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Bugera BVP5500 vs Hartke Lh500
- Thread starter zacmds
- Start date
Well, since reliablity is a key issue. The smart thing for zacmds to do is search the AMPS forum and see how many times "hartke" comes up with issues and compare them with the amount of times "Behringer" or "Bugera" comes up with issues. Thats common sense.
I think everyone will agree with this.
I think everyone will agree with this.
It's really too bad for those who don't actually look at the quality, reliability, warranty, sound, and instead just dismiss the B* gear on price or old internet folklore. Much of the B* stuff is a a great value.
Sweetwater sells Behringer, and Sweetwater has an excellent reputation for selling reputable products. They also add an extra year on the warranty.
I would not buy this amp, simply because of the weight and features. It's just not for me. B* needs to jump on the lightweight micro heads and really clean up.
I wouldn't buy the Harkte neither.
Both look like old technology amps - thrown together to meet some market image. Fine for some. YMMV. Try them in real life.
Except that your sample is highly self-selected and therefore not representative of anything other than the likelihood that TB posters own one or other amp, and post with their complaints. My guess is that that sample would slant towards Hartke owners, making them appear less reliable.
I would call the service department from each company and see what sort of response you get if you really want to compare that end of things.
darius8 said:
Maybe, but they are plenty of Hartke out there, maybe more then Behringer. One other thing, not necessary those who have Bugera/ Behrigner and have issues bother to talk about it.
Reliability is one issue, company image and integrity is and other. Hartke have solid score in any front, Behringer obviously not,
Theres only one way to tell and thats with statistics. Even then its iffy because some amps might come in with minor fixes while others require major fixes. You dont want to give the same weight to a knob falling off as compared to a blown transformer, for instance.
There was a topic here in which a TB member posted reliability statistics, but I believe it (the report) was assembled in Europe. I did searches but could NOT find it.
There was a topic here in which a TB member posted reliability statistics, but I believe it (the report) was assembled in Europe. I did searches but could NOT find it.
seamonkey said:
I'll not call the Hartke old technology, but I'll agree that big and heavy solid state rigs seem to loose some reason for existence with all the new Class D amps. Tube amps are not as fragile regarding this future as everybody accept that tube heads are big and heavy. Peavey VB3 is maybe the future direction for tube heads.
I wander when Harkte will come with a Class D mini amp, without it they will struggle, I think. Behringer, I am not worried for them, sooner or later they will come with some class D copy, will it be Bugera PF400 or Beringer MB 600..... Who knows.
Hartke all the way. My band has had a Bugera fail on us (literally started sparking and smoking). Plus, Bugera's specs are outright lies.
Behringer actually owns patents in class-d technology.
Why they don't have a bass amp now is because their market doesn't demand it. Bass players in their market still believe big and heavy means something.
Larry Hartke himself will personally adress any issues you probably won't have with a Hartke amp. His personal cell number is posted all over the place. No manufacturer can or ever has beat that, plain and simple...
Tb is has 190,000 members, I'm sure theres a few Behringer owners out there and if they have a gripe I'm sure they'll post it; people who DON'T own Behringers post alot more frequently from what I have seen.
If there are post (if any) of Hartke issues out there, then Hartke has issues. If Hartke looks like they're less reliable, well maybe it's simply because they are less reliable. I have never used Hartke gear so I can't say anything negative about them. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Perhaps there are fewer threads about Behringer/Bugera because theres really nothing to talk about. I can't prove nor disprove but nor can you.
@zacmds, do the search, try BASSCHAT and Harmony Central also because that will give you a larger sample base.
Of course I can't, but I'm not trying to. My guess was just that, and whichever way the result of any such survey slanted, it would be meaningless with respect to the question posed.
Any amplifier can fail, and for me the issue would be the relative ease with which any problem could be resolved. I suspect there's little controversy concerning which company would come out on top there. But, if there are any lingering doubts, I suggest calling Larry Hartke before you make your purchase. Then try calling Mr Behringer.
darius8 said:
I think many Behringer owners which encounter some issues will not post about it because they know they will get lots of responds like "I told you so" etc.
That is very cool, but it doesn't scale.
If he wants to take some time off, or sales really pick up he wouldn't be able to handle the volume. It would be interesting to call him up and ask what he thinks on this
I'm happy if I get good support even if it isn't from the namesake.
In fairness I'll say this, IMO, the Hydrive combos sounded very good. The LM series sounded even better especially with the aluminum coned drivers in the 4x10's. The LM500 married to the 4x10's is a great sounding rig, I say that becuz I listened to a friend of mine play them at the local GC.
That is very cool, but it doesn't scale.
If he wants to take some time off, or sales really pick up he wouldn't be able to handle the volume. It would be interesting to call him up and ask what he thinks on this
I'm happy if I get good support even if it isn't from the namesake.
Yeah, I've never needed to call him, which is obviously a good thing (My HA2000 is rather old, too). Given the number of hartke amps out there I'm not sure how he does it either. But it shows how a person thinks and therefore how a company operates. My point is that the hartke stuff is reliable and even if it does fail, the company is very, very quick to get it fixed.
