Attack of the Clone Amplifiers


seanheis1

This article is from 2009 and deals with a few ICE module amps. What he has found is interesting, but I’m not sure that it means much except for the amps mentioned. I’m sure there are many other examples of off-the-shelf parts being put in a fancy case and sold at a high markup, but I don’t think it’s how high-end gear is made in general.

We should always do our homework before buying any component, as we all know (or will find out) that more money does not necessarily equal better sound.

The most important test, how does it sound to me, in my system, over an extended period of time, can only be done by buying the component and putting it in our system. I wish there was a shortcut, but I’m not aware of one available to most Audiogoners.

tomcy6,
I saw articles of similar nature since times back even before this article and even had chance to compare Bel Canto to Wyred4Sound. 
Wyred4Sound did not do better job vs. my Sunfire 300 amp, but Bel Canto amp substantially did, but was outside of my budget.
BEl Canto ref1000m amps  are  not the same as stock Icepower or Wyred.

They use Icepower modules in a a proprietary Bel Canto architecture with proprietary integrated power supply and input boards.

Older  ref1000 amps were essentially Icepower in a nice box as far as I know.

Lots of vendors tehse days beef up their own designs around stock Icepower and other class D amp modules as they see fit to improve the sound and charge accordingly.