Customer Reviews

Behringer A500 Reference Amplifier

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I use this amp to drive the highly revealing Martin Logan Aeon-i electrostatic hybrid speakers. These are a fairly demanding load and are extremely transparent. This amp sounds amazing and drives my speakers perfectly. After over 30 years as an audiophile and trying literally dozens of high end expensive amplifiers in search of the audio holy grail, I am done, happy, totally satisfied with the Behringer amp. Put all your money into speakers and drive them with this amp and you can thank me later. A fantastic bargain!

For the record (pun intended), I also own a highly-regarded 200 watts per channel "boutique brand" power amplifier that cost an order of magnitude more than my Behringer A-500. The more expensive amp is a very well-made and very musical piece of machinery. So is the astonishingly-affordable Behringer. What's my point? When I cue up a demanding CD, equalize the volume between the two amps, and listen to each in its turn at reasonable volume levels, my "golden ears" can't discern much...if any...difference. Both are detailed, articulate, and satisfying.

Despite its published power specifications, one might well think of the A-500 as a solid, linear, and gutsy 100 watts per channel amplifier that can smoothly and cleanly drive normal (4 to 8 ohm) speakers to very satisfying sound levels in normal-sized rooms without fanfare or excessive heat. If 100 real watts per channel aren't sufficient for one's application, consider how two, three, or four Behringer A500s might work in a bridged and/or bi-amped configuration. I submit that four A-500s would cost about half of what I paid for my "boutique brand" amplifier.

One caveat: as the photo of the A-500 shows, it's configured for mounting in a 19" rack. The amp's front panel mounting flanges are integral parts of its massive die-cast alumimum heat sinks. I needed the A-500 to sit on the 18" shelf of a furniture-style cabinet. I used masking tape to cover up all of the amp's various vent slots and connector holes. Then I carefully cut off the two mounting flanges...removing one inch of aluminum from either side...with a hacksaw. After a thorough wipe-down, unmasking, and a bit of flat black touch-up paint, my 17" A-500 was good to go.

In summary, the Behringer A-500 is a well-built and sonically-competent machine that stands as an incredible musical bargain. Enjoy!

I had read a lot about Behringer's crappy products. I new what I was getting into. For me their products are my only price range for now. A means to an end. I was very excited to get a reference amp. When I first set it up and plugged in the left channel wasn't playing. I was heart broken until I remembered the posts about crappy assembly. I opened the top and saw that the wires weren't plugged in. It had a connector. I connected. Worked perfectly. It still does and it sounds many times better than anything I've had. For the price it will get me by perfectly.

I took a gamble on these and I am glad I did. These amps are Awesome for the price. They blow my Adcom GFA-555 away as far as sound quality, musicallity, and transient response. I was blown away as to how good and clear these sound. For [...] bucks, you can't go wrong. I use two of these in bridged mode. I would say though that the Adcom had a little better low end kick. I beleive that this can be remadied by increasing the size the power supply capacitors. The toroid transformer is huge and can deliver all the current you need. Other than that, I am a happy camper.
I use these for my home system and plan to sell my Adcom as well as my Tube monoblocks. GREAT VALUE!! German Engineering, That should speak for itself.

A couple years ago, I returned three of these- shipping damage, bad channel and bad volume control. At the time, I ended up buying 2 Alesis RA300's. Other than the intermittent relay issue, I've enjoyed them a lot. When I needed another amp recently, I found that they were discontinued so I bought the Behringer A500. The tag says 500W, the box says 600W, but whatever, I don't trust the rating, but none the less, the amp has serious power driving my 5ohm Magnepan IIb's (very inefficient but wonderful panel speakers from the 80's). Clean and quiet, no turn on / off thumps without the use of an unreliable relay. I love this amp! See [...]

Received this amp very quickly. Great packaging.

Unpacked it. Looks sweet.

Hook it up, plug it in. No left channel.

Rechecked everything. Switched all the cables. Still nothing.

So I'm about to package it back up and send it back. Then I remembered reading a review that someone had opened it up, and there was a wire that wasn't connected.

So I opened it up, and sure enough there was a very obvious wire that wasn't connected. Connected it, closed it back up. Plugged everything in .. and it worked. Awesome.

Overall the amp is sweet. Sounds great for my guitar rig. So if you have the same problem.. open it up and check it first. Wasn't too hard, only about 8 screws, and the wire was very obvious and it was very easy to plug in.

This amp is brain dead simple to setup and use. You can use it as a standard two channel stereo amp or you can use it as a double power single channel mono amp. There is some confusion as to it's rated power due to it's single/stereo capability, whether it is powering four or eight ohm speakers and whether you want the maximum peek power rating or maximum RMS power rating. To help people decide I'm including the real power ratings of this amp in this review.


The following power stats are at less than 1% distortion (THD):

4 ohm stereo speakers = 185 watts RMS (300 watts peek)
8 ohm stereo speakers = 125 watts RMS (175 watts peek)

8 ohm mono speaker = 375 watts RMS (600 watts peek)

Distortion < 0.01%
Frequency Response 20Hz-20Khz, +0/-1 dB
Signal to noise >100 dB

This amp is very nicely built and feels like a tank. It's heavy and the case is made of steel. There are minimal amounts of sturdy plastic used on the front. The volume potentiometers feel solid and turn smoothly with a slight clicking feeling at predetermined points to help you adjust each channel to the same level. Physically it should last a lifetime of usage. It accepts balanced (1/4"/XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) inputs.

It uses 1/4" connectors for the speaker outputs which make for a clean and secure speaker connection. Using 1/4" connections for speakers allows you to easily switch speakers quickly. I bought a cheap 50' Pyle 12 gauge cable with 1/4" plugs and cut the cable into two to make two 25' cables for my speakers that needed bare/banana wires. It made a very nice looking industrial setup and the cables will take a lot of abuse compared to cheap speaker wires.

The quality of the sound is perfect to my very picky ear. I cannot hear any hiss/noise/static/hum/distortion/etc... I use this amp mainly for listening to music. My setup is basically this: a computer (with good DAC) to play FLAC lossless music, Behringer A500 amp and Behringer 2031P speakers. I have zero complaints about the quality of the sound produced. My instincts tell me that I could spend $5000 and still not have a better system from a sound quality perspective. The sound produced by this setup is absolutely flawless. I bought the Behringer speakers on clearance at the local music store for about $120/pair. I have a system that costs about $300 and sounds better than anything I have ever heard before. This amp produces a very clean and accurate sound.

Since the amp is separate from the speakers I have a lot of flexibility in how I setup my sound system. If a single component fails I will not have to throw away an entire speakers/sound system. I've been using this amp daily for over 6 months without a single problem. It produces very little heat and I fully expect it to last decades. My only complain with this amp is the overly bright blue LED power indicator. The person who invented blue LED's should be shot. Blue LED light is by far the most annoying form of light ever created by man. I would not be one bit surprised if one day we find out President Bush ordered blue LED's to be installed in the Guantanamo, Cuba torture center to induce further agony to the victims held there.

I got this beast a few years ago to throw into my A/V rack with my 5.1 receiver amp and DVD player. It had great reviews so for the price a got it. This thing has some serious power! It's in bridged mode and tied into a dual 12" quad low pass car sub box in my house to back up my little powered 150W sub. I beat the pi$$ out of this amp and the heatsinks get warm, not hot. Even with the power meters pegged, it sounds like it's soft clipping, and I have not destroyed and speaker cones yet (clipping can do this). It's passive cooled so no fan noise, hard to find at this power level. Overall construction is rock solid. Decent chassis, front knob shafts are beefy, as well as the wire binding posts in the back. The only thing I absolutely hate about the one I have is the stupidly bright blue power LED, which blinds you when this amp is directly under the TV. I've got black electrical tape over it to hide it. Maybe a newer unit dumped this for red or something. I could take it apart and replace it, but tape was faster.

If I ever blow mine up, which based on my experience will only happen due to my abusing it, I want another one of these asap!

I can't agree with the other reviews enough! This is a fantastic amplifier, I would say, even if I had paid $700 for it.

The packaging quality is great.

The amplifier chassis is absolutely top notch for any price point, except for the plastic front panel, which does feel somewhat cheap compared to the rest of the unit, but compared to most amps, it's not bad at all. The LED VU meter is good, I wish it had analog meters... Keep in mind, they are VU meters, and not wattmeters, and monitor the input signal, not output power...

The blue LED power indicator light is very bright. I may dim it.

The electronics inside are well made for the price. Not great, but more than what I'd expect.

The real deal is about the sound quality. This thing is famous among audiophiles for it's sound. I've read online that it's comparable to big name brands in HIFI. And I don't mean Sony or Yamaha. I'm talking about very expensive (maybe >$2000) stuff from Krell it's being compared to. I think I agree. It's very nice.

For those of you who know about electrical engineering, it has a dual mono layout, meaning it's two completely separate amplifiers inside the box, a very desirable trait for HIFI, for some reason. They get more $$ for these designs. They have a push switch to route power to the huge toroidial transformer and then a pair of outputs to the amp boards directly. Each board has it's own power supply. Very neat.

The volume knobs are real potentiometers, not rotary encoders. This is a good thing, BTW.

No non-sense amplifier that should last for at least 30 or 40 years, more if it's repaired when something goes wrong with it. And that's another great thing about it, it's simple design, no unnecessary digital crap, so it's actually able to be worked on.

Buy this ($200) amplifier and add a pair of ($400) JBL L830 "studio monitor grade" speakers if you catch them on sale on amazon, and add some wire and you have a fantastic setup, better than 99.9% of systems out there. I can say from experience, your ears will be very, very happy with the results!

I couldn't find the whole power output specs online, so I'm including what the manual states:

RMS power:

8 ohm stereo @ 1kHz @ 1% THD = 125 watts
4 ohm stereo @ 1kHz @ 1% THD = 185 watts
8 ohm bridged mono @ 1kHz @ 1% THD = 375 watts

Peak power:

8 ohm stereo @ 1kHz = 175 watts
4 ohm stereo @ 1kHz = 300 watts
8 ohm bridged mono @ 1kHz = 600 watts

Distortion: <0.01%

Voltage gain: 26dB

Input impedance: 10k unbalanced, 20k balanced

Signal to noise ratio: >100dBA

Class AB

Hefty: weighs 18.5 lbs

For $200? I'm not an audiophile, but i am a musician. i bought this amp to replace an NAD2200 amp which burned out a few times, and was not really capable of driving my JSE Infinite Slope speakers. Turn the volume on the behringer amp up to '2' and that's what my old amp couldn't do (the NAD amp was much more expensive). Turn the behringer up to '3' and it lifts the roof off your house, and your neighbors start a petition asking you to move out of the area. Be advised, it can take some time to set up. My speakers have two wires each; they didn't go into the back of the amp in the 'normal' places. when we figured out what to do, the sound was amazing. even shocking for the price. if you need a new amp for your stereo, it's hard to imagine you could do better. it's made in china, though, so let's see how long it lasts. i wouldn't buy a chinese car or washing machine, but i guess i'll make an exception for this amp.