Best Digital Amps

Muralman1...I think that we call an amplifier "digital" if its output stage is pulse-width-modulated (high speed switching transistors ON or OFF) rather than a proportional conduction device (transistor or tube). The control module, ICE, Tripath, or whatever, is a (perhaps important) detail.

What makes the H20 amp good? Raves don't carry much weight without some backup facts. The $2000 price (but it isn't really for sale yet) is no great deal. My three (3) CarverPro amps cost me $2517. That's $0.69 per watt!

CarverPro not only has a web site with specs on their product, but also offers the schematic diagram for techies like me. When will H20 lay their cards on the table?

Eldarford, TacT owners will scold you for that summation. ;) Carver is a long time company with lots of employees. H2O is a start up company that is run solely, with the help of his friends, by the builder, Henry Ho. The H2O is for sale. What makes you think it isn't? Have you ever heard an ICE powered amp?

If amp quality is based on price per watt, then I've been barking up the wrong tree. Yes, I'd rather the H2O company had their site up, before selling amps. I have owned a number of great amps, and have heard far more. The H2O is unmistakingly the finest I have ever heard.

Stats are not very germain when comparing class D amps. The ICE module amps all have about a 117 s/n, 93% efficiency, 250 watts per channel, etc... What separates out the H2O is it's 150,000 micro farads of power capacitance, a 1 kw transformer, and a very strong analog power source. It's not all that that makes an amp wonderful, but how it is implemented. Hearing is the proof.

So far, owners of well reviewed eAR, Bel Canto, and PS Audio amps, to name a few of the "digital" amps, have bought H2O amps as replacements.

Do you know any owners of the above to switch their amps for a Carver?

Muralman1- You're corect about TacT users. They know that the MII and 2150s, unlike other so-called digital amplifiers, have no analog feedback or analog signal processing or amplification involved at any stage. The system is a high-power DAC device that translates digital information directly into sound.

The these units allow you to eliminate a preamp, DAC and
speaker crossovers with their programable digital crossover filters.

They recent won a StereoTimes.com award,and TacT just lowered their pricing.

"I have owned a number of great amps, and have heard far more. The H2O is unmistakingly the finest I have ever heard."

High praise, but I looked at your list of amps in the “Personal amp evolution” thread and don’t see any of classic great ones(I posted my short list there also).

Good luck with your ICED H2O. Hope I get a chance to give it stir somtime. A hui hou.

Aloha Kana.... I told you Eldartford..... ;D

Muralman1...Long ago Rolls Royce could truthfully say "The Best Car in the World". Although other vehicles made the Rolls obsolete, and quality went to pot, people who had invested their money and reputation in owning a Rolls refused to admit that it no longer lived up to its sales slogan, and they went right on buying them. No: I don't expect the exotic high end amp owners to run out and buy an $800 ProSound amp. But I do think it's a good thing that people who have less than a grand to spend on an amp can have close to SOTA performance.