OK...so we now know that the company is a good company, and the amps themselves are used by at least one person here on his brush motors. Some of us use Gecko drivers (we do in our metal working equipment at home), and one reason we use them is because of price and good reputation...$111 for Geckos are part of the draw, but $20 is an attention getter as well...

What I would like to understand is how do we determine when a servo amplifier is needed? The literature for those amps ( and at $20 each, used, that ain't bad!) says they can be used as stand alone...and there are locations for several motors on each card...

The vendor provided a wealth of material from the company, but newbies like myself are not sure what we look for in the specs, that tells us when a controller card is still needed....some wizards use the term "amp" to mean controller...not helpful, but the literature seemed to indicate they could be used as such...(and the vendor supplied HUNDREDS of pages of support material)

What specs do we look for that tells us when a motor needs an amplifier before the controller? What is it in the specs of an amplifier that tells us it can be used for CNC router/plasma type circuits?

Thanks for all the input...just looking for the kind of info that would enable some of us to NOT have to pester the wizards among you next time a "good deal" comes along in surplus circuits for servo use....

...to amp or not to amp....that is the question...