Mackie SRM 150 or Behringer B205D

**pingu** · 05-28-2013, 05:46 AM

Anyone used one of these tiny amps for Jazz Guitar ?These things are 7 lbs ...........
Small 5.25" neo speaker , Hi Z instrument input EQ
150 watts

Cheap ............. especially the copy/clone Behringer

Might be an alternative to a Lunchbox for small gigs
Any experience Pos or Neg gratefully accepted

ta

**oldane** · 05-28-2013, 06:17 AM

They are both basically smal and light powered PA amps and the Behringer B205D is a MIC clone of the Mackie as you correctly writes.

I have a Behringer B205D which I use for occations when I want small portable PA like amp. With a 5" speaker, nobody should be fooled to believe that it sound like a Twin Reverb, but it could actually have been far worse. I have heard Joe Pass with a worse tone on some records. I have tried to plug a guitar into it, and it works OK in a pinch, though not overwhelmingly good. I find it better sounding than many cheaper SS amps from the 1970 and 80s. I have also tried it with a Sansamp Paradriver DI in front, but found that it sounded just as good without it, provided it was properly EQ'd (it has quite good EQ with treble, mid and bass which works OK for electric guitar).

The Behringer is dirt cheap, and for the money, I think you can't go wrong. If you end up not liking it for guitar, you can use it for a lot of other things. For example plug in your smartphone (yes it has a 3,5mm jack input) and use it to play back music at a party. It delivered the background music at my 60 years birthday party last year. Or plug in your tablet with iRealB to play back the iRealB tracks. Or connect your laptop and play back the BIAB tracks.

**kawa** · 05-28-2013, 06:44 AM

Not good for the electric guitars, these are hifi components, good for only the acoustic guitars.
GM Arts - Guitar Amplifiers

http://www.independentrecording.net/...in_display.htm

**Gramps** · 05-28-2013, 07:27 AM

In my living room I use a Behringer B205D but would like something different (more powerful) for live performance.

**pingu** · 05-28-2013, 07:48 AM

many thanks all,
i understand about the hi fi thing ....
i need a flat amp anyway
'jazz' amps eg mambo , aer , fishman, hennriksen etc
are all quite flat response amps too

(this is not for blues rock guitar sounds at all)

**jorgemg1984** · 05-28-2013, 08:54 AM

Some rock guys use sounds close to flat... everyone who used ampegs for example.

There is a difference: henriksen or mambo use BETA speakers - which, while not ideal for guitar, are still close to a guitar speaker and don't go further than 3k / 4k. An AER or Fishman or one of those PA use full range speakers.

And even considering flat amps trough the same speakers they don't sound the same. I have a mambo head and an henriksen head and even with both flat the mambo is much warmer, natural, less sterile

Assuming the eq on those things is usable for guitar (it should be voiced for acoustics) I would still need reverb and something like an ADA GCS-2 (which I use with PAs) to simulate the regular guitar amp sound.

But if you like your sound trough a reverbless acoustic amp you will like it.

**krueger** · 05-28-2013, 04:19 PM

Hi!

I have the bigger Behringer B210D. The best clean jazz sound so far with this unit is by just plugging my Zoom G3 with a slight reverb into it, there's no Hi-Z input but there is a mic-preamp on the late part 50-100% of the level output. The Behringer has bass and treble eq. A setting with bass around 20% and treble 40-50% gives a reasonably balanced/flat tone playing music and/or pink noise through it. With an archtop the treble isn't really affecting the sound, but the bass might be rolled off even a bit further. When engaging the amp models on the G3 I feel there's just an added layer of eq* that takes away from the guitars own tone, so the G3 is more or less only used for the reverbs and perhaps some early reflection. The speaker has plenty of power (135 W RMS for the woofer, and 38 W RMS for the tweeter, 18.8 lbs/8.5 kg). I'm curious how much worse sound-wise a setup like this (or with some other active PA speaker) would be compared to the more expensive flat jazz amps? They're so cheap I'm considering getting another for stereo-duty both for guitar as regular PA/sound reproduction.

(* Through headphones the amp models on the G3 sound good for Jazz though...)

**Gramps** · 05-28-2013, 05:08 PM

Krueger,

Do you find that the tone from the Behringer B210D changes as you walk away from it?

The 205D sounds much like the headphones directly from the G3 when you're about 2.5 to 3 feet away from the speakers but as you move farther from the speakers the high frequencies drop off quickly.

**krueger** · 05-28-2013, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by Gramps

Krueger,

Do you find that the tone from the Behringer B210D changes as you walk away from it?

The 205D sounds much like the headphones directly from the G3 when you're about 2.5 to 3 feet away from the speakers but as you move farther from the speakers the high frequencies drop off quickly.

I will check this next time I have it up and running.

**pingu** · 05-28-2013, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by krueger

Hi!

The speaker has plenty of power (135 W RMS for the woofer, and 38 W RMS for the tweeter, 18.8 lbs/8.5 kg). I'm curious how much worse sound-wise a setup like this (or with some other active PA speaker) would be compared to the more expensive flat jazz amps? They're so cheap I'm considering getting another for stereo-duty both for guitar as regular PA/sound reproduction.

Exactly the way I'm thinking these days Kruger .............

And if you don't (as I don't) need the reverb/early ref thing
could you plug the guitar directly into the 210D powered speaker ?
<geek alert> ......... the input Z of a line in of a powered speaker is approx 10Kohms
which is about the same as a Guitar o/p Z
a proper instrument (guitar) input has about 500 Kohms
(like the switchable inst input on the small srm 150 etc)

So the theory says it shouldn't really work BUT I used to plug my
guit direct into my soundcraft mixer (input Z approx 10Kohmns)
and it sounded fine so .....
<geek over>

Have you ever plugged straight in without the G3 ?
How'd it sound , reverb aside

**krueger** · 05-29-2013, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by Gramps

Krueger,

Do you find that the tone from the Behringer B210D changes as you walk away from it?

The 205D sounds much like the headphones directly from the G3 when you're about 2.5 to 3 feet away from the speakers but as you move farther from the speakers the high frequencies drop off quickly.

I don't find that the tone changes more than I would expect. I have it as a wedge on the floor and I have consistent tone for the area I normally would cover when playing with a 10 feet cord.

**Gramps** · 05-29-2013, 03:14 PM

Thanks Krueger.

**krueger** · 05-29-2013, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by pingu

Exactly the way I'm thinking these days Kruger .............

And if you don't (as I don't) need the reverb/early ref thing
could you plug the guitar directly into the 210D powered speaker ?
<geek alert> ......... the input Z of a line in of a powered speaker is approx 10Kohms
which is about the same as a Guitar o/p Z
a proper instrument (guitar) input has about 500 Kohms
(like the switchable inst input on the small srm 150 etc)

So the theory says it shouldn't really work BUT I used to plug my
guit direct into my soundcraft mixer (input Z approx 10Kohmns)
and it sounded fine so .....
<geek over>

Have you ever plugged straight in without the G3 ?
How'd it sound , reverb aside

I just tried it and it doesn't really work well, the sound is muddy without any punch. The impedance is 20k on the inputs which I presume affects the tone in this way. I had the level at 50% which was a comfortable practice level. I didn't have the chance to crank it but the later part of the level has a preamp which raises the volume considerably.

In summary, not useless volume wise but I guess the low input impedance makes for the dull sound.

I then pulled out an old Arion SDI-1 stereo-distortion pedal which is buffered and put the signal through that (in bypass mode of course). Much better results! I still reduced the bass to around 10-20% and kept the treble at around 50% and got a nice clean tone. A buffered eq would perhaps be ideal choice. Sculpt the sound for the speaker and boost the output level to get the most out of the available power. I would like an additional reverb pedal too...

**pingu** · 05-29-2013, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by krueger

I just tried it and it doesn't really work well, the sound is muddy without any punch. The impedance is 20k on the inputs which I presume affects the tone in this way. I had the level at 50% which was a comfortable practice level. I didn't have the chance to crank it but the later part of the level has a preamp which raises the volume considerably.

In summary, not useless volume wise but I guess the low input impedance makes for the dull sound.

I then pulled out an old Arion SDI-1 stereo-distortion pedal which is buffered and put the signal through that (in bypass mode of course). Much better results! I still reduced the bass to around 10-20% and kept the treble at around 50% and got a nice clean tone. A buffered eq would perhaps be ideal choice. Sculpt the sound for the speaker and boost the output level to get the most out of the available power. I would like an additional reverb pedal too...

thats really helpfull ....thanks man

**jorgemg1984** · 05-29-2013, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by krueger

I just tried it and it doesn't really work well, the sound is muddy without any punch. The impedance is 20k on the inputs which I presume affects the tone in this way. I had the level at 50% which was a comfortable practice level. I didn't have the chance to crank it but the later part of the level has a preamp which raises the volume considerably.

In summary, not useless volume wise but I guess the low input impedance makes for the dull sound.

I then pulled out an old Arion SDI-1 stereo-distortion pedal which is buffered and put the signal through that (in bypass mode of course). Much better results! I still reduced the bass to around 10-20% and kept the treble at around 50% and got a nice clean tone. A buffered eq would perhaps be ideal choice. Sculpt the sound for the speaker and boost the output level to get the most out of the available power. I would like an additional reverb pedal too...

I have no idea if it sounds good or not but this pedal would be a 3 in 1 for you

TECH 21 - Boost R.V.B.

**krueger** · 05-30-2013, 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by jorgemg1984

I have no idea if it sounds good or not but this pedal would be a 3 in 1 for you

TECH 21 - Boost R.V.B.

Yes, that could be something for people wanting to plug-in directly to an active speaker with a guitar with a minimum of extra gear.

**benjazzman82** · 05-31-2013, 07:39 PM

I have the mackie srm150 and its an awful little thing. Only good as a monitor. Cant handle the low end that we need.

**Andrew061663** · 10-05-2015, 07:05 PM

I just got the Mackie SRM150 and it crapped out after 5 gigs. I don't know if it's blown (utterly impossible); it has a circuit breaker but that does not seem to be tripped. I am just going to get the Beringer. Mackie DESERVES to be knocked off (copied or cloned) if they can't make a reliable product. They're living on some twisted legend that they make decent products. Mackie KNOWS about this issue yet has done nothing about it. Don't take my word - Google it. Tons of same issues with the thing just quitting, no power, no resetting the fuse.