Connecting Brendel power amplifier to a surround sound system

by Jacques Renaud
(Gatineau, Quebec)

I purchased a Brendel Digital AV power amplifier model BR201A.(1800 Watts, 5 channels Theater surround sound, 800 Watts Subwoofer etc). My home system is a Sony Home Theater system with a 6.1 surround sound system with Cable TV (HD). The amplifier comes with a 5.1 surround speaker system.

How do I connect this amplifier system to my home system - keeping the surround sound? I will change the old speakers with the new ones.

Thanks
JR

Hi

I'm confused. It happens a lot!

When I look at the Brendel website, it tells me the BR-201 is a package with an AV receiver and speakers.

If so, then isn't your new amplifier an AV receiver rather than a power amplifier? i.e. it's a processor/preamplifier plus an amplifier (to power the speakers).

If it is, then surely you just connect your sources to this device instead of your old Sony system.

If it is just a power amplifier, then you need a processor/preamplifier to decode the audio sources - and you would connect the output of this to your power amplifier to send to the speakers.

You could only use your Sony system for processing if it has 'pre-out' outputs to connect to your power amp.

Hopefully that made some sense!

Paul (Site Editor)

Feel free to join in this discussion by adding your own comments below...

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Comments for
Connecting Brendel power amplifier to a surround sound system

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Brendel is a scam
by: Mergatroid

If you look up White Van Speaker Scam in Wikipedia, and do more Google searches on Brendel you will find that it is just a big scam to sell bottom quality products (often barely operational)for any amount of cash they can scam out of you.

Keep your eye on the product you purchased in case it starts a fire!

When they claim to sell top quality products at low low prices, there's a reason for that. The phrase "too good to be true" comes to mind.

If I were you I would just accept my losses and throw the entire unit in the garbage before it burned my house down.

Thanks
by: Paul - The Home Cinema Guide

Good Heavens Mergatroid!

Thanks for the tip-off.

I must say it's something I've not come across before, but a quick scoot around the internet confirms that Brendel amplifiers and speakers are associated with a long-standing scam of selling poor quality AV gear to people for cash.

Apart from ripping people off, it seems these pieces of equipment can be potentially dangerous.

You can read more about this at Wikipedia here - white van speaker scam.

I thought their website was really bad - now I know why!

Please don't be caught out by these people. It really isn't a great idea to buy AV gear on the street from people you've never seen before (and will never see again!).

Good quality gear from respected manufacturers is relatively cheap these days - there's no need to fall for this kind of deal any more.

Help!
by: D

I was thinking of buying the Brendel br201 from a guy at work. But I've been reading some bad reviews on this. Is it a scam & how terrible is this product? I am really tempted to buy it just to see how bad it is...HELP!!!!

Brendel System
by: Paul (Site Editor)

Hi

Well I have no direct experience with a Brendel system, but from what I have read I would stay well clear.

I don't know what you are thinking of paying, but I would spend the money on a reputable brand and wouldn't take any chances. You can get some pretty good AV receivers and speakers for a relatively small outlay.

Plus, you will know what you are buying, and you can return it to the retailer if there are any problems with it.

Paul

Beware of the Black Vans
by: Anonymous

Hello All,

Two White Guys in a black van with British Colunbia number plate ending RAJ,today sold me a Brendel Surround System. They were so convincing that
I purchased 1 set. When I came home and did my research online, I found your page. But it was too late. Please do not give these people a second of your time. They are Criminals

Brendel is a scam!!!!
by: Anonymous

Never buy brendel. i am pretty sure its a scam.

i bought a home theatre system - its s**t. it works but no functions at all.

not safety listed - and fake website, fake delivery uniforms - its a total scam. dont do it. ever

Brendel audio amplifier
by: Anonymous

I was conned by two young men in a late model SUV this afternoon. I bought a very poor quality home surround sound system for $400. I deserved it as I should have known a system with an MSRP of $2,399.99 selling for what I could get out of my ATM ($400) was bogus. Greed led to my misfortune, as it does in most con games.

come on
by: spike master

Look at the web site brendel electronics if you want to know more about this german product. really good home theater if you bought that in the street all you need to do bring it to someone that can fix it

Is it safe?
by: Dimitri

I bought one of these home theatre for about 50$, I had no problem with it for the last 5 weeks, I just want to know if it is safe or if I better throw it away?

Brandel BR-201
by: Anonymous

I just bought 2 of theses Home Theater Br-201 from a guy selling them in is red SUV. I did not plug them yet, but hope they will work well :)

It's a SCAM
by: Anonymous

Do some research. They are con artists. Some guys have paid as much as 1,100 dollars for this system. It's nothing but junk. STAY CLEAR. Reason why I know, a fella from work just bought it for 280 bucks. ( dec 20th 2010 ). ONCE AGAIN.... STAY AWAY. DON'T BE TEMPTED.

Great deal
by: MARTIN

Hey guys,

apart from the outside deal, I would have to say I was very pleased with the product. I purchased an amplifier and it worked better than my Sony home speakers that I had purchased the year prior. I ended up purchasing one for my parents for Christmas and added an amplifier and they were quite happy with the look and sound of the system. I ended up saving $500 to possibly $600 had I purchased one at Electronic dept store.

I would recommend.

JUNK
by: Anonymous

Just bought a complete Brendel system and I gotta say its a piece of junk!!! The amp blew in like 20 minutes of use. Then the face of one speaker fell off and the DVD was terrible. Don't buy this stuff on the street like me then you are stuck with it!

Brendel System
by: Joe Rosen

Martin, are you a complete idiot? Are you in on this scam, or are you actually stupid enough to think this stuff is worth more than $50? Wal-Mart sells better stuff than this for a fraction of the price, AND you get warranty and return privileges!

I get a call the other day from an audio buddy, an Ignoramus friend of his got sucked into buying one of these Brendel AV systems from two guys in a shiny black SUV in a parking lot outside his union hall.

Coughed up $500 or $600, buy now, you snooze you lose! If the 3 lb. amplifier puts out 20 Watts I would be amazed, never mind the 2000 Watts claimed!

No CE, CSA or UL approvals, never mind company name or address on the back of the amp.

Rear surround speakers about the size of a small can of Chef Boyardi ravioli, yet claim "300 Watt Power HANDLING" according to the paper label that's falling off already and the stuff isn't out of the box 24 hours...

They are powered by a 2 Watt amp inside one of the speakers, maybe less! The signal is sent wirelessly from the amp to the rear speaker with the receiver/chip amp in it, and the wall-wart connections to power it were intermittent and kept cutting out.

When it DID try to work, you got horrendous hiss, loud popping noises and tons of nasty RFI!

The main amp looks like a receiver because it has antenna terminals, but they are for transmitting signal to the rear speakers, not receiving FM!

This arrangement might even have been clever, had it worked, which of course it didn't!

The manuals claim all sorts of features for the amp which it doesn't have. The remote has all sorts of buttons that do nothing.

The front speakers sound good if you don't like bass, the amp is clean and clear if you don't mind the center channel cutting out and distorting after 10 minutes of use.

The DVD player is significantly cheaper than a Toshiba DVD player I saw at Giant Tiger for $30 during Boxing week...

If you see any of these people with their Brendel gear in a parking lot near you, just note the plate number of that black SUV and call the cops!

Free crap is still crap
by: TRYER

My Brother-in-law found 2 boxes of Brendel equipment outside somewhere and thought it was strange to be left there.
His friend told him about this scam. And so he gave it to us. And just by looking at the Remote, you can tell that this is not worth 3k.
But now after reading through these comments, I am thinking about just throwing it out. Not worth burning my house down for.

Shelburne Ontario
by: Anonymous

Just yesterday I was approached by 2 guys in a white SUV. Good looking and very personable, story was they had one extra unit not accounted for, worth $4999.00. Price on box and salesman's book.

If I could give a couple of hundred dollars, I could have the good deal. We were in No Frills parking lot. Greed and stupidity overcame me and they followed me to the gas station ATM.

It is junk, impossible to hook up and no place on the equipment does it say where it is manufactured or and safety standards on it. Good lesson, this they may be plague our area, so beware.

Brendel HD projector !
by: Anonymous

Call 911 if some one ask you to buy this! it's a big Scam. Unfortunately i didn't and lost $500. A good lesson for me. Hope no one else trapped in this.

BRENDEL PROJECTION SYSTEM
by: CHUCK

MY SON-IN-LAW BOUGHT A SYSTEM TODAY AND PAID $1200 FOR IT. MY DAUGHTER IS NOT TOO HAPPY AFTER I SHOWED HER THE SCAM SITE. WE LIVE AND WE LEARN.

brendel is garbage!
by: Anonymous

A friend of mine bought their home theatre system BR-201 from some shady guys up in gravenhurst.

Since I am into stereos, I was curious so I opened the box to check it out. What a joke...impossible power claims, the amp and speakers are light as a feather and obviously cheaply made. The sub had a bogus volt meter on the side and did not produce any bass at all. The receiver had no functions and half the buttons did not work. The speaker wires were the smallest gauge I have ever seen, there were maybe 3 tiny strands of wire inside the insulation (which was impossible to strip off without breaking the wires).

Beware and don't go near this junk. Something just seemed wrong with the price on the box of $3129 (you never see this for any electronics!) and made in Germany but I have never heard of them. Probably made in Scarbourgh,ont. This is a scam that should be reported to the police.

im in the club
by: Anonymous

I was in Montreal Yesterday with my girlfriend, coming out of the restaurant, had a great day so far. A white Hummer H2 with a modified front bumper plated F (Business, rental) stopped beside me and said they were installing electronics at people's homes. Company sent 2 sets instead of 1, had to get rid of it, bought it for 240$...

Now i did like you all, went to look up on web this morning about this unknown brand and found it out!!!

someone said that the cd/dvd amplifier thing could burn down the house... quite interesting, what about the speakers? Thanks everybody!

London Ont.
by: Anonymous

Yup same as everyone else. Scam, Scam, Scam.

I'm a sucker!
by: Anonymous

Same as everyone else. Sounded too good to be true, but fell for it never the less. Unpacked it, then looked it up on the internet. Off to the dump tomorrow feeling stupid but happy that I didn't use it and burn the house down. Never been duped before and will never have it happen again. Beware!

Got Me
by: Jim

Approached by fellow in a van at Princess Auto Dixie Rd Mississauga. Plate number BJYE098. Should know better but greed took over and got the junk for $200. Brendel BR301. Oh well, wife didn't want a Home Theatre unit in living room anyway.

montreal
by: Anonymous

Yesterday was sitting on my balcony to see a nice white hummer pull up. He was talking to a city worker and made a sale.

Well, me being curious yelled down and asked what he was selling. I decided to go check it out and bought it for 200.00. What a scam. The only thing that works are the speakers so i decided to check the site out... and well they scammed me too, please beware they are in a white hummer, 2 guys...

Brendel BR 201
by: Anonymous

I was approached by a well spoken clean cut young man saying that he had a spare multimedia set after doing a day of installation. He said the set was worth over $3,100 but would let it off for $700. I was not interested as I already 2 sets but then he lowered it to 400. I thought of my kid that just moved into his house and I thought it would be a nice gift. Well, it is a Mickey Mouse piece of junk and even the Salvation Army would refuse this as donation. He was driving a White 4x4 GM SUV.

1 Man No White Van speaker Scam
by: Tom

Approached in Parking Lot, such a smooth talker, gave me the same old song and dance. Told me he worked for Boston Acoustics and Brendel was one of their brands. Made In Germany yada yada yada.
I got suckered out of $380..and I never fall for these things..

IF ANY OF YOU DO FIND SOMEBODY WHO SELLS CRAP OUT OF THEIR CAR, STOP. THINK. WALK AWAY.

mee 2
by: Anonymous

boxes looked good, looked at all the speakers before buying, very nice. got home rear speakers dont work and sounds like ****.

a waste of money, time and effort, don't do it!!!!!

Scammed
by: Anonymous

Just got scammed on the Brendel. SUV - dark Olive color. This guy has a shaved head, age- late 20's early 30's and wore loads of cologne. The packaging is perfect and looks great... don't buy it! This was in Brampton Ontario - apparently he was already at Hearland in Mississauga Ontario.

confused
by: Anonymous

i was just approached outside my work...the guy was in a hurry and was telling me to buy this system for $300...had only $200 on me....haven't hooked it up yet...what should i do?????

Brendel is a scam
by: Anonymous

I know for a fact this stuff (Brendel, Sutherland, DiVinci) is Chinese made merchandise floated over by the container load and sold to road sales guys. Sold to them between 50-110 bucks, they try to sell it to whoever they can for as much as they can with a variety of schemes and tactics. The good news, it isn't stolen. The bad news, it's electronic garbage.

Brendel
by: Anonymous

BR201 - 2 piece set
BR301 - 4 piece set with DVD, Surround
BR48i - Projector
66" Projector screens
BR90 - 1 piece set.

All **** made in China. Not Germany. Be on the lookout - the brand name will soon change..... this used to be Sutherland stuff... before that, DiVinci....

i fell for the 'sincerety'
by: just another

i paid 600.

unfortunately i didn't have my cell with me so that i could look it up! which i even mentioned during NEGOTIATIONS.

never purchased like that before and never will again.

i guess that i will leave somewhere with a note that with warnings re. fire, etc.

i got driver's license info. picture looked like the guy i was talking to.

Very leery
by: Anonymous

My friend just bought a unit for $200. Buddy had 16 of these things in the back of his white van, I guess.

He found out they were a scam and gave them to us ( he didn't really need then anyway) as a house-warming gift. Very leery to plug it into my brand new house. The last thing I want is it to burn to the ground!

Bradel Br201 platinum amplifier
by: Anonymous

I just bought one from a green land rover at sherway gardens, and can't believe that i got ripped off. i gave the guy $200 and i can't get this thing to work. now I am reading all these reviews about this big scam going around and hope to warn others about this. Never buying street products again even if they are free.

Ashamed !!!!
by: Anonymous

See, this is perfect proof that just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you! I feel sorry, but in this day and age of such easily accessible information, it is the one's that have been scammed that should be ashamed.

montreal scam
by: Anonymous

I was approached by a white guy in a black SUV who offered me a brendel br 201 sound system which he told me was worth 3159$. He asked 500$ and lowered to 200$. I paid 200$ and now i regret. I don't know what to do with the stuff.

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