ICE Amps for classical music?

Amenh Rtn1! Fact is that starting with the ending of the Classical era, throughout the Romantic and post-romantic period, there has been a steady swelling of orchestral forces and dynamic demands on them imposed by applicable scores. Bass range is not the only affected by such demands. . . a listen to various works, starting with later Beethoven symphonies, Brahms symphonies, Berlioz, mahler nearly entire opus, Bruckner, Dvorak symphonies and cello concerto,Stravinsky fauviste   works, early Schonberg, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Varese, Stockhausen, and Ligeti just to name very few, show massive tutti full range treble-to-bass orchestral sostenutos. Not to mention all those fizzy kitchy transcriptions of the Moussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibitions, whose orchestrators should be all suspended by their thumbs for crimes committed against good taste.

G.

Hi Dob, You are absolutely right. There is a difference between the on board ICE module power supply and a good add on. H Ho will make either type, digital power supply, or his own analog power supply as ordered. The one I am using has four huge caps that store a lot of ready power. The big caps also serve as a deep lake to quell any ripple. There is also a bank of fast firing caps for quick transients, and smacking power for rim hits and other sharp noises.

It is important to note, all the music I hear is the result of my DAC. The preamp and amp only pass it on to the speakers in a way to optimize the speaker's capability.

I must invite henry over ...... lol...

Dob - AFAIK none of Icepower modules can drive below 2ohm and none of the H2O product either. They might be able to drive 1 ohm but are specified at 2ohm min. At 2 ohm min strongest Icepower module 1000ASP used in highly regarded Bel Canto REF1000 mkII can drive 2ohm with 40A peak delivering 3200W. In addition supply voltage doesn't drop since it is regulated (SMPS).

In reality, if you think how linear power supply operates - it is SMPS operating at 120Hz that requires huge transformer because of low frequency. Toroidal transformer at 100kHz that carries the same power can be 10x smaller.
SMPS high frequency, is easy to filter while 120Hz is not. For this reason Jeff Rowland uses SMPS in Capri preamp.

Hello Muralman1,

What model of Henry Ho amplifiers you use to drive your 1 Ohm speakers?

Caps provide store energy only. Incidently, intial Spectron Musician III also has two or four huge caps. In next geberation they changed it to 100 smaller caps (10-12 times reducing ESR) and difference in sound was more then drramatic.

Ar any rate, I am interested if your amp has switching power supplies or it was based on traditional transformers. Also, switching power supplies are not digital. First Spectron class D amplifier in 1974 also was based on switching power supplies but they do notn use it in their audiophile products.

I visited Mr. Ho web site and he has there two type of power supplies driving the ICE output stage:

#1 M500 - Power Supply: Integrated Switching Mode; $3,000.00 USD a pair

#2 M250 - Power Supply: Integrated Switching Mode; $2.500.00 USD a pair

#3 S250 - Power Supply: Traditional Toroidal Transformer; $3,200.00 USD ea.

#4 M250SA - Power Supply: Traditional Toroidal Transformer;$6,000.00 USD a pair.

#5 S100 - Power Supply: Traditional Toroidal Transformer; $6,000.00 USD ea.

Thank you,

Simon
I would bet a treasure that it was the pair of MA250SA...