Samson Servo 200

Phil_aka_Pip

I've used one as monitor amplifier in  my studio for the last 6 or 7 years. Good quality, always worked whenever I turned it on. It has just started delivering ... nothing. I suspect the protection circuit, especially as this afternoon I heard a lot of relay clicking coming from it. I intend getting it checked by the bloke who usually fixes my electronics when they go wrong, but in the meantime if anyone has experienced this before and knows a quick fix, please let me now.

ICBM

The quickest fix is to take it to the nearest dump which has an electronics recycling section .

Probably a shorted output transistor (or more than one) if the relays are constantly clicking after the power-up delay. Might be just about economical to fix it, but you could easily pick up another one secondhand for about the same price.

Phil_aka_Pip

you don't like them, then, @ICBM?

EDIT: if it were ONE shorted device would BOTH channels be down? (I don;t run it in bridged mode)

ICBM

Not really. They sound OK, but they're not very well-made - they're about the same quality as a typical cheap hi-fi amp but sold as a professional power amp, which they are not. There's a dead one at the shop with exactly the same fault as yours (assuming it's blown transistors - this one is), I can't remember what I quoted to fix it but the customer declined.

You'd be as well off getting a half decent hi-fi amp really - you can get any number of old Japanese ones from the 70s and 80s for peanuts... and which will probably sound better than the Samson too.

Phil_aka_Pip

I've got a Sansui stereo ("HiFi") amplifier somewhere and I'm not averse to using it for this purpose. ATM I'm driving the Samson from the main L/R outputs of s Studiomaster Series 5 desk, and in turn it drives a pair of Tannoy Reveal monitors. Problem solved if I can swop the Sansui for the Samson.

Phil_aka_Pip

I may have identified another use for the Sansui amplifier. tbh I'd rather have something rack-mountable simply because that's the most convenient place to put a studio-resident monitor amplifier.  Are these any good?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Europower-EP1500-2-x-700W-Behringer-Power-Amp-Suit-Band-PA-Mobile-DJ-Setup-/111238858129?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Amplifiers&hash=item19e65a4591

ICBM

Don't know, I've never seen one alive or dead . 700W (even into 2 ohms - into 8 it could be as low as a quarter of that) is a lot of power, so if it's built to deliver that it should be happy at a lot less. Behringer doesn't exactly have a reputation for quality though...

Phil_aka_Pip

@ICBM well yes, I don't think I'd take one out on the road, but I know of people who use Behringer kit in their own single-user personal studios and seem to be quite happy with it for that purpose 

asimmd

Have a look at Richer Sounds for a hi-Fi amp.

Cambridge Audio seem to have a good name and they are not too expensive.

asimmd

Alesis RA150 £129

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/alesis-ra150-studio-power-amplifier--12133

digitalscream

If it helps, I use a Denon micro-hifi unit as an amp driving my Tannoy Reveal monitors, and it does a damn good job. The UD-M3 is an awesome bit of kit, it just had a couple of flaws: the CD player has a habit of dying, and the volume control gets very erratic.

These flaws make for a brilliant side-effect - you can pick up "faulty" ones on eBay for next to nothing (I got mine for £20), and they make a brilliant flat amp for home studio work.

Here's a decent example:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Faulty-Denon-UD-M5-CD-auto-changer-receiver-/111236538631?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_CDPlayerSeparates&hash=item19e636e107

EDIT: ...and a better example, where the amp is definitely working:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Denon-CD-Receiver-UD-M30-Faulty-/331088642463?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_HiFi_Separates_Systems_Combos&hash=item4d166bc19f

They're also handy if you need to switch sources...

Phil_aka_Pip

fanx gentlemen