Hey Dave, no offense and if Behringer works for you then thats great. I'm just repeating what two very reputable shops told me about them. They both said stay away or be prepared to trash it when it goes down. www.Ivorysoundworks.com and Central Jersey music. The circut boards and such are put together with such tight tolerances and somewhat cheap parts that they are too time consuming to try to dissasemble and repair. And it is very difficult and slow for them to get parts from that company. They're words not mine. Behringer can offer more bells and whistles for a reason. They're specs are very exaggerated too. I checked out their small powered mixer which claims something like 180 watts. If you investigate you find it is only really 60 watts at 8 ohms. Must be 180 for a split second burst.
After all is said I still bring some kind of backup system no matter what I'm doing. Belt and suspenders mentality HA!

Bill in NJ

check out the Behringer k3000FX. I have used bass pedals with my K1800FX and it worked pretty well, but the extra power and 15" woofer of the K3000FX would pump out more than enough bass. [/quote]

Thanks David,

Do you know there is a bad guy inside me saying " go for that Behringer K3000Fx and follow your dream keyboard amp.

Have a look at the positive reviews on this site below and then read the bad ones where the amp gave up in the middle of a gig, I dont think I can take that chance, as much as I'd like to.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHK3000FX

Hi Bill,

I understand what the service centers are saying, however, the very same can be said about other brands as well. A couple of potentiometers went out on the KP200S when I had it, no fault of mine, they just broke (cheap parts maybe? I don't know). Anyway, I had a heck of a time taking the thing apart to replace those two pots. And I repaired a friends KC350 a while ago because one of the RCA input jacks was intermittent. Not exactly a robust design inside.

One has to wonder why service people don't like certain brands. Could one possible reason be that a given brand doesn't present the potential profit in repairs as much as other brands? Just a thought.

As for the 180 watts output powered mixer; that is peak power at 4 ohms as per the spec sheet. I agree that it is stretching the truth a bit by using peak power as the advertised power output rating. But I can think of many companies that do similar things with their specs by fudging this or that. That being said, I don't really care or pay attention to power ratings. The 40 watt power amp in my Leslie 122 will slice your head off if asked. Point being, power amp output rating is only part of the equation. Just as important is the design of that power amp, as well as the design of the speaker(s) and the cabinet they are housed in. So I would rather just rely on my ears as to how a particular amp/speaker combination sounds as opposed to being inappropriately swayed by fudged specs.

So, back to the OP's question, I don't think there is a best combo amp for anything. It all depends on what features fill your particular needs. For me the K1800FX works just fine. And I'll stand behind my suggestion to take a close look at the K3000FX in comparison to the KC550.

Dave

P.S. I always wear a belt, but I should take after you and start with suspenders as well.

Yes, but doesn't the fact that 79 people rated this amp at zzounds and it has a 9 out of 10 stars mean something? Like way more people like it than have had problems with it?

Buy it from Guitar Center and with the money saved just pay for the extended warranty coverage just in case it goes down a year or two later so they replace it.

Nigel

I've gotta answer that one. Sweetwater, whom I think, again my opinion, is a very reputable online dealer offers a 2 year warranty on all the stuff they sell and a while back while shopping that small Behringer mixer was told that they won't deal with Behringer anymore, too many problems.
That being said, go for what floats your boat and again, just have a backup. I reguaraly travel with one KX220, which in itself can be a whole PA/keyboard system, a Yamaha powered mixer, and one, but usually two PA speakers. I can bring in whatever I feel like for the gig and always have backup.

Good luck with everyones choices. I'm currently thinking about a portable PA so I may start a thread on that. JBL just brought out a new one that is super light.

Bill in NJ

I have to agree with Bill, I've had really good experience with all the Behringer gear I've owned. I've had 3 or 4 unpowered mixers. All but one are gone, but they are still working great for their new owners. Semilive has one of them.
I also had two powered speakers and they also were great. They are both still in use by two different owners, both establishments where I work from time to time.
At the price point on some of the stuff, I might consider just writing it off if it ever broke, but then that hasn't happened so it's a moot point.
I have also heard from dealers about reliability problems, but I sort of wonder if there are other reasons involved, like lack of profit margin. I'm guessing it would be hard to justify making whatever profit is involved on a mixer that sells for less than a hundred dollars, when you could sell a better advertised brand and make several times as much.
DonM

What he said.

If you are using it for bass, it pretty much HAS to have a 15"...

True. Which is why I still hang on to the Motion Sound powered sub. For small gigs including a bass player, all I need is the K1800FX. But on occasions were I am responsible for holding down the bass I can bring the sub and use the K1800FX's sub output.

I'm tellin'ya guys, Behringer stuff is just fine. I really think that most of those people who talk bad about the brand are just repeating what they heard and have no first hand experience. That is not to say that no one has ever had a problem with a piece of Behringer equipment. But no brand exists that can tout a 0% failure rate.