Sending a 110 lb amp to the manufacturer for cleaning/calibration. Good idea? How to ship?


Hi All,

So I reached out to Simaudio as my amp (Simaudio Moon Titan HT200 5 channel) is getting a bit long in the tooth. It performs truly flawlessly and is just beautiful and barely even gets warm after running all day long. I was just more curious than anything about lifespan, etc. Simaudio replied right away. They said all the units they'd manufactured since 2001 are still "active". However they did recommend sending it to them (if I could be without it for a few weeks) for "cleaning and calibration".  

Couple of things, I can't even go 1 day without this unit. But beyond that just the thought of packing this thing up and shipping literally makes me cringe. I'd certainly pay extra if there was some way to avoid UPS/FedEx or any other means like that. Any recommendations and have any of you ever done something like this?

Would appreciate any advice. Thanks all in advance...
kingbr
2 road trips? A savings of what, $1200 shipping, for a total of both ways?
Peace of mind, a chance to tour the Simaudio shop? Can’t argue with that.
Man, talk about DIY? This puts a whole new/another spin on the term.
A chance for an extension of warranty and other goodies? Ask them to through
in a brand new updated shipping crate for shiggles and gits for being such a down customer of course! 
Only 4 hrs each way. Nothing to save and update his beloved amplifier. !!

  Not looking forward to my trip to California at all!
hoping it’s many years from now, even with great chance of a successful ship trip, will be nice to get away with the family for a while. 
 Yeah, 4 hours is very much worth it!
leave early ,like 4 am. Will be ahead of all traffic ! Have breakfast as mentioned, until they pen, drop her off, ask questions, ask for a tour of your absolute favorite brand and amplifier etc etc. 

  keep us posted .....
.....will be nice to hear such a nice success story. 
Road trip seems like an easy decision for an end game component. 

I've travelled further to avoid shipping for several purchases, mostly larger speakers(90# each in the first instance and 110# each in another) since they are the most prone to damage from shipping.  

Good Luck!
I see in forums folks recommending replacing caps after XX amount of years.  I have a Krell FPB amp from around 2000.  It sounds perfect still to this day.  There are folks here that forgot more than I'll ever know about audio equipment.  But for the life of me, as several have mentioned prior, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Reason I mention this, is FedX scrapped my old KSA200s when Krell shipped it back to me.  I insured for $8k & FedX paid me $3250.  
That amp did need repair.  
The FPB300cx has been sitting in the same spot except for the yearly cleaning ever since it arrived.
I hope this helps with your decision.
-John