Opinions on Wyred 4 Sound ICE amps

Dsper,

What you are saying sounds consistent with my experience.

Also I found that I could turn the volume up significantly higher without any listening fatigue or harshness, and as I did the sound filled out and became naturally more "palpable" as you say. This was a night and day difference from prior, nothing subtle or difficult to discern.

Also I recall the change in soundstage and "dimensionality" led me to tweak my speaker placement accordingly as well a bit in order to re-optimize the soundstage and imaging, which had changed a lot with the new amps.

As an owner of SX-500's, I can tell you IME the amps need at least 200 hours, and more is better before they show their true colors. Make sure to leave them on 24/7 as suggested in the manual

Dsper, re: "Krell is noted for their bass...", I would caution you not to compare the Krell integrateds with their stand alone amps. BTW, thank you for the follow up on the Wyred 4 Sound SX 1000's, I for one really appreciate it. Good listening!

I agree. Having owned Krell FPB 600c + KPS 25sc and changed to FPB 700cx, KCT and KPS 28c, i say do not comapair A/B.
Had you the option to pay same for teh 700cx as the W4S, atleast me would take the Krell directly.
The integrateds from Krell,(might not be the FBI), but the others, are not even nearly close to the separates. Forget that! A W4S and or Bel i would never compair to a 700cx.
That is just too big of jump.

Few integrateds can compete with separates in regards to bass and authority due to physical limitations on power supply and otehr factors when placing multiple circuits in close proximity as is typically the case with integrated amps. Maybe if the power supply is housed separately......

Also I suspect IcePower and Class D might actually work better in a truly compact integrated configuration compared to most amps due to size and efficiency advantages assuming RFI noise issues are addressed effectively (a big if though perhaps). If integrated includes a low level phono section also, its even tougher.