These good value for money home studio power amps must be one of the most popular home studio amps there is. I guess it is because they look good in a home setting compared with traditional rack mounted gear.
Annoyingly the Samson Servo range does suffer from a common intermittent cutting out problem. It manifests itself as the audio cutting out or just fading to a crackle on either channel occasionally, although the sound can break through if a loud passage in the music occurs. Sometimes if you turn the volume it bursts through. It’s a bit like the amp is strangling the audio, but if the audio is strong enough it can prevail.
When I first encountered this I thought it was just the spring loaded speaker wire clips not working too well, and it may be in some cases. Then I thought it was just failing volume control pots as the Samson uses graduated pots I thought they might be prone to failure but no it was something else. So upon further study I realised it was the relay that connects the amp to the speaker terminals. Its job is to isolate the speaker from the amp during switch on; to protect your speakers. The relay contacts have just become dirty and that is what causes your audio to cut out. Replacement of the relay is fairly straightforward and can be done within two hours.
So if your Samson is suffering and you would like to get it fixed please get in touch through my contact form.
Applies to Samson Servo 170 and many other models suitable relay is 24V coil, DPDT @ 8A rating available from usual places e.g. spiratronics
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