Main

Behringer A500 Reference Studio Power Amplifier

This ultra-linear power amplifier is the top choice for recording studios and post-production work, yet its amazing price is just the beginning. You get true audiophile-grade performance that delivers 2 x 230 Watts into 4 Ohms or 500 Watts into 8 Ohms bridged, with enough overhead to always keep you on the safe side. The A500's advanced convection-type cooling system guarantees stable, noise-free operation, while its servo-controlled design can drive virtually all passive speakers. Learn More...

    • New $199.95
    • free ground shipping
Write a Review:

Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Quality:
* * * . . . . . . . 3 out of 10
Value:
* * * * . . . . . . 4 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Support:
* * * . . . . . . . 3 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10

Feature:
It's a power amp! input and output with volume nobs..... The only down side was the lack of banana plug sockets. But i simply added my own to it. messured the actual power output between 120 - 138 watts each channel at 8 ohms, nice!

Quality:
Of course being a very low cost item the quality is going to lack in places, but where it does lack in the A500 is mainly in the plastic face plates. Internally the electronics are of fairly good build with, alot of the wiring being of a larger than average gauge and fairly solid looking circuits.

Value:
I work in a high end Hi-Fi audio store, and I can get anything from DENON, Cambridge Audio, NAD, Samson, Alesis at COST PRICE! And I went a boaght this Behringer A500 from another audio store! If that doesn't give you the message of the units value for extremely great performance, then I dont know what will!

Desirability:
Id definitely buy another one for my other 2 speakers!

Sound:
The sound is fairly transparent, I was surprised at its performance.

Ease of Use:
Again, its a power amp! 2 volume nobs and a power button!

Support:
I haven't had to contact behringer on this item so far. But I have dealt with them before in the past for my DDX3216 digital mixer, it had a busted processor and was OUT of warranty and they still fixed it with no charge! So I for one CANNOT trash talk this company for their support, at least their Australian support! Take that HATERS!

Overall:
As I said before, I work in Hi-Fi, I could have gotten any stereo integrated amp from DENON, Cambridge or NAD below cost price. And I found the behringer outperforming all in almost all fronts, sure the Cambridge's are very nice sounding but they simply cannot compete with this for transparency of signal or come anywhere close in power output unless you want to spend 6 times the amount of money you would in buying the behringer. Product of the YEAR for me!

Do You Agree? Was This Review Helpful to You?

yes

no

Overall:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Quality:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10
Value:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10
I Want It:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Support:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10

Feature:
Had features you would expect from an amp except only 1 year warranty where other companies offer 2-3 year. They must know something we don't.

Quality:
After 1 1/2 years and only 322 hours of home recording time, one of the channels blew.

Value:
There are better deals out there in performance, value and durability.

Desirability:
I wouldn't give 2 cents to anyone for this product

Sound:
Just an average sound, not great but not trash either.

Ease of Use:
It's an amp

Support:
Beringer made every attempt to get out of making repairs claiming improper use and ignorance of its purpose and use.

Overall:
After doing the Warranty Waltz with Beringer and burying my poor amp yesterday, I've decided to replace the other Beringer unit I own ASAP.

Do You Agree? Was This Review Helpful to You?

yes

no

Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10

Feature:
There are not any stand out features but the fact that you can buy an amp like this for $200 is amzing. The heatsink is large as is the transformer.

Quality:
Although i have hear that on some the gain knobs do not line up i have not had any problems. The plastic front plate is cheap as well. Behringer could have done better

Value:
For the money it is amazing, try some audio forums they rave about the amp (for home use)

Desirability:
I personally like the meters on the front, my friend however has covered the lights as he finds them distracting. The face plate is cheap but still fairly pleasing to the eye, i do really really like the heatsinks on the outside.

Sound:
I own two which are bridged running my stereo speakers from a pre amp, a close friend has 5 all bridged running his home theater set through a yamaha reciever and it sounds great. So my better than the yamaha amp, much more dynamic. Honestly for $200 it's a good piece of gear. Although it can only really manage 120 watts RMS at 8 ohm for its price it is great value. From the sound of the other reviewers it doesn't handle road use but this is unfair as it was never designed to. For the money great little amp.

Ease of Use:
Very easy (come on its a power amp)

Support:
Have not had any trouble with this amp but my previous experience with behringer is not at all good, once you buy something they dont care

Overall:
Currently it is providing great power cheaply, unless it dies or i upgrade speakers i cannot see myself replacing it.

Do You Agree? Was This Review Helpful to You?

yes

no

Overall:
* * . . . . . . . . 2 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Quality:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Value:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Support:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10

Feature:
What do you expect out of something in this price range?

Quality:
This thing is a piece of crap. Don't but it. I know it's not designed for the road, but it doesn't hold up to being used either. I bought two of these and had problems with both of them. One had the volume potentiometers replaced and I'm still trying to get service on the other one. If you want to buy Behringer, spring for the EP1500 or 2500. I love my EP2500, but these are garbage.

Value:
Good features for a low price is a nice idea, but not if the product does not work AND you have to go through hell and a LOT of downtime to get support on it. If this crap breaks (it will) and you pay shipping to have it fixed, you may as well pay more for a better amp and save the trouble.

Desirability:
I think it looks pretty cool. You can plug something into it just to make the lights look pretty, as long as you don't need it to power speakers or anything like that.

Sound:
I think the sound is fine in terms of not coloring it, but it's not as loud as the power rating would have you believe.

Ease of Use:
It doesn't get much easier, but then again, it's just a power amp.

Support:
This company sucks horribly for support. If you don't buy from a local store who stocks the product, you're screwed. They are extremely slow to do anything. When my first one broke, it took over a month to fix because they didn't have the part. With this one, I have a hell of a time trying to get anyone to respond to me. All I'm trying to do is get an RA number for service. I sent the e-mail with the required info 7 days ago and have still no response. I called them before to start the process and they said they'd e-mail the form... never happened. Unless you buy from a local store, do not buy from this company.

Overall:
I have replaced these with one EP2500. The only reason I bought that one was because of all the great reviews. I have one A500 in my rack as a "back-up" in case the EP2500 fails and I have another A500 that's broken. I might see about selling them on E-Bay or maybe using them in something non-critical like powering monitors at band practice, hooking up a cd player, or using them as door stops.

Do You Agree? Was This Review Helpful to You?

yes

no

Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10

Feature:
The review I mentioned cites some lackluster connections but then again it's a very low priced amp that if someone used in a fixed location and didn't have to use it on the road, it would have no problem. I plan to get one just to play with and perhaps use to power a subwoofer in the bridged mono mode, or give to my son for use with with an old preamp/tuner that I no longer need. Solid State amplifiers like this one should have no "sound" of their own, but rather should pass a signal without audibly altering it, if it does that, and there's no measured data that indicates otherwise, it is one helluva bargain. If you want something you can use on the road, get a QSC, they can take a beating. If you just need some stable power for a home studio, the Behringer will be perfect.

Sound:
I think your store would be wise to cite the review from The Audio Critic on line magazine. They tested this amp and gave it a good review based on performance for the money. Their comments were that for the price it was an excellent value even if it did not produce the rated wattage of 160wpc at 8ohms but rather 120 wpc, it is still hard to beat. The negative comments I see listed hear sound like they are based on someone who is used to tube amps which do things to sound that are good for performance but bad for playback, asuming what you want is inaudible distortion.

Do You Agree? Was This Review Helpful to You?

yes

no

Overall:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Features:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Quality:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Value:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
I Want It:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Sound:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Support:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10

Feature:
It features no power or anything else exciting!!!!!!

Quality:
J-U-N-K Can it be spelled any clearer?

Value:
No value in a product that doesn't do what it says it will,and, a company [behringer who doesn't give a crap]!!!

Desirability:
I dont want it,you dont want it, nobody wants it!!!!!!!!!! Trust me from one musician to another!!!

Sound:
This thing couldn't produce good sound if i hired an orchestra to play behind it!!! It is junk!! Hollow,empty sounding amp,not reliable,and the power rating says stereo 223 watts per side, its more like 23 watts per side, very hollow sounding, no brilliance, or warm tones here!!!This thing wouldn't know warm if i gave it a jacket!!ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL!!!

Ease of Use:
Theres no ease of use when its not reliable or powerful!!

Support:
Behringer cant answer any questions and doesn't return e-mails or phone calls!! HMMMMM..... I wonder why im returning this amp to the store [ online ] that i purchased it at!!! Behringer got my money, thats all they care about.... to heck with the consumer is what im getting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall:
One horribly bad product,and,a company[ behringer ]thats terrible!

Do You Agree? Was This Review Helpful to You?

yes

no