New SMSL PA200 GaN Fet amplifier

[Roland68]

I’ve had a pair for over a year no issues. A friend has had his just as long also all clear. AI only shows one reported failure and one DOA so I think you’re good as SMSL likely sold a ton of these.

Several units have already failed here in the forum alone, as you can read in this thread.
In December, there were a few bad reviews on Amazon due to DOA (Dead On Arrival) and failures after a short time, but strangely, they're gone now.
In my circle of acquaintances, two out of four PA200s failed within a year.

There are similar reports here in the forum about other SMSL Infineon GaN FET amplifiers, and one unit in Amir's test also failed completely during the performance test.

This isn't a problem with Infineon technology, but rather with devices developed too quickly and absolutely inadequate (because non-existent) long-term testing and troubleshooting before mass production.

The buyer is the beta tester, and these amplifiers are simply too expensive for that.

 

[TheSonic]

I wonder if it’s due in part to stacking other components under or atop? Going in I knew they needed some space to cool so I put 1/2” feet under them and kept a few inches above clear. They have some serious heft to them but depending on the thick aluminum cases for heat sink duty without fins or vents is probably an oversight.

Then again my buddy has his on a shelf no feet but nothing on top either, driving some rather inefficient speakers at absolutely deafening levels almost daily.

 

[Roland68]

I wonder if it’s due in part to stacking other components under or atop? Going in I knew they needed some space to cool so I put 1/2” feet under them and kept a few inches above clear. They have some serious heft to them but depending on the thick aluminum cases for heat sink duty without fins or vents is probably an oversight.

Then again my buddy has his on a shelf no feet but nothing on top either, driving some rather inefficient speakers at absolutely deafening levels almost daily.

Heat has absolutely nothing to do with it.
These devices would still function perfectly even at an internal temperature of 60-70 degrees, and they don't even get 40 degrees warm (at normal room temperature).

 

[Danieru Senpai]

Yeah the overly questionable reviews, zero official statements, and near-zero "professional" or "influencer" coverage (besides a few random nods without a proper review) tell me these units either had a massive failure rate on release and was later fixed in production or they were never fixed and it's a lottery.

A bit too expensive for such an experiment, but maybe I'll consider it once more long term impressions come out.

 

[Loba]

i have had 2 failures so far, they failed after i left them turned on but unused on mono BTL mode.

sent my first one back for warranty repair last year, shipping to and fro bore by me. asked the cause and they said the power supply gan chip was damaged. now have to send back the 2nd one.

using gemini "Because it runs idle (left on) for extended periods without a signal or under a thermal load, the high switching frequencies (up to 1MHz) of the Class-D output stage can stress the GaN FETs. If thermal management or idle dissipation causes a breakdown, the output stage may latch into a protection state or suffer fried output transistors."

so, i am going to leave apply 2 heatsinks onto them just like i did with my fosi mono v3 and see how it goes.