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 New busking amp tested 
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Post New busking amp tested
Just got my hands on one of these Behringer MPA40BT amps. I'm one of many who have avoided Behringer gear for years, until I heard recently that their quality control has improved dramatically (thanks to new management and manufacturing partners).

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/MPA40BT.aspx

This is a preliminary report, no street test as of yet.
Out of the box, it feels super solid and very no-frills. No effects (thankfully), no line out (unfortunately). Class D amp 2-way speaker system with an 8" driver. The mixer panel knobs and inputs feel OK without being super-confidence inspiring. Just plug it in and it charges, whether or not the power is on. Battery life is promised to be "up to 12 hours". To be honest I'd be happy if it lived up to 5-6. Time will tell.

I was expecting to be underwhelmed, as I was with my recent test of the Roland Street Cube EX. But I have to say that plug-and-play sound is way above my expectation. The lows are full and the highs have some "air" without being brittle. The amount of volume available is impressive, and there is no cabinet rattle or obvious noises at moderate volume (though I haven't run it flat out yet). To be honest, it sounds and feels like a deluxe model of my old Crate Taxi. What I like most is that there are two identical channels, with enough input gain to run the Stickup straight in, if necessary. I've read some very positive reviews from acoustic guitarists, and I can see why. It produces a clean, full-range sound for a 40 Watt battery powered amp.

Now the best part. I can buy this amp for as little as $275 in Australia. For the price of a Cube EX, I can buy two. And for the local price of my AER Compact Mobile, I could buy 8. With a 3-year warranty.

Bottom line: If you're looking for a busking amp, you definitely owe it to yourself to try this before you buy a Roland (I've tried ALL of their battery powered range, and none of them sound this good IMO). If you're like me, and prefer the simplest possible amp without on board modelling/effects, this could just be the find of the year. With a pair, a great stereo busking setup awaits...

Street test to follow.

Cheers,
Andy

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Thu Oct 30, 2014 4:56 pm
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Post Re: New busking amp tested
Hmm... Interesting. Looking for more details from you as your tests continue.

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Thu Oct 30, 2014 5:44 pm
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Post Re: New busking amp tested
Really Interesting read Andy, Thanks.
I'm from the studio generation that also shunned Behringer in their early days, its was Lexicon, foscusrite, name stuff or bust etc etc, but at a hefty price.
I'm ready to hit the streets with my Roland KC110 just about but it was nowhere near as cheap as the Behringer. How are you plugging into it? I'm been merging both sides of the <stick through a nice passive DI and into the Mic Input on the Roland, not too bad.
Like you say , apair of them at that price opens up lots of possibilities also.
Anyway, look forward to more on this , >Just the man for the job!
Cheers
Bruce :)

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Fri Oct 31, 2014 10:44 am
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Post Re: New busking amp tested
Thanks for sending me down a road of research which involved deep cycle batteries, inverters, and imagining totally awesome "little" rigs. I became very excited when I saw that the Phil Jones Briefcase Ultimate had an external speaker connection rated for 200 watts at 8 ohms—until I remembered that Phil Jones preamps have a 40Hz high pass filter on the input.

Based on Scott's picture of his Railboard in its case, I think an Ashdown PiBass head would fit into one of the case's storage cavities quite well (yes, I calculated the cavity's approximate dimensions). In my imagination, that means it is feasible (for some values of "feasible") to run a fEARful 12/6/1 from an inverter/deep cycle battery combination. You could hit 107dB at two meters whilst still allowing 6dB of headroom!
:lol:
:lol:
:lol:
:lol:
:?
We really need a mad scientist smiley.

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Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:43 pm
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Post New busking amp tested
I decided to get a couple of these in to run side by side tests with the Roland Street Cube EX which I still have a week left to test.

So far so good The overall sound of the Behringers is more even and mellower than the Street Cube EX. The 2 identical channels are an improvement over the configuration of the EX. I'm testing with the channel volume set to 1 o'clock and the main to 10 o'clock. This produces a nice full volume with out any harshness or distortion. I'l crank it up a bit later and see how things work out.

As Andy mentioned, the inputs on the Behringer allow direct input of the Stick, no boost absolutely required. I've got a little clean boost running from my pedalboard, but very little.

Weighs 18 pounds, so 2 of them for stereo is not a back breaker.

More later, but I might be sending the Street Cube EX back. It's a great amp, but the tone is a bit harsh for my liking.

Randy

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Last edited by carvingcode on Sun Nov 02, 2014 7:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sun Nov 02, 2014 3:20 pm
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Post New busking amp tested
Quick follow up:

I moved the main gain setting to 12 o'clock and the sound was still as nice as before. No distortion or undo harshness. It produced an average of 68 decibels with peak at 76 db.

Another test I did was with the Bluetooth playback from an iPad 2. BT paired quickly and with nothing more than a push of the button on the back of the Behringer. I set the BT channel's volume to 12 o'cock. Some backing tracks I have in the iReal Pro app sounded great. No fuzz, lag, etc.

I haven't tested the microphone that came with the Behringer yet. I'm sure it is simply adequate for its purpose.

Looking more and more like I'll return the Street Cube EX. Savings of a little over $200 US. (Now, was there a pedal I *needed*?)

Randy

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Sun Nov 02, 2014 4:10 pm
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Post Re: New busking amp tested
Thanks for these reports. Any data on battery life yet?

/rick


Mon Nov 03, 2014 1:24 pm
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Post Re: New busking amp tested
I'll run mine on battery only and report back later. I did see a YT video where the fellow removed the plate covering the battery and remarked that this type was easy to find if replacement ever was needed.

3 year warranty on the amp, BTW.

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Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:25 pm
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Post Re: New busking amp tested
Bruce, I guess "Lexicon" and "Focusrite" branded items these days are not necessarily what they once were either...

I ran the Behringer as a second speaker with my AER at an unplugged gig the other day. Still impressed with it, particularly keeping in mind the price point. It was only 2 hours, but the amp was close to fully charged when I packed up. The charge lights are helpful but I wouldn't rely on them for an "absolute" measure. I'm pretty confident that the amp will get enough hours for my use. There's plenty of bass, I even backed off the lows a bit. The EQ is not terribly useful for tone shaping, more of a last option "cut or boost". Once again, it's simple and utilitarian, but the basic plug & play sound is there (and not many things to go wrong). 12V 5Ah SLA batteries are dead easy to find, and cheap. (As a side note, several friends of mine who use the Roland KC and BA amps, have stopped using AA batteries with them and bought external SLA batteries with an inverter. The main reason is a noticeable drop in volume after 1-2 hours use).

The included mic is about on par with a Radio Shack cheapie. It's the weakest part of the package, but luckily makes no difference to me. Still, it's a bit of a throwback to the bad old Behringer days. Bluetooth works well, which would come in handy for piped music during my breaks at wedding receptions etc.

As you may have noticed, these amps are available in a "Pro" model, which is simply the same thing with added wheels and a telescopic handle. While this may seem like a great idea, I'd avoid that option. Admittedly I'm a heavy user, but I go through roughly one folding trolley every year; the handles start acting up and the wheels break down. You're better off spending the money on a decent amp cover and buying a separate trolley.

I'm going to keep this speaker and add a second one. I'll be taking them out in the streets over the next month to see how they handle the "real world" 8-)

Cheers,
Andy

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Mon Nov 03, 2014 5:56 pm
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Post New busking amp tested
It is an interesting experience playing the Stick for the first time thru a stereo performance system. I've got the 2 Behringers sitting behind me on a couple short stands. Great sound. A stereo reverb ( TC Electronics makes a couple affordable ones) will spread the effects across both speakers. Really adds depth.

I'm really happy Andy mentioned these. I've worked my way thru a few speaker/amp trials this year (Fishman Artist, QSC K12, Street Cube Ex). This option is the cheapest, most flexible, and best sounding (IMO) of those.

Randy

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Mon Nov 03, 2014 6:50 pm
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