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 My SA1000 didn’t shut down. It remained on with a high-pitched hum. Take the cover off and check for bad caps. Either leaking or swollen. Though the cap in the C6 position looked fine, replacing it fixed the problem. Good luck!

Mine didn't make any noise and I tried it last night and it worked, only used it for a minute or two shut it down, I want to repair before using again. Thanks. 

Mine simply died. Looked inside and saw some spatter and some black burnt looking tiny parts on one of the 'cards' not sure what all is blown.

Even though it`s still in production they won`t sell any parts to make repairs.

Parts Express were NOT helpful. I even sent pics. I asked if I could just buy the 'card' which is about the size of a credit card.

It`s a shame that it`s been rendered a heavy pile of junk for probably 89 cents worth of parts that they wont sell angry

I've opened mine and don't see any leaking or bulging caps. Don't see anything that jumps out at me. I've powered it up without anything connected and am gonna watch to see if it goes back in protection. If these are gonna be unreliable I'll start looking for something else, I have two of these in use 3 years now. 
I wouldn't even bother to contact parts express, I bought one on Amazon and the other from parts xpress, it was cheaper than parts xpress.  During Covid even these were hard to get.