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Sending a 110 lb amp to the manufacturer for cleaning/calibration. Good idea? How to ship?

Hi All,

So I reached out to Simaudio as my amp (Simaudio Moon Titan HT200 5 channel) is getting a bit long in the tooth. It performs truly flawlessly and is just beautiful and barely even gets warm after running all day long. I was just more curious than anything about lifespan, etc. Simaudio replied right away. They said all the units they'd manufactured since 2001 are still "active". However they did recommend sending it to them (if I could be without it for a few weeks) for "cleaning and calibration".  

Couple of things, I can't even go 1 day without this unit. But beyond that just the thought of packing this thing up and shipping literally makes me cringe. I'd certainly pay extra if there was some way to avoid UPS/FedEx or any other means like that. Any recommendations and have any of you ever done something like this?

Would appreciate any advice. Thanks all in advance...
kingbr
hobo1452's avatar
hobo1452
85 posts
 
@oldhvymec Had the best advice. At that weight you are pretty much stuck using a trucking company. I would definitely figure out how to get everything back in the original packaging. If the manufacturer trusted it, then it's the best way to go. I would contact Simaudio for detailed instructions on how the get it back in the OEM box, and also see if they have a specific freight hauler that they use and trust  to return repair units. Be advised that trucking companies operate on a completely different time schedule than product movers like FedEx and UPS. They don't like to move a trailer to a specific destination until it is as full as they can get it, which tends to slow things down a bit.
co93
61 posts
 
What is there to calibrate in a SS amp?
arcticdeth's avatar
arcticdeth
1,572 posts
 
Many amps, both stereo and mono, need manual adjustment of the bias.
    
danvignau's avatar
danvignau
935 posts
 
This post makes me happy that when I had to send something back to Julius at Audire, he told me how to unplug the right channel transistor laden heat sink, in order to just mail it. Strangely, there was no problem. I had a bad Radio Shack Balanced to RCA adaptor.
fiesta75
1,378 posts
 
Bias makes very little difference unless amp is running hot. (If you have a friend that can do it in your house, okay) The original capacitors in my 42 year old amplifiers still test good (5% to +20% of original value). Good quality SS equipment typically last 40+ years, even if they have been driven moderately hard. Again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The reason there are very few QUALITY used amps for sale is the shipping companies. (You know who I'm talking about)
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