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ICE amps need cooling?

I've been looking for an amp to power my Maggies and was doing some research on these ICE modules from B&O. While reading the data sheet I saw that the model 1000 that puts out 525 watts into 8 Ohms and 1,000 watts into 4 Ohms it gave a specification of Power(FTC) of 80 watts continuous. Now I remember back in the 70's during the receiver wars the FTC mandated that power ratings be standardized to something like "100 wpc continuous into 8 Ohms with no more than X% distortion" This was to stop all the unrealistic power claims of huge power output for a brief time under tremendous distortion. It made the playing field level so consumers could at least get what they were expecting. So I see that the ICE module has a power rating of only 80 watts continuous! Now that is a far cry from the 500 watts they are bragging about. Have all amplifier specs abandoned the FTC ruling, or is the ICE module just blowing smoke? The B&O site also stated that with heat sinks or fan cooling the power rating could go up. Most ICE amps I see on the market don't have any heat sinks or even ventilation for that matter. So are we all buying ICE amps that can deliver their stated output power for only brief times, and actually put out only a fraction of the power for any sustained period of time? I'm no expert and I just saw this today so I am asking the the members with lots of knowledge in this area to respond and please clear this up. Thanks.
koestner
magfan
1,583 posts
 
My GCC250 runs warm in a poorly ventilated space ONLY if I hammer it as loud as it'll go for as long as I can stand.
Other than that, reasonably cool, good dynamics and response.
Since I gave up listening to sine waves and pink noise sometime in the mid/late '70s, the FTC limit is not exactly germain.
Besides, are maggies known for sheer loudness? If mine go much over 98->100db in my listening room, I'd be surprised.
If you want louder, buy a louder speaker.
dcstep
1,518 posts
 
If you're using an ICEPower amp to blast 110dB sine waves continuously, then you had better cool it, but if you play music with your amp, then don't worry about it.

Dave
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
Oh fuddlebud. I am running my 1 ohm speakers at .3 ohm for the time being, as a foil resistor on the right speaker is malfunctioning and I am bypassing it. My class D amps are fitted with the 250A ICE modules. The highs are to drool for. The amps are room temperature.
maab
27 posts
 
Muralman1, can you please elaborate the sound from the icepower and the highs in particular?
Thank you
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
Let's take cymbal crashes for instance. My system breaks the metallic splash into its separate shimmering wavelengths the same way a prism breaks white light into it's rainbow waves. Unlike other class D amps, mine has a hefty power supply that supports huge dynamic swings.
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