Behringer ep1500/2500

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
P

postman

Member
Joined 2002
#1
Has anyone actually used either one of these amps, i just want to know if theyre really as bad as some people seem to say.

I live in australia and i can get the ep2500 for around AU$700 and it supposedly puts out 750rms each side into 4ohms or 2400 bridged at 4ohms.

This seems to be the best amp in regards to price/output.

Ive considered ordering from the parts express, but even a modest crown ce1000 will come out to be around AU$850 or more once i pay for shipping to australia and us/aus dollar conversion.

I ask this because im looking to buy an amp to power my 2 15" brahmas (they seem to need alot of power to get going).

If i have any other good options id like to hear from you :angel:
 
#2
If the amp is for home use, the CE1000 has proportional speed fans which will cause as little noise as possible. I believe that the fans on the B*******r run continuously.

I have not used the B*******r amps myself, but they received very bad press on the old LAB (Live Audio Board), on account of their poor reliablility.

Hope this helps,
Tim.
 
#4
Hi

While home use will almost certainly be less physically demanding for the amps, I would still buy a quality brand name unit.

One B*******r mode of failure involved the speaker protection relays 'sticking' closed, which lead to switching transients being fed to the speakers - not good.

Buy the CE1000 if low fan noise is important. If price is an issue the QSC RMX line may be cheaper, and they include a fixed high pass filter that may be useful. Also, amps like the Peavey CS and Yamaha models show up on Ebay all the time.

Hope this helps,
Tim.
 
#5
The 24V Fan in the Behringer EP2500 runs with 14 Volt in normal state (I was measuring from room temperature to about 70 degrees Celsius @ the heatsink). The Behringer Support says it only switches to 24V when it gets really very very hot. (Dont know why they never come out with exact numbers, so it must be somewhere over 70 degrees Celsius 🙂 )

IMHO with that EP2500 you get a lot of amp for few bucks.
 
#6
What I would propose for modding the EP2500 is:

1. Turning that Fan round, so that it blows out instead of in. You will need to lengthen the aluminium heatsink a few centimeters to do so. (Or else the cooling will be less efficient) This will tremendously reduce the amount of dust coming in the housing. The EP2500 has something like a dust filter @ the front of the housing. If you have turned round the Fan, this will then act as entrance for the airflow. (Instead of preventing the dust to be blown outside the housing if the Fan blows in the original direction)
I dont know for what reason they could have it assembled that way. 😕
 
#7
2. Connect a few Zener Diodes into the circuit of the Fan so that the Voltage is reduced to ~9 Volts in normal state. Connect an additional bimetallic switch (for low DC Application) to the heatsink, that short cuts the Zener Diodes when the Temperature rises to ~60 degrees Celcius and above.

IMHO when used for home cinema subwoofer application, 9V for the Fan is still enough. The heatsink does only warm up a few degrees more than room temperature.
 
#10
Behringer stuff is pretty sucky - The quality control is not good :-(

for some reason, the cicuit used in the EP series also appers in several different amps from different manufacturers - i dont know why.

the EP2500 is also a QSC RMX2450 - same circuit - same board layout even!
but the QSC uses better quality components, (the Behringer uses a lot of SMD parts).

look for my other post in the tread about C-Mark / Audiohead to see more.
 
#12
AudioSystemsEng said:
Behringer stuff is pretty sucky - The quality control is not good :-(

for some reason, the cicuit used in the EP series also appers in several different amps from different manufacturers - i dont know why.

the EP2500 is also a QSC RMX2450 - same circuit - same board layout even!
but the QSC uses better quality components, (the Behringer uses a lot of SMD parts).

look for my other post in the tread about C-Mark / Audiohead to see more.
Click to expand...


Eva said:


Wasn't this the opposite?
Click to expand...


Yup - it's the opposite - the RMX used SMD components - the Behringer is all through-hole. The circuit itself is almost exactly the same. The build quality of the RMX is an order of magnitide better, however. It's not the same circuit board. The RMX used SMDs in places where power dissipation wasn't a concern to make room for a cleaner layout - with space for resistors to breathe and wide tracks with multiple vias where they were needed. The Behringer PCB looks like an exercise in cost cutting - it's as small and packed together as possible. That's not always a good idea for audio equipment. I'll wager they started with the netlist (stolen death star plans), placed all the parts for minumum footprint, hit the autoroute button, ran DRCs and ordered boards.

There are probably 10 manufacturers using that same exact circuit, with varying levels of quality.
 
#14
I have used 2 Behringer EP 2500's in my PA setup for over 4 years now with good success. It is important that you keep that front filter clean. Just take the top off and blow it out every 6mths or so. I can't figure out why they set up the air flow to blow into the filter???
 
#16
Don't know in that particular amp, but in general in any sealed cabinet (except fan and heatsink vent holes) it ends up being basically the same.

That said, you place your air filters to minimize debris going into the amp, not leaving it, so that suggests a preferred direction.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom