Dayton Audio MA1240a Multi-Zone 12 Channel Amplifier

I bought two of these for my 12 zone / 24 speaker whole house audio system and I'm thrilled with the build quality (these things weigh 35+ pounds *each* and are built like small tanks!) as well as the sound quality. These amps made my in-ceiling speakers sound a LOT better than a bunch of cheap little amps I was using before. The only tricky part was wiring the speaker wires into their proprietary connectors and making sure there was no excess exposed wire sticking out (as the connectors for positive and negative are within millimeters of one another - which causes a lot of static if there's any exposed wire) as well as making sure that the wires for each channel were connected properly (they DO NOT wire up like normal amps, so pay very close attention to where the positive and negative wires need to go for each pair of speakers). But other than that I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I also have a Dayton Audio subwoofer amp and it has performed like a champ over the last several months. Highly recommended!

When I moved into my house four rooms and the outside were professionally wired for audio, but they didn’t leave the amp… for the next 10 years I settled for a single zone inexpensive 100watt amp and distribution switch since it wasn’t a priority. This sounded fine at low volume, but was ineffective for the outdoor speakers. I decided to up my game so I could have some decent tunes while in the pool. So far I’m very impressed with this amp. I have wall volume controls in each room, but the ability to control the max volume for each speaker has allowed me to insure my kids can’t crank the volume inside excessively loud ( I capped these are at 35%) and pump up the max to the outside speakers (gain is at ~75%). The setup is very easy and the instructions very clear. For the price I think this is a great choice. I almost splurged on the more expensive model with the built in AirPlay, but I appreciate the physical switches on this one. The auto turn on (trigger) and turn off work great. There is almost no lag when the audio source starts feeding signal. I’m using an AirPort Express using AirPlay, and that has a mini phono (stereo headphone) to RCA feeding it. Here are my CONS in order of importance (no show stoppers): In bridge mode, it does mix the channels to mono, but you can’t control the left and right speakers independently for the bridged channel/zone. Only the left gain is used and it controls the max volume for each speaker in the pair. I didn’t have this level of control before so it isn’t a show stopper, but since the one of the exterior speaker is close to a seating area and the other isn’t (pointing to the pool) independent control would have been nice. BTW, I used bridge for to power boost and because stereo didn’t make sense with the speakers outside. The gain control for each speaker is very small and is on the rear. It can make tweaking things more inconvenient. Also, it necessitates having some sort of volume control either at the speaker or at the audio source, because you won’t be using these to control volume day-to-day. The amp has a slight hum when running. This doesn’t bother me because the amp is mounted somewhere without people regularly near, but if you were in the same room it could be annoying. This isn’t really a con, but be aware this is fairly large and fairly heavy. If you are putting it on a shelf, make sure you have room for the speaker wires and the power connections. This probably adds another 1.5 inches to its depth, and I’d recommend at least 2 inches so you’re not squishing everything.

Here is how I set up the system. I set up 6 zones downstairs that were pre-wired before the house was completed. I wired directly to the speakers, not using a volume control in each zone. I bought 12 Alexa Dots and 6 3.5mm to RCA converters. Then I attached 6 of the dots to the RCA inputs for each zone on the amp and put each of them on mute. I also placed a an Alexa dot in each zone. Then I named each dot carefully. The dot in the Kitchen is named "Kitchen Dot" and the dot in the closet for that zone is named "Kitchen Speakers" This allowed me to tell any dot, anywhere in the home, "Alexa, play music on the Kitchen Speakers" and the dot in the closet streams the music to the speakers. You can also tell Alexa to "Lower the volume on Kitchen Speakers", so I avoided having to install or purchase volume controls in each zone. I am going to buy another unit for the upstairs zones now. Alexa also has Groups, you you can group multiple Zones together and say "Alexa, play music Downstairs" and it streams to several zones. I also have a group I call "upstairs intercom" so, I can stream "Reveille" in the morning to get the kids to head downstairs for breakfast. Update: I added the second amp for the upstairs zones and everything is working as planned. I have 24 Alexa dots running the two amps and the kids love that they have control over every room in the house and what music is playing on the ceiling speakers. I made a few groups, Like "Master Bedroom" group, that plays in Master bath, office and bedroom, in Alexa to allow multiple zones to play the same music as well. Also made a "Main" group that plays on all the common area speakers. Update: Alexa now allows me to make a dot a member of more than one group, so the office is now part of "All Downstairs Speakers" group, but not part of the "Downstairs" group (which is just the common areas).

so far so good. The is a little trick to learning how to install the wires in the plugs in the back. but once you figure it out (and its not hard) you will realize that this is much easier and a better connection than just using a post style connection. So far it sounds great, has plenty of power and love the auto on/off. BTW, I am using these with Apple AE as my sound source and have created 5 zones in my house (i combined two of the zones via one input via the a/b switch)

It only took 20 minutes to install 4 rooms worth of speakers. I am a home audio novice and it was a piece of cake. It sounds way better than the previous way I had it hooked up. I was running an onkyo receiver on direct stereo to all channels and it was overheating. The sound quality is much richer and also about 50 percent louder as well. The jacks on the back work great with regular speaker wire. Definitely an awesome value compared to what else I have seen.

I purchased this back in late December and was very happy for ... less than 3 month. One of the zones went down and I can't get it fixed under the warranty. Amazon saying they cover only 30 days (even though on their support page it says 90) and Dayton support was the worse I've ever seen. After a number of phone calls and emails they "ok" to give me warranty (because I purchased not from them), but I have to mail it on my dime (and this is a heavy unit so we are not talking pennies on shipment) and wait for replacement, because I again didn't buy from them and hence not eligible for an "advance replacement". So, I'll have to be without audio in my house for unknown period because one zone going down in less than 3 months. Unacceptable service from both Amazon and Dayton sides. Stay away from it (even though product itself is not bad other than breaking too fast).

Bought this to boost audio for built-in home audio system. We have 12 rooms with wired in-wall and ceiling speakers and individual volume controls. Looked at other amplifiers from Crutchfield for well over $1,500-$3,000 thought this might be worth a try. It is very simple, plug and play. Has plenty of individual channels. It will notify you if you have a short and the speakers wires are not connected properly. Does not seem to get too hot, but I also bought a thermostat fan with digital control that is directly built into cabinet to keep it cool. Have had it 6 months now and seems to work fine! Plenty of volume in all rooms. Paired it with Sony 1500watt/7.2channel bluetooth Wi-fi receiver system. If I am disappointed about anything it would be the overall sound quality. It's not as crisp and thick as a friend of mine's Klipsh system or the Sonos system we have in our theater but I also paid a lot less. I would recommend this.

The amp is super easy to install and wire everything to. It has both components to use, and it fit perfectly in the closet. It's easy to control, and once I had the wires in and had the streaming on it worked flawlessly. I put it on the floor because the shelves I had in the closet weren't very strong, so the weight is something to be aware of.

A quality product but BE CAREFUL !!! The unit crazily ships set to 115V and not 230V. The note that comes with warns of this but it’s written in terrible English. You could damage the unit. Seller. You’re operating in Europe - set these by default to 230V. Dont be lazy