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Dayton Audio SA 1000 subwoofer amp - repair

Just posting this repair note to the AudiogoN archives - in case another owner has a similar issue.

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My Dayton Audio SA 1000 subwoofer amp (7 years old) suddenly developed a very loud & scary high-pitched tone – well above 60Hz. On the phone to Dayton support, the tech offered a very weird response. He said: ‘Congratulations. It’s now a boat anchor.’ I asked if it can be repaired. He replied almost amusingly, ‘We don’t repair boat anchors’. Huh? That was one of the strangest chats I’ve ever had with any tech support.

Before tossing it overboard, I did a Google search. It turns out that the capacitor in the C6 position on the power circuit board is known to go bad. (The boards are well labeled.) Capacitor replacement cost $2. DIY labor cost: $0.

The amp is working great again. It does a very good job of driving my subwoofers. The built-in EQ is really nice for integrating the subs with my main speakers. I do recommend it spite of their tech support. It helps if you’re comfortable with a soldering iron.

steakster
brunomarcs's avatar
brunomarcs
308 posts
 

I let mine idle for 8 hours without issue maybe I have something amiss with a cable. 

paradisecom
505 posts
 

The Dayton amps are disposable.  Manufacturers/ brands like that have no provisions for parts or repairing of those units.  They either become a doorstop or it's up to the end-user to fix it.

As mentioned above, a Crown offering is a much better option.

jeffboll
3 posts
 

I have a love/hate relationship with these SPA1000 "boat anchors". I have 3 in service. I have thrown 2 away and am now confronted with what to do with the 3rd deteriorating unit.

The first junker sounded bad so I didn't mind tossing. The last two were both fine but the auto turn on circuit progressively took more input signal to turn on and stay on until it would never turn on no matter the input level. Clearly a cap; but which? Yup, no schematics. 

The last one I tossed did seem to have diminished output so something else was wrong too, but my latest was fine. I will try to either disable the auto turn-on circuit or bypass. Clearly there are design issues, but I've noticed that they seem to be getting better now that I've bought 6 of these bastards over their 20-ish year run. It's sad because these are not poorly built, and are repairable. It says a lot that Dayton won't stand behind them. There are a lot of decent parts in there along with reasonable built quality. This throw away mindset is madness.

ledoux1238
425 posts
 

I have a pair of Eminent Technology LFT 8c’s. They have planar panels integrated with powered woofers. The woofer amp is a Dayton Audio 250W module with DSP function. And it’s been in use for two years now without a hitch. Wilson Audio’s Loki subwoofer uses Dayton Audio module. 
Are you saying the problem is specific to the 1000w amps or all Dayton amps have similar problems? And do other brands that uses the Dayton Audio modules add their own fixes to prevent problems?

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