Dayton Audio Plate Amps

[DavidPJ]

The amp on my old M&K V-100 subwoofer died and I'm considering just replacing the plate amp. Has anyone used Dayton Audio plate amps and what do you think of it? Any other suggestions for plate amps? Thanks.

 

[Jeff R.]

I have heard that O-Audio makes good ones also....you may want to contact somebody who knows about the amp it may have some bass boost or protection built in to make it not a simple swap out unit....Parts Express may even know some of those answers.

 

[DavidPJ]

Thanks Jeff R. I started looking at BASH plate amps, which led me to O Audio. Their web site says as of 2013 they've closed up shop.

I've also begun looking at Rythmik Audio which looks promising.

 

[j_garcia]

The PE/Dayton amps are good, but I'd go with Rythmik. I used one for many years with my Adire Tempest and it was a solid amp. As Jeff mentioned though, you'll need to find out any special settings you may need, but the Rythmik amps are pretty configurable so it may still be the way to go.

 

[DavidPJ]

I checked with Rythmik and they only sell the plate amps with their drivers. Looks like I'm back to Dayton Audio. Their SPA250 does have a switch to turn on/off the bass boost at 35hz.

 

[j_garcia]

That's new then, because Rythmik sold them individually before. That was a few years ago though.

 

[theJman]

Looks like I'm back to Dayton Audio. Their SPA250 does have a switch to turn on/off the bass boost at 35hz.

Some of the Dayton amps have a humming issue. I know the SPA500 does, but I'm not sure the same problem occurs in the SPA250 as well. If you decide to go with the Dayton you might want to see if that's the case before plunking down your cash.

 

[ImcLoud]

How many watts do you need, how about an external class d or if you dont need much an apa150? I would be worried about your hole matching with the new plate amp...

If the 100 means 100watts, than the apa150 has 150 watts bridged, has a built in crossover should work for $160... and class a/b so should sound decent...

 

[j_garcia]

Or get the SA240 class AB. It should work fine also and has been around for a while. Dayton Audio SA240 240W Subwoofer Amplifier 300-804

Have you thought about contacting M&K to see if they have a source for the amps? They are back in business MK Sound | Professional Loudspeakers | Home Loudspeakers | Home Theater Sound Systems

 

[DavidPJ]

Thanks everyone for your help. I've been reading user comments about Dayton Audio's products and hum does come up frequently for some of their amps. I didn't see much about hum for the SPA250 and SPA230. I'm starting to like the idea of a stand alone amp, such as the SPA230, rather than a plate amp. I wouldn't have to deal with the cutout and maybe it would last longer than a plate amp too.

Anyone have suggestions for a stand alone subwoofer amp in the 200-300 watt range? Dayton's SPA230 looks OK but I cannot find the low end frequency response for Dayton's amps and PartsExpress can't tell me either.

PE also has a 300w BASH plate amp but I doubt the cutout size will work. PE also cannot tell me if this is a now defunct O Audio product or a product made by a company called Bash. I couldn't find a "Bash" company online.

MK Sound cannot provide any additional info to what's been provided on Audioholics. They no longer have the parts and technical information for the V-100 and other older M&K subs.

I'll be home this weekend and I'll checkout the driver, measure the cutout, etc. on the V-100. I'm also looking at just replacing the entire sub with an Outlaw, SVSound, or HSU sub. Even though I really liked the V-100, maybe it's time to just let it go.

 

[ImcLoud]

emotiva XPA100 is 250x1 and costs $380 second choice
XPA200 is 150x2 but bridgeable to 300x1 for $419 {my first choice, has more uses afterwards, you can build a nice stereo system around it}..

Outlaw 2200 mono block is $350 and 200x1 third choice shipping is $35 making it more expensive than the emo and less power... and not as attractive...

But your sub has to be 15+ years old, I would look into an hsu vtf2 for a couple hundred more than an amp, or I would just go with the APA150 since your stock amp was only 100w and that one is 150w should be plenty...

 

[theJman]

PE also has a 300w BASH plate amp but I doubt the cutout size will work. PE also cannot tell me if this is a now defunct O Audio product or a product made by a company called Bash. I couldn't find a "Bash" company online.

BASH is actually a type of amp, not a company. It stands for Bridged Amp Switching Hybrid, and I believe it was invented -- partially or entirely -- by Indigo. I guess the technology is just licensed at this point, so anyone willing to pay the fee should be able to offer a BASH amp. What PE sells isn't related to O Audio.

 

[GlocksRock]

I've seen some refurbed elemental designs plate amps on ebay. I bought one from the seller, who is the guy that eD used to use to repair their amps. The amps aren't as bad as everyone made them out to be, the real problem was the cheap drivers they used, that would blow a coil and short the amp. Once he repairs the amp, he actually upgrades the capacitor to a higher quality one, and moves it to the other side of the board away from the heat source, which increases reliability.

 

[Tom V.]

If you have any old(unused) receivers laying around you could use one of those to power the sub with very minor mods. One caution, when an amplifier fails on a powered subwoofer it is sometimes caused by an issue in the driver. So a new amp could run into some trouble too although if well designed it should simply go into some sort of "protect" mode. If you have a DMM(multi meter) I'd check the resistance at the woofer terminals. If that looks fine and you are reasonable sure it is the amp---you can simply drill a couple of holes somewhere on the amp panel and put in a speaker binding post. Then you could use any old receiver/amp to power the sub. It might not be quite as flat if the original amp has some built in EQing. And if like to listen at louder volume levels I'd be a bit cautious when first running up the bass....you won't have any type of subsonic (highpass) filter in line so over excursion of the woofer could happen if you popped in say...War of the Worlds(cruise version) at louder levels.

Tom V.

 

[slipperybidness]

Personally, I would probably just get a new sub altogether, like IMCLOUD said.

Otherwise, look into a Crown Drivecore amp. PM Acudeftech and get his thoughts on the matter.

 

[j_garcia]

Personally, I would probably just get a new sub altogether, like IMCLOUD said.

I guess the question there would be what is the budget? If the budget is low, a smaller amp will likely be a better choice. If the budget is closer to a decent sub, I'd go with a new one too.

The Dayton APA-150 has a built in low pass for use with a sub and it is relatively small, but not likely to have a subsonic filter (pretty much no separate amp that is not a sub amp is not likely to have this).

 

[Jeff R.]

Maybe....this is the SIGN. Time to save some cash for an upgrade.

 

[DavidPJ]

For a new sub I plan on spending about $500 - $650.

 

[ImcLoud]

For a new sub I plan on spending about $500 - $650.

HSU VTF2 , I love mine...

 

[e30cabrio]

I've seen some refurbed elemental designs plate amps on ebay. I bought one from the seller, who is the guy that eD used to use to repair their amps. The amps aren't as bad as everyone made them out to be, the real problem was the cheap drivers they used, that would blow a coil and short the amp. Once he repairs the amp, he actually upgrades the capacitor to a higher quality one, and moves it to the other side of the board away from the heat source, which increases reliability.

I know this is an old thread and post but I just got an A3 250 with an LT 300 amp and Soundstream driver. It works well but needs more power (4ohm dual VC, 750 RMS/1250 watt) Looking for an amp that will fit or a way to use an external amp. Any input appreciated