Velodyne DD15 - worth repairing the plate amp?


The amp in my 2008 Velodyne DD15 is dead as a door nail. 

How good is this old marvel compared to today's offerings?

Worth investing another $500 (to have amp repaired, incl roundtrip shipping, tax, etc)? Or just use as passive sub?

How does it compete to modern subs, for example SBS SB-2000 or SB-3000 (both under $1k pre owned)?

kraftwerkturbo

I had some really old Velodynes- one was an 18" bottom firing coffin with a separate control box, another circa the mid 90's - was a front facing 15". While both were servo woofers, neither had any DSP. I used them for home theatre back in the day, not for hi-fi. Both worked when I gave them away- I was moving and didn't see the need to move them.

Replacing the plate amp from a third party won't necessarily deal w/ the servo part. And shipping costs are a huge factor these days. I bought a bunch of Rythmiks, very cost effective, that I use in my main system and in my downsized "home theatre" (over which I could play music if I wanted). Both use DSP. Really helps integrate the subs to the room. 

@m-db Mine was a DD18 made in 2006.  I'm not complaining about the failure.  It went 17 years with no problems and I got it fixed for not that much money.  
whart Those Class D plate amps with 'electronic' (can't think of the term) power supplies (without the huge/heavy transformers and coolers) are very light and cheap to ship. My LT1300 plate amp is 40 lbs, this one is maybe 5 lbs. 

I just picked up an Earthquake MiniMe DSP P12,  at $640 ($1300msrp) it was a great value and perfect for movies and non critical music , but my brother's HGS 15 walks all over it.  

Those big Velodyne have great pitch definition and really dig deep.