Samson Servo 120 Power Amplifier

Comments about Samson Servo 120 Power Amplifier:

I use this amp in a small recording studio. The size (1 rack space), price, and sound quality are great. I will use it for live performance too. The only problem was a loose transformer [...], a few turns with a wrench and everything works fine.

Comments about Samson Servo 120 Power Amplifier:

I've bought several of these over the past 10 years for video editing workstations.

The audio specs might not be up to what those of you with golden ears would expect in a higher end unit, but they're perfectly adequate for quick & dirty editing jobs. Passive cooling is a big plus and the power output is sufficient for an edit station. The RCA inputs are more useful in a small setup while the balanced TRS jacks are easier to use than the balanced XLR inputs found in in some brands like Crest. (Balanced inputs are required long cable runs and in noisy RF environments) The bridging capability adds flexibility for higher power output - that's a good thing for mono PA installations or driving a subwoofer.

They redesigned the case to correct some serious issues (my older 120 has a problem with the rack mount - it needs a rear support to keep it square in the rack - this was fixed in the 120a design).

Amplifier output terminals have always been a big gripe, I've never found terminals that met every possible situation. (Probably the most versatile are the original General Radio 5 way binding posts) Even the bare wire push terminals of the original 120 are far more useful than the old Cinch screw terminal strips that were common on power amplifiers made before the 1980's, though you'd best tin the bare ends of speaker cables before inserting. This has been fixed on the 120a, which has 5 way binding posts.

Given the recent emphasis on green power, class A audio power amplifiers are the most wasteful possible design. Samsons class AB design cuts down on power consumption and has low distortion provided the rated output power is not exceeded. In future we might expect Samson to adopt more exotic class D, F or G amplifier designs to further reduce idle cower consumption.

The B&H photo shows the older 120 model.

Comments about Samson Servo 120 Power Amplifier:

Works great for my purpose. Rack mounted above my studio mixer, serves as power amp for mixer output. Works great for small jobs not requiring abundant volume. The drawback is the threaded studs for the output - requires bare wire to connect to speakers. Trouble finding bare wire to 1/4 speaker wires.