Are ICEpower amps really that good?

Let me throw my $.02 into the discussion.

I have not heard all digital amps out there but lets say they are in theory dead neutral as some people say.

My question is: are your sources and speakers dead neutral? If not, you'll be some amplifying nonlinear distortions which are not friendly to hear.

My main quibble with "neutral" amps are they don't have ear friendly distortions to counteract the unfriendly distortions making the sound lacking in texture. Digital amps are maybe beyond their time.

What really is needed, is system balancing and synergy with the right kind of distortions in the right places so in the end the sound that reaches our ears actually sounds like music.*>)

Don't make a lick of sense to me. So, we have to have conventional amp smears, hyped highs, second order and third order distortions to cancel or mask speaker and player distortions? That seems counter productive to me.

We who have great class D amps find it an invigorating exercise to hone out great sounding components from the pretenders. I am continually amazed how most wires, preamps, and CDPs really mess up the music.

My speakers are one of the most neutral, and revealing speakers ever made. That's a good start. Non oversampling and upsampling players with no digital filters sound best. Less circuitry yields purer reading of disc material. I still am looking for the perfect cables and interconnects. Dielectrics fizz is real when you are trying to hear subtle textures, real textures, not contrived.

The beauty of it all is when all distortions are minimized, your reward is a treasure trove of subtle nuances locked into 16 bit CDs you can't hear otherwise. That is because of the barely audible fuzzys and fizzys generated by electronic wizardry, and winter jacketed wires.

I wince every time I read someone complaining how their new class D amp sounds all congested, bright, or dull. There should be no worry. You just have a little house cleaning to do.

Synergy is the key. (Personal preferences + depth of noticed detail) / (system capability + system synergy = satisfaction)

Bob Wood

Personally, I like my NuForces more than any amp I've had in my system. They are very clean and very dynamic. As or more detailed than I was used to. About the same imaging. And I sure like not worrying about tube replacement, sparks at turn-on, heat, and waits for warmup!

Where do I start.......?

1.) NuForce uses a topology of the their own design, coupled with an off-the-shelf SMPS.

2.) ICEpower supplies modules with a built in SMPS (ASP and ASC series), as well as stand-alone modules. We have built amps using all of them, and the only one that I am NOT wild about is the 1000ASP. Let's say that it is you have to be more careful in what speakers that you want to match it up with.

OK....you could make that point for nearly any amp, but let's say that particular one is trickier than any other I have worked with.

3.) The Hypex solution uses what is called the "Universal Class D" modulator, hence UcD. Philips owns the patent on that part. Hypex designs all the stuff that goes around it in order to make a working amp module. The guy who designed the modulator for Philips is now on his own, and does some consulting for Hypex. At some point down the road, they may introduce some sort of built-in SMPS. Key word is "MAY".

The big differences between ICEpower and Hypex is the post-filter, and where the feedback is connected to. As a result, one brand has a more marked sensitivity to speaker impedance, wrt frequency response.

(As a designer, there are other factors, mainly how many power supplies each module needs, and the current requirements. Some applications are a better fit for one over the other. That, and some people have a preference for one over the other. Which is why we use, and will continue to use, both technologies.)