BEHRINGER A500 AMPS / 2nd FOLLOW UP!

[beppe61]

I don't know if Behringer has any small mixers with balanced outputs.
I have both a Behringe UB 1202 and a Behringer Xenyx 802.
While they have several balanced inputs; they only have unbalanced outputs.
I think they may only have balanced outputs on the large mixing desk units(?).

Dear Mr Chris,
thanks a lot for your kind and useful advice.
I will take a look at other brands entry level mixers anyway.

You could have a balanced pre-amp made custom for a low cost, however.
I have used eletronics course students that I have met by chance online as a way to get custom work done at low cost.
If you are in the United States, I could point you in the direction of one.
-Chris

Unfortunately I am writing from Italy.
And what's more I am everything but a good DIYer
I did some experiments in the past, but just experiments, with questionable results.
I have to select commercial product.

Kind regards,

beppe


Thanks again

 

[beppe61]

The capacitance is sufficient for the amplifier to work correctly; no issue there.
Some more capacitance may yield a 10-15 percent increase in output power at very low frequencies, but nothing of audible significance.
Remember, a 100 percent increase in power is required to achieve a 3dB acoustic output gain.

I thought about that because I notice that power amps famous for their bass response have usually huge amounts of uFs in their power supply.
I read that during the musik peaks the power to the output stages is provided mainly by the PS smoothing caps, being the transformer to slow to source high amount current in the short term.
Maybe I misunderstanding everything.
By the way I did a test. I replaced two 6800uF in and old amp with two 63.000uf Sprague connected with flying cables.
The sound gained in power and warm, it became more tube like as someone say. And IMHO more musical.
The A500 has 2x3300uF/channel if I am not wrong. Not very much I'd say.
Nevertheless I understand perfectly that 4 good high quality caps could cost as the entire amp
I would not want that some hardness I hear during the more powerful passages could relate to little capacitance (a sort of supply caps emptying out?).

What you may want to do, however, is get a precision DSP equalizer such as a Behringer DEQ2496, or even better, a Behringer DCX2496(this has EQ and very useful DSP xover options).
You can get any subjective bass quality that you so desire using such a precision equalizer correctly, assuming your speakers have sufficient extension with low enough distortion in the first place.
-Chris

This is an important issue. Maybe what I am hearing is speakers' distortion.
I did not think about that. But it could be surely the case.
I have a pair of old Tannoy speakers with a 8" dual concentric driver/each.
At present I am driving the A500 unbalanced with an old Bryston preamp.
And if I listen at high levels the sound is quite hard and fatiguing.
But as you say maybe I am reaching the speakers' limits.

Thank you very much again for all your kind and valuable support.
My kindest regards,

beppe