ICEPower 125ASX2 Class D Amplifier Review

[AndreaB]

Giulio,
is the W102 screw connected to earth?
Have you tried NOT to connect the input ground?
Maybe ground loop between preamp and ICE ...

A

 

[Giulios86]

Hello Andrea,

Yes that screw is connected to the chassis.
I tried with multimeter and there is continuity between:
- chassis
- W102 screw
- input ground
- output ground

In your picture actually the chassis doesn't seem connected to the earth of the power plug, that's what triggers the circuit breaker for me.

Regarding the pre, I did this test with the amp disconnected from anything else, just power cable connected.

Thanks!

 

[chlipong]

It suggests some kind of short to ground but I'm not an expert.

If you have a circuit breaker with a differential protection (generally 30mA) and the circuit breaker is triggered, then yes, it means that a least 30mA are leaking to the ground, could be more.
With a multimeter, test the continuity between ground/earth and phase, then between ground/earth and neutral. If there is a continuity, then there is a short to ground somewhere.
A metallic case has to be connected to ground for safety.

 

[Giulios86]

With a multimeter, test the continuity between ground/earth and phase, then between ground/earth and neutral. If there is a continuity, then there is a short to ground somewhere.

OK I tried and there is no continuity between the chassis and either the Line or Neutral with everything powered off.

Could it be that the short is after a capacitor and the multimeter can't recognize it?

 

[AndreaB]

In your picture actually the chassis doesn't seem connected to the earth of the power plug, that's what triggers the circuit breaker for me.

That photo is from the ICE manual.
In mine it is connected, as you can see in the previous post.
Is the ICE surely original? Where did you buy it?

 

[Giulios86]

That photo is from the ICE manual.
In mine it is connected, as you can see in the previous post.
Is the ICE surely original? Where did you buy it?

It's far from sure that the unit is original.
I bought it on aliexpress before reading all the info on this thread regarding different sources for the units.
Looking at the soldering I can't see anything clearly "wrong". The pcb is marked icepower.

 

[AndreaB]

Check what is written in post 88

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...x2-class-d-amplifier-review.10442/post-306757

 

[nz241]

Hi guys, i've been reading everywhere trying to get my head around this but cant work it out. If i wanted a monoblock setup with the asx125 how would this work, do i need the rtx boards from ghent in each one, or something like the drv134 in each, im thinking of using a smsl su 8 for a preamp/dac will this work? I have magnepan lrs speakers so need a bit of power/current to drive them, any help much appreciated

 

[AndreaB]

Hello!
I use two asx 125s in BTL mode and I play two very difficult AR3a.
In BTL you must use active balanced input. DO NOT unbalance only with 1 + 3 on XLR.
You MUST have a buffer with very low output impedance.
See diagram

 

[AndreaB]

 

[nz241]

Thanks AndreaB that is very helpful. I'm quite a novice when it comes to this so a little bit unsure what you mean by active balanced input, is this in reference to the rtx boards, have you got a list of parts you needed to do this, also are you using a premap/dac thanks again

 

[AndreaB]

It means you must have an audio signal on three cables (sorry for the enormous simplicity)
The DAC you connect must have adjustable volume if you connect direct ICE.
I use a preamplifier, (read the signature) which is unbalanced. That is, it uses RCA connectors (2 cables).
To do BTL you have to transform the unbalanced signal into balanced. (three cables).
To do this you need an electronic form. I use this Germany built http://www.funk-tonstudiotechnik.de/SOA-2.V3.pdf.

 

[nz241]

Thanks for the reply, and dont worry you could not over simplify im trying to get my head around it all So from what i can understand i put the ghent rtx board in each case and connect that to an xlr, that is then a balanced input? Basically not using the rcas at all is that correct, thanks again

 

[AndreaB]

No, the Ghent RTX is a balancer board.
Its output is like XLR and the input is RCA, so right.
Hai bisogno di due RTX, uno per ogni GHIACCIO.

 

[Audiophile.id]

How is it compare to topping pa3?
I plan to buy it from aliexpress
https://a.aliexpress.com/_dSSXlyY

 

[Matias]

I have 3 amplifiers based on 125ASX2 for sale if anyone's interested.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/calyx-femti-power-amplifiers.12348/

 

[AndreaB]

I plan to buy it from aliexpress
https://a.aliexpress.com/_dSSXlyY

Attention on Aliexpress.
Read this 3ad and find out that it's probably a fake.

 

[Audiophile.id]

Attention on Aliexpress.
Read this 3ad and find out that it's probably a fake.

I know it's fake, it's on my budget though, so i like to compare this with topping pa3

 

[AndreaB]

So che è falso, è nel mio budget, quindi mi piace confrontare questo con topping pa3

How can you tell if a fake works well?
Read this 3ad from the beginning and you will see how many exploded after a few minutes

 

[AlainF]

Hi, I am trying to purchase an assembled ICE125ASX2 ICEPower amps, but have run into difficulties with completing credi card payments to China based vendors. Would anyone know of a vendor that has these in stock in the USA? Thanks in advance!