce the same levels of distortion when driven to different levels no matter what the specs say & this is where i find the differences to be the easiest to hear.

Right, I agree. Which is why I originally said that I could not hear any difference between the A500, the EP2500 and my Yammie RX-V2600 except when I drove them really hard. At that point, shear power won out. It sounds like we are on the same page. There is something to be said for brute force.

 

[rollinrocker]

this is a friday night and i have had a few rolling rocks, but, geez, "driving them hard" every once in a while is what this hobbie's all about.

 

[beppe61]

Dear Sirs,

I have a question for anyone willing to answer, and it is a very important one for me.
I cannot help but noticing that the sound of my A500 is getting better day after day.
Have you found any difference in sound between the amp brand new and after some weeks of use?
I understand it could be called "vodoo" but this is my experience.

Thank you very much indeed.
Kind regards,

beppe

 

[dentman67]

I've been useing the A-500 for a few months now and have heard no changes

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Dear Sirs,

I have a question for anyone willing to answer, and it is a very important one for me.
I cannot help but noticing that the sound of my A500 is getting better day after day.
Have you found any difference in sound between the amp brand new and after some weeks of use?
I understand it could be called "vodoo" but this is my experience.

Thank you very much indeed.
Kind regards,

beppe

Are you playing the same cd day after day, or different material? More than likely, it's your ears getting used to the system.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Dear Sirs,

I have a question for anyone willing to answer, and it is a very important one for me.
I cannot help but noticing that the sound of my A500 is getting better day after day.
Have you found any difference in sound between the amp brand new and after some weeks of use?
I understand it could be called "vodoo" but this is my experience.

Thank you very much indeed.
Kind regards,

beppe

Well, amps don't change their audible sound like that. But, there is another explanation for your perception: Human bias, unreliable memory from day to day, hour to hour.
That is why testing is done under controlled conditions, bias controlled, so observations can be relied upon.

 

[beppe61]

I thank all of you for the kind advice.
I think I should adopt a more scientific approach to the all thing.

Kind regards,

beppe

 

[Stageaxe]

Science has nothing to do with great audio in my opinion. Science can quantify things and say this is that or what. But the human ear defies Science. What sounds good is in the listener's ear and room. A spectrum analyzer is a meter not an ear. I use meters but they are only to prevent digital overs. Sometimes I may use limiters or a compressor on the 2buss because the punch of the material may warrant that. And it will squeeze into a CD.
But Science would not be my definition of audio. If it sounds good it is! And I will be the first to admit a song sounds GREAT! No Science involved. Even on the cheapest of gear...

 

[jaxvon]

Science has nothing to do with great audio in my opinion. Science can quantify things and say this is that or what. But the human ear defies Science. What sounds good is in the listener's ear and room. A spectrum analyzer is a meter not an ear. I use meters but they are only to prevent digital overs. Sometimes I may use limiters or a compressor on the 2buss because the punch of the material may warrant that. And it will squeeze into a CD.
But Science would not be my definition of audio. If it sounds good it is! And I will be the first to admit a song sounds GREAT! No Science involved. Even on the cheapest of gear...

Oh really? Then I suppose that all of the audio equipment you use was created not by science, but by magic or people 'just using their ears'. The only reason anything you use sounds good, or for that matter, even functions at all, is due to years and years of scientific research and discovery. I am not trying to argue that personal preferences do not exist. Indeed, some people might prefer certain sonic colorations for listening, be it a non-flat frequency response, extra distortion, or whatever. I am, however, arguing against such ignorant statements such as yours. Without science, you would have no audio equipment to argue about.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Without science, you would have no audio equipment to argue about.

Thanks for your post. Badly needed.

If it wasn't for science, everything would be a hit and miss proposition in life.
He would be trying 100s of medications, or in reality just die prematurely.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I thank all of you for the kind advice.
I think I should adopt a more scientific approach to the all thing.
Kind regards,
beppe

Well, I certainly hope that you do go to see real doctors to treat your ailments That is more critical than a hobby, audio in this case. But yes, science brought us the understanding of what we know of the natural universe to date, not magic and mysticism.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Science has nothing to do with great audio in my opinion. ...

Then you would not mind if we dismiss your opinions about audio, right?

 

[rollinrocker]

I agree with stageaxe. Of course science has everything to do with designing the equipment we use, but that was'nt the point he was trying to make. It is all about the music. When its right you know it. If you were auditioning two pieces of equipment and one repeatedly sounded better to you, just made the music more involving, and later you found the one you preferred was, according to measurements, inferior to the other unit, which would you take home?