Amp with a hard,clean and cold sound...

I second the Innersound ESL 300 as a clean amp. It sounds very good in the right system. "Cold" and "hard" often have negative connotations, but I think I understand what you're striving for (clean, neutral).

I once borrowed an Edge Si-1M PREAMP and that endowed the system with a very etched sound. I actually liked it. So that's an additional option you can consider, rather than focusing exclusively on the amp.

Michael

Well,

I agree with Tvad about switch mode supply and conventional linear supply. I believe there's a huge difference having heard both ICEPOWER with switch mode supply and the H2O with the traditional supply. IMHO, The H2Os are much better.

hho -- NuForce is not an ICEPOWER amp, so I guess you haven't heard the NuForce. Also, that's sort of a bold statement saying that the H2O amps are "hugely different" (i.e., much better) than all other ICEPOWER amps that use SMPS power supplies.

Your comments bring one word to mind... "Whatever".

If it is hard clean sound you want, then I would definitely go with the switch powered class D amps. Like There isn't anything cold about toroidal powered amps, they are just clean and natural.