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Avalon+Behringer

#4
This is the second time in a week I have spoken out in favour of Behringer. Never thought the day would come, but I have to honestly say that the Behringer EP2500 power amp I use in one our P.A.s has been every bit as powerful and reliable as the QSC amps we use in the rest of the rig. On research, the Behringer Europower power amps do seem to get good reviews and that is why I bought one - the watts per buck ratio is unbeatable. That said, every bone in my body is screaming out and saying, "Don't do it!"
 
#5
Tim1 said:
This is the second time in a week I have spoken out in favour of Behringer. Never thought the day would come, but I have to honestly say that the Behringer EP2500 power amp I use in one our P.A.s has been every bit as powerful and reliable as the QSC amps we use in the rest of the rig. On research, the Behringer Europower power amps do seem to get good reviews and that is why I bought one - the watts per buck ratio is unbeatable. That said, every bone in my body is screaming out and saying, "Don't do it!"
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I have heard really good things about it and I know someone who uses it in his guitar rig (yeah, I know. It's insane) without any problems.

But that last part you said confuses me and contradicts everything you said before it.
 
#6
I've put about 320 four hour gigs on my two ep2500s at 4 ohms bridged mono. They have not given us one problem yet. Our amp rack gets loaded in and out of our trailer on almost every gig. They are pretty reliable and they sound great.
 
#8
insomniac2295 said:
But that last part you said confuses me and contradicts everything you said before it.
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It's simple: in terms of opinions/attitudes here on TB, the U5 is famously elite and Behr gear is reviled as lower than low. I'm not saying the perception/attitude is accurate, just that it's prevalent enough to cause mild shock seeing Avalon and Behr in the same sentence.
 
#9
bongomania said:
It's simple: in terms of opinions/attitudes here on TB, the U5 is famously elite and Behr gear is reviled as lower than low. I'm not saying the perception/attitude is accurate, just that it's prevalent enough to cause mild shock seeing Avalon and Behr in the same sentence.
Click to expand...

hahaha I was hoping puting them together in the title of the thread would get more people to read it because of the "mild shock" ;)
 
#11
I have serious ethics problems with Behringer. Fortunately, they seem to have many QC problems, so that gives me a "legit" reason to dislike them even if people think their ethics are OK. That said, I'm always willing to save a buck when I can, and if a Behringer power amp worked well and sounded as good what I really wanted, then I'd throw my ethics right out the window ;)
 
#13
For all the Behringer slamming - they have great service and a great warranty exchange program. It states that if the unit fails in Warranty, they will replace it with a "new" unit. I've seen other exchange programs that give you refurbished units. Behringer can't off such a program if their equipment is prone to failure - they'd go out of business.

Behringer also admits their amps are not rated "RMS' or "continuous" watts. They may be like 10% to 20% lower in wattage than a comparable number from QSC or Crown. Still very hefty, but this doesn't help them.

That said, there is something going on with Behringer I can't put my finger on. They haven't introduced as many new products as they use to. It's actually quite a drop. Which leads me to speculate they might be moving towards more of a manufacturing service and away from their own products.
 
#14
Personally I like Fender amps, and have since the 60's. I play a Behringer BX4500H and it has performed very well for me, but if I'd had a Fender 300, I would have kept it. I don't see that you would have much to gain by selling the 300.

I don't know the Avalon unit and so can't comment on it. But..........

If you want a more hybrid sound (what does that mean? Tube-like?) then I suggest you buy a tube pedal or simple preamp (maybe an ART Tube) and put it in front of the Bassman. You'll get more of a tube sound for MUCH less money.
 
#15
Nothing beats an Avalon U5. Most Behringer bass products I've tried sound like crap but seeing as you're just going to be using one of their poweramps I would think that as long as it doesn't affect your tone(which it shouldn't, being a power amp) you should be all right. I've also heard that Behringer poweramps are reliable, despite the reputation the rest of their gear has.

So I'd say go for it.
 
#16
Hi

I'm interested in this too. I've just bought a tube pre amp (BBE), and I'm looking for a power amp. Vaguely thinking of just ditching it all and getting a Fender Pro 300 actually. I suppose I'm trying to get me head around whether a 300W tube head would really be able to keep up with a 1500W SS Power amp, and also whether the tube head would in fact be loud enough anyway.

What are the ethical problems with Behringer?
Is the general opinion that the sound quality of the Behringer amps is the same as the QSC ones? I know that there are other considerations between the 2, but is the sound quality basically the same?

I'd think about offering to take your Fender off you, but I hate to think how much postage would be!

pearcey
 
#17
I had a Europower 1500 for a short while with a BBE BMax preamp. One of the Europower channels died on me and it was stupid heavy. It was also stolen out of my car before I could look into a warranty claim.

I'll admit that it sounded pretty good when I didn't have to think about moving it, but that was mostly due to the BBE preamp.

If I were to do the racked setup again, I would get a QSC power amp instead.
 
#19
alexclaber said:
Ethically I'd rather buy from the company that spent the money on the R&D, especially as their product is excellent and still reasonably priced. The old PLX amps are a great used buy and I use one with an Avalon U5 as my rig.

Alex
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This is my rig, also. I run into a DBX160 for a little dynamic control and then into a U5 and a QSC PLX-1602. This is the best sounding, simplest signal path I have run and I love it. Drive a pair of Berg HT112ERs and I am in heaven.

Regarding Behringer, I agree with Alex's comment about buying from the company that did the R&D. That way they can afford to continue to do R&D. I'll admit I am biased against Behringer. Even though you get a lot of function for the money, I have had many problems with quality over the years. I have purged myself of all their signal processing gear for live and studio use and have vowed to never buy any more. That being said, I have no direct experience with their bass amps or power amps. Given all the quality gear on the market, I would personally pay a little more and avoid Behringer. For me, power amp choices comes down to Crown, QSC or Crest.
 
#20
insomniac2295 said:
. . . Is the Behringer good for the money?
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I have some Behringer -- the Bass V-Amp Pro and a small mixer. Many bad design decisions (cost-cutting?) with the V-Amp and so it sits collecting dust. It was promptly replaced with a Bass Pod XT Pro, and although the Pod cost multiple times what the V-Amp did, it is a better value.

The small mixer is ok but the power supply uses a proprietary connector.

When I looked for power amps, I eliminated Behringer as they are heavier than most.

Anyway, I doubt I'll consider Behringer again.
 

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