good cheap poweramp...samson servo 120a?

  • Thread starter Thread starter pellgarlic
  • Start date Start date
P

pellgarlic

New member
my current setup is:

linux PC, 3 GHz cpu, 1 GB RAM, M-Audio 2496 audio card
AKG C1000 condenser mic
Behringer MIC100 pre-amp
denon hi-fi separate amplifier
sony hi-fi speakers (passive obviously)

i am looking to upgrade a bit at a time, and the first thing i want to upgrade is the amp. thing is, it actually sounds okay (to me anyway, although i don't really have much else to compare it to than the sony hi-fi i used before). it has a "direct-source" button, which sounds good, although i don't know how honest the description "direct-source" is...

anyway, i want something not too expensive, but good quality, around the £100 mark (preferably under :) ). so i know i'm not going to get audiophile heaven, but i want to make a discerning choice none-the-less.

one of the main reasons i want to replace the amp first, is that the headphone socket doesn't work, and as i do all my recording in one room, i need to be able to use headphones to record the vocals over my guitar. so it has to have an easily accessible headphone socket. i suppose the speaker connections will make my life easy or difficult depending on what they are. just now, i connect the stereo rca outputs from my soundcard to the stereo rca inputs of the amp, so a similar setup would be good. i've seen a few amps with 1/4" jack inputs, dunno if i can easily get a lead that goes from rca to phono...

anyway, i came across this samson servo 120a, and although it's a bit over my stated budget of £100, it looks pretty good, and i've heard the samson name recommended a few times on this forum, so i wondered if anyone had any strong opinions about this model either way? (and/or any alternative suggestions).
 
$.02

IMO... your not gaining anything (but a workable headphone jack) and may in fact be going backwards... i've had to work on a few of those amps and while they "work" i would not consider them to better than a good "mid-fi" piece which your denon would certainly qualify... if you want to upgrade your playback first... lose the sony's... but i would start to think about mic's personally...
 
TravisinFlorida said:
have you compared your denon to other amps?
Click to expand...

the only comparison i have is to the sony hi-fi combo unit i had before, and the denon seems better. my (perhaps false) impression is that amps designed for recording studio purposes will provide a less coloured, and therefore better sound than hi-fi amps. obviously there will always be exceptions, but am i on the wrong track entirely here?

dementedchord said:
if you want to upgrade your playback first... lose the sony's... but i would start to think about mic's personally...
Click to expand...

my amp is very similar (although a slightly older version) to this one:

http://www.denon.co.uk/site/frames_main.php?main=prod&ver=&MID=3&sub=2&action=detail&Pid=198

and as i said, the sound is good, but without a headphone socket, it's nigh on useless for overdubbing my vocals onto my guitar track. i guess another option would be to get a separate "headphone amp", and some kind of switch so i could route the signal through the denon and speakers, or through the headphone amp and headphones, depending on whether i'm recording or playing back. maybe i could use something like this: http://www.dv247.com/invt/33860/ ???

or i could maybe actually take the amp to a proper electronics repair shop, instead of my boss-who-knows-quite-a-bit-about-electronics-but-can't-fix-it :)

as for my mic, yeah i know i could get something better, but for now, i'm really happy with my c1000 - i find my recordings are of a good enough quality to satisfy me (at least on any system i have heard them played back on so far...). i guess if i had better speakers, i might notice flaws in the recording quality that i can't notice just now, but for now, i'm very happy with my mic. one day, for sure, i'll upgrade it, but not just yet :)

but you think my speakers would benefit more from an upgrade then? is that opinion based on the fact that, being hi-fi speakers, they won't have a flat response curve, or just that hi-fi speakers tend to be low-quality, or something else? if i could get the headphone socket on my denon fixed, maybe i could steer some cash speaker-wise instead...
 
Last edited:
i had the samson 240 for about 10 years. it was on the road a lot. it always worked. it still does though i gave it to a friend.

you'd think the thing would have broken after 5 minutes. i mean it's a samson. :eek:

not the greatest amp but it did serve it's purpose for a long time as much as i want to say it was a pile o' crap. no head phone output though.

Mike
 
http://www.behringer.com/MON800/index.cfm?lang=ENG

Here's your headphone jack... stupid low money for these...

Denon is a high quality consumer audiophile amplifier... probably as good, or better, then a low end pro-sumer amp.

The direct source defeats all of the preamp controls so that the signal in... is the signal out...

I second the reommendation that you replace the speakers... definitely the weakest link in your monitoring...
 
MOFO Pro said:
http://www.behringer.com/MON800/index.cfm?lang=ENG

Here's your headphone jack
Click to expand...

so i guess that would go in-line, in-between my computer and my denon amp? (computer > mon800 > denon > speakers ... am i right?) can i assume that it wouldn't introduce any "colour" into the sound? (i would want to retain the integrity of the "direct-source" function of the denon). reading the literature for it on behringer's website, it says it only gives a line-level output, so it seems to me that it wouldn't "colour" the sound, but i'm not totally "au fait" with these things...

otherwise, it seems like it would be quite a handy unit to have, specifically because of its ability to hook up two or three sets of speakers for checking the mix on different setups, and also the "mono" function for checking mono compatibility. pretty good for the price.


[edit: addition of monitor examples

been checking out some monitors, and though i'd see what you guys though of 'em...

like the look of these a lot:
http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/2627

would have to stretch my budget quite a bit for these:
http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/options.php?id=67482

and there are also these:
http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/options.php?id=7177
http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/page/shop/flypage/product_id/6805
http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/options.php?id=12167
http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/options.php?id=70971

these are all about as much as i could justify spending on monitors just now, so would it be worth it for any of these?
 
Last edited:
have you tried mixing on your sony's? personally, i would spend some time practicing on those to find out what you don't like about them. if you don't know what you're looking for in a pair of monitors, you're just pissin in the wind. i speak from experience on that one. also, getting your room in good shape (acoustically) should be a top priority no matter what you're using for monitors.

depending on your room and ears, any of those monitors you listed could work out well for you.
 
sound advice, TravisinFlorida.

yes, i have mixed using the sony speakers, and i think it turned out pretty good. in fact, if i may be so bold.... anyone with a spare few minutes might wanna (SHAMELESS PLUG WARNING!!! LOOK AWAY FROM THE SCREEN NOW!!!) check out my myspace page:

www.myspace.com/speakersite

the songs on there were all done using the equipment i listed in the start of this thread, with the exception of the amp - it was before i got the denon amp, and i was still using the sony hi-fi that the speakers came with.

i guess i don't think i really "need" monitors, but once i get into a "money-spending" frame of mind, i tend to get a bit carried away! it's like "GAS" (guitar acquisition syndrome) but for audio equipment. maybe that would be "AAS"? :)

my main priority is still to overcome the "no headphone socket" problem. MOFO Pro suggested the Behringer "Monitor Matrix Mixer", which i assume fits in-between my computer and the denon amp in the audio chain, but i'm not sure... i'm pretty sure, but not 100%. if it can provide me with a headphone socket without substantially altering the audio signal before it reaches the denon amp, it might be the best way to go.

i wonder if i should change the name of this thread now? to something like "good cheap something to go in-between my computer and amp to give me a headphone socket" ;)
 
Last edited:
have i broken a rule/annoyed people by posting that myspace link? seems like i killed this thread... i can remove it if need be - i only put it up cos i thought i could get some feedback about the job i did with the mixing on the songs... plus, i could still do with some clarification about the piece of equipment that MOFO Pro suggested...
 
i think the "one time" advertisement did ya in.................. :confused:
 
ah, jeez! what is that?!? that's supposed to be pictures that i uploaded to filelodge... guess they've started inserting their adverts instead of the image it's supposed to link to...

sorry to all who got that crap - i'm changing the page now - i had no idea that was happening - i made the page a while ago, and haven't checked it in ages...
 
ok, i've taken the filelodge links out, so my page looks a bit sparse just now, but it'll have to stay that way until i can find a different place to store my pictures, and suffice to say i won't be using f**king filelodge again!

thanks for the heads-up, Travis - i had no idea that was happening. i'm not surprised if it put people off, what a mess!
 
maybe you should start a new thread to get user opinions on the minimon and similar units. i use a hp4 that works pretty good.

btw, it sounds like you have alot of blind melon influence.
 
yeah, a new thread sounds like a good idea. maybe a whole new persona would help too :)

that hp4 looks interesting, i'll have to check on that later - just on my way out to a friend's gig.

oh, and yeah, i do like blind melon quite a lot, although no-one's ever picked up on any influence in my songs. i've had radiohead and nirvana comparisons, both of which i also like, and both of which more people will probably have heard than blind melon, who are (were) sadly under-rated in my opinion.

thanks again for helping me out of that particular hole - thought i'd alienated myself somehow, but wasn't sure how. guess it's time to boldly go onto that new thread... (after i get back from that gig... :) )
 
pellgarlic said:
blind melon, who are (were) sadly under-rated in my opinion.
Click to expand...

very under rated.

your singing style reminded me of blind melon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top