Samson S700 Power Amp Opinions?
Gary Johnson
I ran across a used S700 power amp yesterday and was toying
with the idea of purchasing the unit to add a couple of monitor mixes
to my system.
Anyone used the unit or can comment about reliability and sound
quality.
TIA,
Gary
will
Gary Johnson wrote:
> I ran across a used S700 power amp yesterday and was toying
> with the idea of purchasing the unit to add a couple of monitor mixes
> to my system.
>
> Anyone used the unit or can comment about reliability and sound
> quality.
I've used the S1500 and S2000 and they are one of the poorest built amps
I've come across. They arnt even 4 OHm stable! and samson couldn't fix
them under warranty. IMO one to avoid.
HTH
Reese Thomas
bought 3 Sampsons (not sure which model.) They were unbelievably cheap and
he wanted a second power rack to use occasionally. He tried one out on his
mids, heard a distorted sound and a pronounced crack on transients , upon
unplugging one cab (bringing it up to 8 ohms,) the distortion and cracks
disappeared. This phenomenon repeated itself with all three amps. Convinced
something was amiss in his rack (surely all three amps couldn't be defective)
he went through everything else, including checking his mids impedance to
make sure each speaker was indeed 8 ohms. He then called Sampson tech support
only to be told "a slightly higher distortion level can be expected when
running 4 ohms!"
André Huisman
> I ran across a used S700 power amp yesterday and was toying
> with the idea of purchasing the unit to add a couple of monitor mixes
> to my system.
> Anyone used the unit or can comment about reliability and sound
> quality.
Nope, sorry (nor do I have the desire). Me thinks however they'll fall into
the line of quality of other Samson products (combined with the "you get
what you pay for" thingie).
Suggestion: Look around for a used Carver PM-1200 or something similar.
Though I've read a lot of strange stories about them, I have YET to see one
fail on me. Only thing they don't like is driving a 2 Ohm load OR driving 4
Ohms on both channels with huge amounts of clipping (or crest factors in the
"now is that audio or is that a sine wave" range). So just don't do that ;-)
--
André Huisman
New-Line licht & geluid
hui...@new-line.nl
http://www.new-line.nl
--- pardon my French, I'm Dutch ---
William White
in a tri-amped stereo FOH system I put
together for our small 90 seat theater. I believe that the design and
construction is the same as the S700. I am very
happy with the S1500. Although Samson power amps are just about the
least expensive you can find ($469.95 for the
S1500 from zZounds.com), the build quality is acceptable, the thing runs
cool driving a pair of rather power hungry 4 ohm
arrays (eight 5.25" drivers each) under full power, it has been totally
reliable and it sounds great. Some here would say
"you get what you pay for" and I would agree; But it just so happens
that today, some of the cheapest gear outperforms
a lot of the really expensive stuff from 10 - 15 years ago. By the way,
the S700 is only $349.95 with free shipping from
zZounds. That's not much money and you get the warranty in case
something does crap out.
Good luck.
William White
I have a Samson S1500. It is being used to drive the hi bass/mid arrays
in a tri-amped stereo FOH system I put together for our small 90 seat
theater.
I believe that the design and construction is the same as the S700. I am
very
happy with the S1500. Although Samson power amps are just about the
least expensive you can find ($469.95 for the S1500 from zZounds.com),
the build quality is acceptable, the thing runs cool driving a pair of
rather
power hungry 4 ohm arrays (eight 5.25" drivers each) under full power, it
has been totally reliable and it sounds great. Some here would say
"you get what you pay for" and I would agree; But it just so happens
that today, some of the cheapest gear outperforms a lot of the really
expensive stuff from 10 - 15 years ago. By the way, the S700 is only
$349.95 with free shipping from zZounds. That's not much money and
you get the warranty in case something does crap out.
Good luck.
Shaun
<snip sales drone propaganda>
> ... Although Samson power amps are just about the least expensive you can find
> ($469.95 for the S1500) ... By the way, the S700 is only $349.95 ...
And to think, in that price range, I could buy a used Crest 4801 in good to
excellent condition.
--
Shaun Wexler,
Hellsgate Sound
http://www.hellsgate-sound.com
mailto:sh...@hellsgate-sound.com