ricevs,
I'll quote your excerpt from that hometheaterhifi review.
"Soundstage width and depth presentation not quite as “big” as some other reference-level amplifiers."
This reviewer's reference amps are a BAT and Pass, both known to be tubelike. Tubes tend to have those soundstage characteristics. The few accurate amps that meet my standards for clarity/detail do NOT have these characteristics. In my experience, accurate SS amps have relatively thin and focused sound. I once had a stock tubed Theta preamp. When I got Roger Modjeski's highest grade tubes for this, the Theta took on more of a solid stage focus with cooler tonality. So I realized that both tubes and SS can be designed for accuracy/neutrality. Less accurate electronics usually exhibit greater soundstage width/depth. This reviewer LIKES the large soundstage width and exaggerated depth of tubelike SS amps. These amps are akin to taking a mediocre picture and magnifying it. You cannot increase resolution by magnifying the picture. If the picture is large enough to view, then magnifying it will make it more blurry and generally less satisfying. Some people LIKE bigness, bloat and blurry qualities. I still wonder if anyone can come up with any amp at any price that can better the CLARITY of select IceEdge 1200 AS1 amps.
Telling the truth and describing it is important, we agree. Can you describe tonally exactly what you find "blah and boring" about the stock IceEdge amps you heard in your own system? How are your modded amps different tonally?
