Ayre or Rowland Amp?

ICE is a good class D module to start with. It shares with tubes a liquidity and spaciousness. The 201, and 501 sound much the same, according to people who have heard both. The 300 series amps are better sounding, due to their linear power supply.

I am an owner of the new H2O Signature monos. They power my 1 ohm speakers. These are ICE based too. Like the Rowland 300 series, the H2O is built with a robust analog power supply.

I'm not familiar with the Ayre, but I powered my WP7's with a Music reference RM200 tube amp without a problem (actually made magical music just not Lamm magic) So the 92dB 4ohm load WP7's don't require a ton of watts, just quality current.

The JC1's are nice sounding but require serious breakin 1400 hours +. They have tons of current but only 25 watts of Class A bias.

Other conventional Mosfet design should work also quite nicely: Pass Labs, etc..

If you want the bomb to mix with your WP7, get yourself either the M1.1, M1.2, M2.1, or M2.2 be warry as these generate tons of Class A heat and an addiction. (Big VTL tube amps also sound amazing if you want full tubes)

As much as I think Digital/Ice technology is amazing, I think it has a ways to go, and regardless of all the H20 hype use their money back trial to find out what works for you. Don't hold your breath, the H20 has been raved about with conventional speaker (I haven't seen any wilson owners using them on agon or audiocircle to recommendations) If someone wants to bring a pair to Scottsdale,Az to compare, I'll supply the beer!

Being an H2O owner, instead of concluding ICE technology has, "A way
to go," On the contrary, I'm wondering what more amp evolution is
possible.

There is a down side. When one commits to the H2O, or any ICE amp, one has
committed to a total system change, eventually. The ICE amp will take due
note of all deficiencies in your system, and magnify them.

For instance, I changed all my wires to ones well shielded from EMI, and RFI.
It is amazing what pollution gets into your system without you knowing it,
because it is fainter than the provided signal.

Can you give a description of that H2O? I know what you mean about revealing, but think my stuff is pretty good (i.e.: balanced Transparent Ref cables, lots of power filtering and dedicated lines, etc.) Any detail would be helpful since there's so little. Which scares me some, since you don't really know if they'll be around for support should you need it.

Thanks,

Bob

You are welcome, Bob. I have no worries about service, should my H2O amps
need it. Henry Ho, builder of the H2O (hence the name) will service his
creations for life. He is just that kind of guy. What's more, a service technician
has noted any amp repair shop can service the H2O.

I meant to say power cords need full shielding for all components. A good
example is Shunyata. They offer full shielding for both EMI, and RFI.

Dedicated lines, are good. Power filtering can be good. I am sure you are up
on the tradeoff in current loss when it comes to some conditioners.

Henry will send a trial amp upon request. You only need pay shipping. You
might look at audiofankj's review of his Sigs, and check out his system for
pics.

What did I leave out? I agree with audiofankj, that the music is just there.
There is no mids/highs/bass about it.

What do you have for a preamp? The H2O needs an active preamp. It should
be top notch. The H2O is a stern task mistress. Same goes for the front end.