Berihnger A800 full review, pictures INSIDE )

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Hi amigos,

This is probably the first shots of the Berihinger A800 Class D amplifier.
I heard lots of great reviews about this Amp and I tried to ask to Berihinger customer serice some info. about the audio chip : they were not allowed to share those technical informations. I also asked to Thomann in Germany but the same... this is like a secret )

So, I started the adventure and decided to share a little review.
Keep in mind that this review is based on my discerning musician ears. I have been playing drums for many years now and my father is classical guitarist as well. So that I can compare, I specify that I have several amps. (High end AB amp, TPA3255 Amp Purepath, TK2050 Tripath)

My equipments :

- Audiophile Audio Player
- Tube DK TP01 Preamp + Sylvania EBE6W NOS Tubes made in the USA
- HD Audio 24 Bit Playlist : Jazz / World Music / Voices Female + Male
- The Preamp is connected via XLR balanced inputs
- Hi ends Floors Speakers 3 way / 93DB @ 8 ohms handmade in France

Berihinger A800 spec :

Output circuit type Class-D
Circuit protection Short circuit current, DC fault, AC fuse, thermal cut
Distortion (4 Ω @ 150 W @ 1 kHz) <0.08 %
Damping factor >160 @ 8 Ω
Frequency response @ -10 dB below rated output power 20 Hz to 20 kHz, +0/-1 dB
Frequency response @ -3 dB 10 Hz to 30 kHz
Signal-to-noise >100 dB (A weighted, 20 Hz to 20 kHz)
Voltage gain @ level control max Balanced: 30 dB / RCA: 41 dB
Input sensitivity @ level control max XLR: +4 dBu / RCA: -10 dBV

Sound Stage :
Compared to my AB high end amplifier, I would say that the A800 has clinical or even a surgical sound, extremely well balanced with a formidable precision in the low ends. This is pretty typical with Class D amps but I have to admit that the balance between all the frequencies is quite exceptional ! Audio image is really great (this depends also on recordings and tubes)

Musicality :
The musicality is a little to the detriment of the accuracy of this class D Amp. Question of taste probably.... With the A800 you will really hear some suprising details (sliding guitar strings, articulations on the snare etc)... It is as accurate as the TPA3255 maybe better to my ears but a little less warm than my AB amp.

Dynnamics :
Excellent ! The music really live : the amp has a lot power. Listening is not tiring really amazing. The range of how gently or strongly are played the instruments is clearly noticeable.

Noise / Signal :
AMAZING ! absolutely dead silence between songs even with my Volume control @70%.

Conclusion :
For this price, I think it is impossible to Out perform this Class D amp.
For me it is clearly an Audiophile amplifier that performs as well as a 1000$ amplifier. Now let the scientif measures confirm this....

Pictures from inside and I will let the specialist analyze the electronic part )

191112101250598234.jpg


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191112101317367122.jpg


191112101335605699.jpg


191112101339225322.jpg


191112101352959553.jpg


191112101357901652.jpg


191112101418944365.jpg


191112101428759600.jpg


191112101432250458.jpg


191112101448560724.jpg


191112101458252611.jpg


19111210150123356.jpg
 
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Joined 2007
Paid Member
mmm CapXon capacitors, they used to be awful and fail after two years but they may have got better. Not sure what type of power device they are using and how the heat sink clamp works but it doesn't look like it can dissipate much power so hopefully the circuits are very efficient. Power devices look to be a long way away from the gate drivers and components are arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way (grids) rather than a way positioning them for better performance. Looks mechanically well built though.
 
mmm CapXon capacitors, they used to be awful and fail after two years but they may have got better. Not sure what type of power device they are using and how the heat sink clamp works but it doesn't look like it can dissipate much power so hopefully the circuits are very efficient. Power devices look to be a long way away from the gate drivers and components are arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way (grids) rather than a way positioning them for better performance. Looks mechanically well built though.

You might be right. I played music with the A800 for 3 continue hours yerterday with my greedy speakers : No overheating to report. Seems that
the passive cooling system is effective :D
 
Driver irs20957s
Mosfet??? What is under the funny heat clips?


The layout has decoulping caps miles away from the pins in the ICs.
I guess they think it is important to organise the board in rows and columns and leave plenty of space between pins and caps for the labels.
 
I see this amp has "SmartSense Impedance Compensation
Our new SmartSense Technology puts the punch back into Class-D amplification, providing vastly improved full-range frequency response with more powerfully-dynamic bass, and smoother high-frequency reproduction. The resulting output is no longer dependent on the actual load, but is rendered perfectly ruler flat via impedance compensation. A800's design also incorporates a significantly-higher damping factor that yields better amplifier control over the loudspeaker for stronger audio reproduction – especially in the LF area."

Any comment on what this actually is? How it works? Or more BS?
 
Package is a guess. Given it is IRS20957 based then chances are it is self oscillating per the Infineon application note and the words spew from that. As long as the drive waveform integrity is maintained then any additional, matched to avoid cross conduction, delay becomes part of the loop. UCD is very forgiving...
 
Interesting to see how a moderately priced, high-level consumer product is actually made.

I guess the power FETs are cooled to the aluminum bottom plate?
The two 1200uF/200V caps are put in series for 230V supply?
The power converter works flyback?

Good photos. Rather logical layout with low production costs.
 
Member
Joined 2007
Paid Member
I see this amp has "SmartSense Impedance Compensation
Our new SmartSense Technology puts the punch back into Class-D amplification, providing vastly improved full-range frequency response with more powerfully-dynamic bass, and smoother high-frequency reproduction. The resulting output is no longer dependent on the actual load, but is rendered perfectly ruler flat via impedance compensation. A800's design also incorporates a significantly-higher damping factor that yields better amplifier control over the loudspeaker for stronger audio reproduction – especially in the LF area."

Any comment on what this actually is? How it works? Or more BS?

Post filter feedback (a good thing if implemented correctly) with BS sprinkled on it.
 
Driver irs20957s
Mosfet??? What is under the funny heat clips?


The layout has decoulping caps miles away from the pins in the ICs.
I guess they think it is important to organise the board in rows and columns and leave plenty of space between pins and caps for the labels.
I think the clips are to force the MosFets on the underside of the PCB either just to the bottom plate or to some other kind of heatsink.
The fets does not appear to be DirectFets, as you can clearly see 2 x 3 legs sticking through the pcb probably from TO220 fets on the underside
 
a 800 pots

mmm CapXon capacitors, they used to be awful and fail after two years but they may have got better. Not sure what type of power device they are using and how the heat sink clamp works but it doesn't look like it can dissipate much power so hopefully the circuits are very efficient. Power devices look to be a long way away from the gate drivers and components are arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way (grids) rather than a way positioning them for better performance. Looks mechanically well built though.

I had 2 or 3 A 500 s, the pots were defective, the amp performed 'well' only if the pots were at 11, does this one fares better??? I m considering to buy one, for my overseas house, less weight on a plane.
 
The frequency response measurements with a dummy loudspeaker load vs a resistive load suggest that the post-filter feedback is not lousy. There is very little difference between them, even at HF. It still leaves a 0.5 dB peak at 20 kHz though.
Behringer A800 Stereo Amplifier Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum


I had 2 or 3 A 500 s, the pots were defective, the amp performed 'well' only if the pots were at 11, does this one fares better??? I m considering to buy one, for my overseas house, less weight on a plane.
What, you are saying that this amp even goes BEYOND eleven?! :D
YouTube - amp goes to eleven
 
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I have the A800 too! The pots on the front seem fine. The clips on the red pads are indeed to force the cooling. The driven chips are cooled on the chassis, just like on all iNuke models (NU and NX.)

One thing I do have is that the input impedance of the A800 plays funny with my preamp/output on my pc. Anyone else with an A800 that has this issue? I bet it's solved by getting an actual real interface. Or is my unit actually defective? It doesn't seem to have the issue with my phone.
Ground loops were also ruled out by being short wired, on the exact same circuit (where another piece of equipment does not have a ground loop.) It also doesn't sound like a ground loop.
 
Hi amigos,

This is probably the first shots of the Berihinger A800 Class D amplifier.
I heard lots of great reviews about this Amp and I tried to ask to Berihinger customer serice some info. about the audio chip : they were not allowed to share those technical informations. I also asked to Thomann in Germany but the same... this is like a secret )

So, I started the adventure and decided to share a little review.
Keep in mind that this review is based on my discerning musician ears. I have been playing drums for many years now and my father is classical guitarist as well. So that I can compare, I specify that I have several amps. (High end AB amp, TPA3255 Amp Purepath, TK2050 Tripath)

My equipments :

- Audiophile Audio Player
- Tube DK TP01 Preamp + Sylvania EBE6W NOS Tubes made in the USA
- HD Audio 24 Bit Playlist : Jazz / World Music / Voices Female + Male
- The Preamp is connected via XLR balanced inputs
- Hi ends Floors Speakers 3 way / 93DB @ 8 ohms handmade in France

Berihinger A800 spec :

Output circuit type Class-D
Circuit protection Short circuit current, DC fault, AC fuse, thermal cut
Distortion (4 Ω @ 150 W @ 1 kHz) <0.08 %
Damping factor >160 @ 8 Ω
Frequency response @ -10 dB below rated output power 20 Hz to 20 kHz, +0/-1 dB
Frequency response @ -3 dB 10 Hz to 30 kHz
Signal-to-noise >100 dB (A weighted, 20 Hz to 20 kHz)
Voltage gain @ level control max Balanced: 30 dB / RCA: 41 dB
Input sensitivity @ level control max XLR: +4 dBu / RCA: -10 dBV

Sound Stage :
Compared to my AB high end amplifier, I would say that the A800 has clinical or even a surgical sound, extremely well balanced with a formidable precision in the low ends. This is pretty typical with Class D amps but I have to admit that the balance between all the frequencies is quite exceptional ! Audio image is really great (this depends also on recordings and tubes)

Musicality :
The musicality is a little to the detriment of the accuracy of this class D Amp. Question of taste probably.... With the A800 you will really hear some suprising details (sliding guitar strings, articulations on the snare etc)... It is as accurate as the TPA3255 maybe better to my ears but a little less warm than my AB amp.

Dynnamics :
Excellent ! The music really live : the amp has a lot power. Listening is not tiring really amazing. The range of how gently or strongly are played the instruments is clearly noticeable.

Noise / Signal :
AMAZING ! absolutely dead silence between songs even with my Volume control @70%.

Conclusion :
For this price, I think it is impossible to Out perform this Class D amp.
For me it is clearly an Audiophile amplifier that performs as well as a 1000$ amplifier. Now let the scientif measures confirm this....

Pictures from inside and I will let the specialist analyze the electronic part )

191112101250598234.jpg


19111210125783903.jpg


191112101317367122.jpg


191112101335605699.jpg


191112101339225322.jpg


191112101352959553.jpg


191112101357901652.jpg


191112101418944365.jpg


191112101428759600.jpg


191112101432250458.jpg


191112101448560724.jpg


191112101458252611.jpg


19111210150123356.jpg
[/QUOTe

How can you possibly connect the douk audio tube(!) Pre amp via XLR ???
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.