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Author Topic: Samson MXS3500 Power Amp Review  (Read 5241 times)

Tim Bulin

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Samson MXS3500 Power Amp Review
« on: November 12, 2017, 10:03:11 AM »

Picked up a Samson MXS3500 in June of this year.  I have been using it for mainly sub use with prerecorded music.  here are the main observations I have made:

1.  Great power to weight, less than 22 pounds and 1100 watts rms into 8 ohms(1400 watts into 4 ohms).

2.  When used on subwoofers, playing everything from polka to hip hop, I keep the high pass filter(28Hz) engaged and run the amplifier in parallel mono.  I've used this with a couple different subwoofers, first a pair of Sonic Metro 118's loaded with Eminence Omega Pro 18c woofers(front baffles had been replaced and cabinets tuned to 40Hz), replaced those with a pair of Peavey SP118BX subwoofers.  In both cases it has given me clean, tight bass with plenty of headroom.

3.  My experience with this amp on tops was not as satisfactory.  When paired with 2 Peavey SP2BX tops it was quite harsh on the top end and required considerable adjustment on the EQ to sound acceptable.  The same tops when powered by either the pair of bridged Crate SPA1400 amps the Samson replaced or the QSC GX7 I currently run require only very minor adjustments.  In short, there are better options than the Samson for mids/highs.
 
Signal was through an Allen & Heath Zed6fx mixer to a Rane ME15s EQ(Peavey speakers) OR a BBE 882 Sonic Maximizer(Sonic Subs) with output to the sub amp from a Peavey PV23XO set at the lowest frequency.

I have A-B tested it against a QSC GX7 and a pair of Crate SPA1400 amps(bridged one amp to each channel).  For Mids/highs, the Crate amps had a warmer sound than the others, the GX7 was very close to the Crate amps in sound quality, with the Samson lagging significantly.  I found the opposite to be true on subwoofers, the Samson had much better punch that either of the other options, with the Crate amps lagging behind(although a bit better than the QSC).  Keep in mind, none of these sounded bad on subs.

Well this one is going to stay paired up with my SP118s, The 22 pounds is a big improvement compared to the 70+ pounds of Crate amps it replaced, and it does a great job on subs, can pound it all night and it barely gets warm.  I would caution not to push this amp into clipping as it has plenty of power to do some serious damage to your speakers if used improperly.

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Samson MXS3500 Power Amp Review
« on: November 12, 2017, 10:03:11 AM »


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