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

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. 

There`s no work around for repairs or parts other than figuring out what all is bad and fixing it yourself.

They don`t service them they replace them AFAIK 

The amps don`t have a very good reputation IMO

I went to a Crown XLS. I might put the Dayton on ebay for parts.

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

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.