Dayton Audio MA1260 Multi-Zone 12 Channel Amplifier (MA1260)

Have two of these hooked up to 12 stereo zones in the house. Each zone is switchable from two inputs or a direct line in. Very flexible solution. I have 4 sonos zone players hooked up to two of these and it gives us 12 rooms of audio for a fraction of the cost. I am not an audiophile but they sound good to me!Update after 3 years:We have had these for three years now. Both units still work without any problems. FWIW, I have had these connected to a z-wave outlet for the past three years. This allows us to turn on the entire system (which is located in the attic) from the smartphone and control the music and the volume from the sonos. I have not even physically touched the units in more than two years - they just sit in the attic working fine and doing their job. Press the button, play the music, the z-wave automatically turns them off if we forget.I still have the 24 channels (12 rooms) divided into four zones, each with a Sonos "connect" (were called Z90s when I bought them). I would add more zones but the price of the connects make it a luxury I have just never been able to justify. If I were to do this today, I would probably put a set of airport express units on this (one can buy 7 express units for the price of two connects) and with iradio it offers much of the same functionality but would give you many more individually controlled zones.In any case, the Dayton units continue to work with no drama, no intervention, and no problems.Update after Five Years - okay I am upgrading to five stars:All good. No problems so far, they still work just as well as they did in 2011 when I first installed them. Admittedly, we do not run these a much as many people will, but still, five problem-free years. Props to Dayton (and Sonos, which is also problem-free after five years with regular software upgrades to keep the system and the app up to speed with the latest services). Five years of problem-free service deserves five stars.

Not an audio/video expert nor a home theater expert, but I would rate myself above a novice.After extensive researching from reading several articles regarding multi-room setups, equipment, and wiring, I found this little gem. Expect everything from a 1240 but more with extra I listed below:It is really heavy - 40 lbs. nearly the same as the 1240This unit is cooled passively through heat sinks (no fans).It only gets warm at best so longevity can be expected since there isn't heat degradation.Not really a big fan of Phoenix connection. Prefer banana plugs.Not sure with this whole gauge being at least 12 or 14 if you are running wires greater than 100 feet. I have wires that run approximately 125 feet and 16 gauge does fine. The resistance doesn’t seem to be an issue and the amplifier doesn’t think so either. Also wouldn’t think a 12 gauge would even fit. There isn't an issue with the music being distorted and the music is awfully loud that I don’t dare going to the maximum on the volume control with 60% on the TX-8050.Overall, this power amplifier is all you need for a multi-room. Don’t spend any more for power amplifier as this is more than adequate for just having your rooms blasted with music.Again this review is for multi-room purposes.Setup:TX-8050 powering - [Channel A] (3) Polk Audio RC60i 2-Way In-Ceiling Speakers and [Channel B] (4) Polk Audio Atrium 4 Speakers.PREOUT -> Powering (12) Polk Audio RC60i 2-Way In-Ceiling Speakers by 16 gauge 4 wire conductor with each pair running into a wall control volume.

Great amp, built well, sounds great and works well. That is, besides bridged mode. For some reason, when you put the speaker in bridged mode left and right are thrown out the window and it gives you a choice between left OR right on both speakers, by switching cables or whatever. Very strange and annoying but it is what it is. I can't seem to find a way to properly use bridged mode on this without that so it's basically a useless feature. Otherwise it's great, maybe runs a bit warm.

My home is wired for 12 speaker zones (24 speakers) and I was looking for a solution to easily play and control music in any zone from a phone or iPad. The MA1240a was the perfect solution. I currently have 6 Apple airport expresses hooked up to each of the 6 inputs and can play all of my music in any of the zones I wish. I already had a Mac mini and by using the "remote" app on my iPhone, I can play the same music over multiple zones as well as control the volume to each zone independently. That works great for parties or entertaining. My wife can play her music in our bedroom while I play my music in the backyard. I was skeptical about how this unit would hold up over an extended period but I've been using it almost daily for about a year and have not had any issues. I'm going to purchase a 2nd unit to hook up my other 6 zones to have control of every speaker in our home. I would recommend this product for anyone looking to do something similar to what I did.

Item poorly packaged, sold as new, not in original box. Box was too large for item, with minimal packing. Corners of amp were chipped and damaged. Paying full price for a used item is frustrating.Seems to function well. I only tested two channels so far. This rating is a reflection of the seller, not product.This should never have been sold as new. Now I am left debating if I want to go through the frustration of a return.Amp sounds good, plenty of power for my needs, it is loud though(noisy amp).