Ok, I'm overdue for an update. I FINALLY received my Biketronics amps in May. The cool story with one of them is that it started as a special request last fall. I knew that they offered a 4x250w and a 2x700w amp, and I found that both the Hypex UCD250 and UCD400 (of which Biketronics uses 2 in-parallel to get 700w at 2ohms) used the same rail voltage. So I asked if they could build me a 3-channel with 2x250w and 1x700w. Mike at Biketronics actually called me back to discuss further, he said they were considering it. Not only did they agree to build one for me, they decided to make it a regular product. That's pretty damn cool! The downside is that I waited a lllooooonnnnggg time to get my amps. Although they were able to prototype the new amp very quickly, a number of factors (some COVID-related and out of Biketronics' control) caused some delays. I'm not throwing shade at Biketronics, but it did take many, many months until these amps were in my hands.
The main reasons for me choosing Biketronics was the incredibly small form factor, the well-regarded Dynamic behavior of the Hypex UCD modules they use (Dynamics are a big deal to me in a daily driver system like mine), and the fact they made a new configuration that gave me exactly what I wanted from two amp chassis. They're also pretty efficient and a lifetime warranty doesn't hurt either! I may be a Canuck, but I appreciate how much local manufacturing they do with their amps (based in Moscow, Idaho).
I'll post a review on them in the near-ish future, but first I want to update the build log. So far I'm pretty damn happy with them, definitely a step up from my previous amps.
First pics are a few of the amps themselves. Biketronics did custom laser-etching on the lids for me, the logos were kindly designed for me by our own Blockrocker. He did a great job figuring out what I wanted based on my...er...unique preferences.
The "Goat Power" BT4210 is 4x210w (@4ohms), for my mids and tweets. It was originally supposed to be 4x180 but they uprated it, waiting on a response for Biketronics as to why.
The second amp is the new 3-channel. The "Panda Power" BT3725 is 250x2 (@4ohms) and 1x700 (@2oms), for my midbasses and sub.
A few other pics of both amps. It's hard to appreciate just how tiny these amps are until you see them in person, but here's a couple next to a CD for reference. I love how the bottom plate is etched with the signatures of the Biketronics staff. Also a pic of one next to my old amps (Alpine PDX-V9 5-channel and Kenwood KAC-M3004 4-channel).
With more room to work with in my amp enclosure due to the smaller amps, I took the opportunity to clean-up the wiring more to my liking. I also ditched the tech-flex, it's just not my style. I added a Knuconceptz Bassik fused distro block as well.
With an unusually warm June, I realized my amp compartment needed to breathe better. The DSP temp was getting toastier than I'd like (last summer I had the Dayton DSP-408, it didn't have a temp readout who knows how roasty it was getting...). So I added a couple of 80mm, 12v ball-bearing fans in a push-pull config. They're run off of an automotive relay which is triggered by the amp turn-on signal. So the fans only run when the amps are on. Between the fan-cooled amps and the extra cooling fans, fan noise is audible (even though they're under the cargo floor) when the car is off. But when it's running, they're not noticeable and this system is built for driving anyway. I've been averaging 10 degrees C cooler since adding the fans. The fans are also on a connector, so it's easy to remove that panel.
As mentioned earlier, so far yeah I'm really happy with how they sound! The coles notes is that they have a very low noise floor, great dynamics, more clarity and control. Everything from top to bottom sounds more immediate, sounds seem to start and stop "faster" for lack of a better term. Surprising how different they sound from my previous amps, even though I took voltage readings to try to match levels to the previous amps. They have a couple of quirks which I've asked Biketronics about, but I'll cover that in a review. So I think they were worth the wait!