Dayton MCA2258 Bi-Amplifier

Performance wise I have no complaints. It works as advertised and sounds very good. However trying to shoehorn this unit into my cabinet (I was replacing as defective bi-amp in a M-Audio speaker) was a challenge. One of the circuit boards protruded into the mounting space and I had to notch the cabinet to get it to fit. Also some of the lead tails were too long and blocked entry as well. I had to take my flush cutters and trim the leads to get it to fit.

This really is a good idea but the execution is not quite perfect. I love bi-amping and this is an easy way to do it. Power output is just fine, especially for a bi-amped system. The 24 dB/octave @ 3k crossover works well about 90% of the time. It turns on and off without thumps. The woofer and tweeter level controls have enough range for most driver combinations.

Now for the problems. These amps don't have enough heatsink area and they run hot even at standby. I have added a small 12V PC fan mounted directly to the heatsink which helps a lot, but then you have to hassle with a wall wart DC supply, and you have to find a quiet fan.
The amp is a bit difficult to mount because the components hang out nearly to the edge of the mounting plate. I had to clip the leads on the filter caps that stuck out too far, and cut some zip ties in order to re-route some wires. Only then could I get the amp to fit through its mounting hole.

I bought a few of these on sale and at the price I paid they were a great value. At their current price they are only a good value.

Perfect for playback monitoring and a great price. I would be careful leaving these amps on indefinitely as the owners manual says. It states, "at idle the current draw and heat generated is very low". Mine "idle," (no signal) at 120-125 degrees measured at the cooling fins. My first set, which I returned did the same. To be safe, I turn mine off when I'm not using them.