Behringer Ultrabass Bx3000T - any opinions?

jefftaint · #1 03-01-2013, 09:14 PM

I just bought a used amp today on my way home from work, from a friend who is a music teacher.
I am a longtime Ampeg user, I own 2 svt 8x10 rigs, which i absolutele love, but have been looking for something for smaller rooms, so I checked out this Behringer rig with an ultra bass bb115 cab powered by Bugera, and was completely blown away by the tonal flexibility, I just had to have it.
I have never owned anything that sounds this good for such a low price. I paid $300 for head and cab, which I felt was an amazing deal.
So did I do OK for the price? Does anyone have any experience with these amps, are they worth it, do they hold up? Its just so nice for such a low price, that there has to be a catch somewhere, but so far I'm very pleased and have no regrets.
Tomorrow will be the true test, with a practice session for an acoustic act, then a gig playing hard rock originals. I'm excited to see how it works out.

B-string · #2 03-01-2013, 09:59 PM

Anybody check Florida ER's for someone?

Behringer stuff can sound pretty decent. It is not expensive stuff to buy new and quality can vary. Be careful with the cab as they can run out of room fairly fast. Price you paid fairly average, but what counts is you like it (and found out "SVT" is not the only answer)

GLEN18INCHSPICA · #3 03-01-2013, 10:19 PM

I believe that was the model I had two of & then maybe a BX4500? I cant keep model #'s straight, anyways I liked em both & they sounded identical just one with more wattage. The preamp is pretty warm & I was always able to dial in a very useable tone with the eq. I never had a single hiccup, theyre cheap & sound better to my ears than some of the more popular brand offerings at 2 or 3x the price. The buyer of the last bx4500 I sold on fleebay told me he was touring at the time & had an amp sponsor but chose to use these heads instead? Sometimes with inexpensive gear we judge quality with cost or brand recognition. I would gladly use one of these amps live again or practice etc. In fact I have been watching the auctions for a cheap one to come up to use as a poweramp.

jefftaint · #4 03-01-2013, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-string

Anybody check Florida ER's for someone?

Behringer stuff can sound pretty decent. It is not expensive stuff to buy new and quality can vary. Be careful with the cab as they can run out of room fairly fast. Price you paid fairly average, but what counts is you like it (and found out "SVT" is not the only answer)

Yeah, I've had that problem in the past with a few other 115 cabs running out of room. I'm kind of curious to see how the head would handle one of my 8x10 cabs, i have an old 200 watt solid state head that sounds huge and tight through them, whereas the same head through a 115 was very mushy, not that loud and got lost in the mix in a live situation. I have a feeling the Behringer through an 8x10 would be quite massive, especially the ultrabass feature.

Bass_Pounder · #5 03-02-2013, 06:20 AM

He is saying be careful with the cab because they are horrible.

rok51 · #6 03-02-2013, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass_Pounder

He is saying be careful with the cab because they are horrible.

I didn't get that from the comments...at all.

Kim

B-string · #7 03-02-2013, 10:36 AM

Yep, not being a hater here. The cabs sound okay but won't handle the power they are "rated" for as most people take it. The ratings are usually a "peak rating" so figure 40% of the power input rating to be safe.

The head through the 810 could be very interesting. Watch how loud you get with the "Ultra bass" feature into most any cab though. The very low end extension can be a real speaker killer.

IPYF · #8 03-02-2013, 03:51 PM

I ran a BB115 hard and it worked well for 6 years. For what I payed for it I think that was a pretty great lifespan, considering that I bullied it pretty badly.

Totally agree on the pretend ratings though. The BB410 is rated at 1000w at 4 as I recall. I'd hate to see anyone actually try to run a 1000w amp through that.

jeff7bass · #9 03-02-2013, 04:25 PM

I bought a BX4500H when they first came out because I needed a backup and it only cost 200 bucks. I did try out a BX3000H with a 410 first, to make sure it sounded ok.

It's as GLEN18* describes for the most part. I get good sound out of mine, and it sounds like a legitimate 400w to me when driving my two 8 ohm cabs. With a single 8 ohm cab it's a little louder than my Ampeg PF350, which is a legitimate 250w @ 8 ohms.

The UTLRABASS and DEEP functions I just leave off because I don't like making any sudden drastic changes for fear of damaging speakers. Stick to the 4 band EQ, GAIN and MASTER knobs and you'll be fine. The built-in limiter works well without over-squashing.

Overall I am quite pleased with it. No problems whatsoever and it's gig-able power and flexible EQ make it a bargain.