Behringer A500

[mgboy]

Well, I am thinking about getting one of these from the B-stock over at Audiolines, to have 500 watts on an 8ohm load, but I figured I should post here to see if anyone was using one to power their subs, and to see how it was.

Go.

[Hakka]

I use one on my pair of 12" shiva sonosubs (1 channel per sub, 4ohms load per channel), I've had no problems with it. I'm set up in a small room, if I was in a large room I would probably want more power. At my normal listening level I often light up the light just before the clipping indicator. I do like it very loud though.

[WillyD]

I am pretty sure that a fellow is using one to power a pair of Dayton RS HF 15" sonosubs with great success.

[majorloser]

Not using them for my subs, but using seven of them bridged to run my 7.1 system :raped:

A lot of good power for the money.

[Exocer]

Using one for my 4ohm mains...and its great.But i don't mind trying it on the TC-3k.

[Sonnie]

I certainly don't think you will go wrong with this amp... lots of people using it and I've never once heard a complaint.

[Scott S]

Has anyone tried an a500 bridged with a 4ohm load?

[mgboy]

Scott S wrote:

Has anyone tried an a500 bridged with a 4ohm load?

No one that has survived to tell about it.

[FlashJim]

Scott S wrote:

Has anyone tried an a500 bridged with a 4ohm load?

Judging by the specs, I don't think so. Behringer only lists an 8 Ohm load for bridged.

I'm considering getting a pre/pro next year as well as 3 A500's. One channel for each main, center and surround. 230 watts into each 4 Ohm load.

[majorloser]

Scott S wrote:

Has anyone tried an a500 bridged with a 4ohm load?

Read post #5 from Exocer, "Using one for my 4ohm mains...and its great."

[mgboy]

majorloser wrote:

Read post #5 from Exocer, "Using one for my 4ohm mains...and its great."

Exactly, one to power, both his 4 ohm, mains. 240 watts @ 4ohm, two channel mode.

[Exocer]

Sorry for the confusion guys. Thats a single A500 in stereo mode feeding each of my 4 ohm mains.

[mgboy]

Exocer wrote:

Sorry for the confusion guys. Thats a single A500 in stereo mode feeding each of my 4 ohm mains.

Good, so I was right. =) Not that it matters.

So I'll order one this week.

[ktaillon]

Here's a great review of the A500

http://theaudiocritic.com/blog/index...Id=20&blogId=1

It shows the actual power outputs - nice write up...

[drf]

When an amp is bridged, the load seen by each channel is half that of the speaker being driven. This means that if you wish to bridge an amp (any amp) you need the speaker impedance to be twice that of the recommended minimum load for an individual channel. therefore if the minimum speaker load for the
A500 is 4 ohms per channel, then when bridged the smallest load you can use will be 8 ohms.

Sorry if I am teaching people to suck eggs, but if someone is browsing this thread for info on amp bridging I thought an explanation of why would be good.

Dr F

[soho54]

I am running an A500 to two Subs.

I was just trying it out to begin with, but it works great in my setup so I kept it. I sit about 10ft away from both non-co located subs in a 14ft deep room, and have never had it clip or act up running at -10dB (105Db Peaks). The subs are both RS HiFi 15's in 325L each, so I don't need a lot of power in my sub setup.

My Arvo mains would clip the amp though. Dual or bridged.

As long as 150-180w are all you really need, it will do fine.

Hope this helps.

[drf]

soho54 wrote:

I am running an A500 to two Subs.

I was just trying it out to begin with, but it works great in my setup so I kept it. I sit about 10ft away from both non-co located subs in a 14ft deep room, and have never had it clip or act up running at -10dB (105Db Peaks). The subs are both RS HiFi 15's in 325L each, so I don't need a lot of power in my sub setup.

My Arvo mains would clip the amp though. Dual or bridged.

As long as 150-180w are all you really need, it will do fine.

Hope this helps.

When you guys say clip what do you mean?

It sort of confuses me because clipping is caused by the level of the input signal not the speaker attached.

[Otto]

drf wrote:

When you guys say clip what do you mean?

It sort of confuses me because clipping is caused by the level of the input signal not the speaker attached.

I think they're saying that a more sensitive speaker requires less power, and therefore never hits the limits of the amp.

A more power hungry speaker clips the amp because it can never get enough.

I think you could also do the same by continuing to drop impedance, thought that might be somewhat different as it may require more current, rather than voltage.

I could be off, but that's what I'm thinking...

[soho54]

It sort of confuses me because clipping is caused by the level of the input signal not the speaker attached.

That is one cause of clipping, but not the only one. Clipping can occur in any part of the signal chain, up to and including the finale amp stage. Once the signal is clipped it is just carried forward through the chain.

In this instance we are talking about the amp clipping. Anytime a speaker tries to pull more from the amp than it can provide the amp will clip. Be it current, voltage, impedance swing, phase angle, whatever in any combination. This can happen way before the input signal becomes clipped further up the chain.

As Otto mentioned, since we are talking about a standard sub application sensitivity and impedance swings are the main things to be aware of here. That is why I listed my drivers, listening area, and enclosure size. To give everyone an idea of the load I was presenting the amp.

[drf]

Ahh, I see the confusion. If a may convert the lingo to laymens terms. Becasue your speakers aren't that efficient you have to push the output stage of the amp harder to get the same SPL, thus causing clipping. I was confused because the way I read your post was that the speaker was causing the clipping, not the driving signal level to compensate for the speakers.