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No love for IcePower?
- Thread starter typericey
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I can't say anything about measurements and quality, but I have used 50ASX2 and 125ASX modules, two in same box to drive my diy 4-way speakers. They have had practically 24/7 power on for six years now, without problems. I can run my drivers to Xmax with them easily, spl above 110dB/2m indoors (the subwoofer can't handle that). I have several spare modules because I had to buy bundles, from eBay. It took some effrot to find cables with suitable connectors, Ghent audio didn't exist then.
The proto was in a dvd-player's case, all four modules but it burned the fuse at start. Now I have two boxes, two modules in each.
I have compared ICEpower 50 to Audiolab 8200A amplifier for tweeters. No difference heard or measured though.
Oh yes, and I have a NHT power2 amp with two 500ASP boards, resting now. Good sound.
The proto was in a dvd-player's case, all four modules but it burned the fuse at start. Now I have two boxes, two modules in each.
I have compared ICEpower 50 to Audiolab 8200A amplifier for tweeters. No difference heard or measured though.
Oh yes, and I have a NHT power2 amp with two 500ASP boards, resting now. Good sound.
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filo97s
Active Member
Also Anaview (ex Abletec) does some serious stuff in class D, it's mounted in Amphion and Marten amps. I've used an AMS 1000 module for my main power amp because NC400 modules were too expensive, i'm curious how they measure. If it were not that i live in Italy, I would have sent my unit for measuring.
Here's my work:
(in this pic, the vu board and the VU meter still had to be added)
the chinese VU meter board added some noise only the first time when the amplifier is powered on: if I send a signal, after it stops the noise doesn't appear again. I think that this behaviour, according to which the noise only appear at startup but never again, is due to the balanced connection that somehow removes the noise. I solved this problem however with a little board that decouples the amp and the VU board, transform the balanced signal in an unbalanced one for the VU board, provides a selectable gain 1x-10x for the meters and a clean 12V source from the 17V AUX of the amp. Here's the simple circuit:
next step would be adding two other opamps in order to switch to an instrumentation amplifier configuration, so the gain could be selected with only one resistor and it would provide a much higher input impedance.
Here's my work:
(in this pic, the vu board and the VU meter still had to be added)
OP
typericey
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Thanks for the responses! A "hidden motive" for creating this thread is to make it an IcePower discussion thread covering the good, the bad, and the ugly. For the benefit and learning of everyone. Carry on!
I also want to know if IcePower based amps can perform better (i.e. measure cleaner) than similarly priced AB amps. Will also do some research and share any findings.
I also want to know if IcePower based amps can perform better (i.e. measure cleaner) than similarly priced AB amps. Will also do some research and share any findings.
OP
typericey
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Good to hear positive feedback on the PA-1's. Really curious about those. But I'd really like to see some measurements before I bring home a pair. Yeah it's just module with wires but that's what I like about it. I can't solder if it meant saving my life.
I hope it also measures like wire with gain. I mean if it's clean beyond the audible range then it's good enough. In the meantime, I'd settle for more subjective impressions, user experiences and observations (i.e. does it hiss?) if you have any more to share.MIne are dead quiet, and the horn tops are 105 efficiency.
If you like the idea of simple amplifiers based on class D boards, like me, make sure to check Nord and Apollon websites. Lots of models to choose from, great prices.Good to hear positive feedback on the PA-1's. Really curious about those. But I'd really like to see some measurements before I bring home a pair. Yeah it's just module with wires but that's what I like about it. I can't solder if it meant saving my life.
Since you are okay with subjective impressions. I've heard most of Emotiva's older line and a good bit of the current line in terms of amps dacs and processors.Good to hear positive feedback on the PA-1's. Really curious about those. But I'd really like to see some measurements before I bring home a pair. Yeah it's just module with wires but that's what I like about it. I can't solder if it meant saving my life.
The most obvious thing about the PA-1 is that they are super lightweight but also fully balanced monoblocks and yet sounded near in sound to my 70 pound class A biased fully balanced monoblocks. Right there tells you what you need to know imo.
In use they had no discernable hiss. The best amp I've heard has been the XPA-1 gen 2 which is at a different level from almost all other amps I've heard. The PA-1 was pretty much at its level, just short by a hair. Where it was just a hair short was that in terms of bass and lower mid range heft the XPA-1's are just monsters at it.
Either way the PA-1 definitely did bass and heft, just not quite at the same amount. I think of it like an XPA-1 with a lighter airier sound.
Where the PA-1 excelled over other amps I'd heard was in terms of dynamics and a sense of speed. They were very quick and had an extended open treble. Which meant I was hearing all the details including the dimensions of the room recording. The only other amp I've heard reproduce dimensions of the room was the XPA-1 (and also the bas-x a-100 in headphone mode only).
This extends to the bass which was very clean, you were hearing the texture of the bass instruments rather than one note bass etc.
Every amp has some sort of tonal sound signature even if it's very mild. The PA-1's tone is tilted towards the treble which is slightly tipped up (still a very natural sound). The XPA-1's tone is tilted slightly towards the bass.
At its price, imo it's a no-brainer in subjective use. Sounds fantastic. If I wanted to I could buy four PA-1's and bi amp my speakers with monoblocks and still spend less than my XPA-1's and those four would take up the space of just half of one XPA-1 amp - if that. Now that's value imo.
I don't know the longevity of the switching PS but since it has been used in other designs for a good amount of time, I assumed it's pretty solid. In terms of measurements, I doubt it measures that well because Emotiva mentioned it's not a measurement king. There's better measuring amps out there.
Someone reached out to B&O asking them to send one in for review. They said they didn't have any so I should go and buy the Emotiva. 
Curious to read your findings.
I am about to make a simple 5 channels amp with two 125ASX is stereo mode and one 50ASX in bridge mode: yes, it will be used for my 5.1 setup in the living room (and well I am still looking for a 6 channel DAC with RCA outs to match it with, I'll use my PC discrete audio board to test it in the meantime).
I am about to make a simple 5 channels amp with two 125ASX is stereo mode and one 50ASX in bridge mode: yes, it will be used for my 5.1 setup in the living room (and well I am still looking for a 6 channel DAC with RCA outs to match it with, I'll use my PC discrete audio board to test it in the meantime).
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Add March. Alan is a valued member here & deserves it.
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One more detail: you can buy a pair of the PAs for the same money as recapping the behemoths. Not even including the copays when you put your back out.
Where's the marketing-fail smilie?Someone reached out to B&O asking them to send one in for review. They said they didn't have any so I should go and buy the Emotiva.
OP
typericey
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The datasheet was a good read and very comprehensive indeed. AP graphs and all. If ever, Amir would just validate and fingers crossed the Emotiva box and wiring does not degrade.
Oh, and an FTC power rating (140W)! Restorer John would be happy. Take that Hypex NCore and Benchmark
Overall I like what see, though I'm a bit bothered by the harmonic distortion at high frequencies:
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I think this sums it up well. I've used Tact Tri-path based amps. Not the latest version of Tri-path if they've changed any. These amps sound very nice usually. Very quiet. I find them reasonably 'powerful' for their ratings, but not generously so.
I use a Wyred4Sound amp which is IcePower based. I've used it on some horribly difficult to drive Soundlabs and it handles this better and plays them with more authority than other amps I've used. Also have used the Bel Canto IcePower amps on Soundlabs and others. The power somehow seems more 'powerful' than the spec would make you think.
The Tri-paths are more variable in treble response due to speaker load.
The Icepower are variable though to a lesser extent in treble response due to speaker load. Newer IcePower also switches at higher frequencies than earlier versions and this issue is reduced. They still have higher high frequency distortion. I think the reason you don't usually hear this is even at 6.7 khz in the test the 3rd harmonic you aren't hearing and the 2nd probably has to be much higher for most people to hear at all, and you rarely push the power to max in those frequencies. So most all the time the real distortion is rather low there.
The Ncore and Purifi aren't having problems with this. Should be a more blameless load independent design.
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What are the input boards? Did you source them or make them?
I used two of the Ghent XLR modules https://www.ghentaudio.com/kit/rtx.html
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Excuse my ignorance, but is that board an input buffer as well as a line driver? If so it's exactly what I'm looking for!
I tried using a 125ASX2 downstream of a volume control and it was clearly not right. However, the same module (literally) plugged into a miniDSP PWR-ICE plate works just fine.
What kind of volume control? I have a high quality volume pot in between the output from my DSP into the stereo 125 amp. This is the one with no buffer. I use it to attenuate the signal for the horns since they are ridiculously efficient and to reduce the noise floor coming out of the DSP.
These boards are primarily intended for generating the inverted signal needed for BTL mode. I guess they could also function as a input buffer if you only used the signal + output into the amp channel input. But they are $40 each and you’d need two for stereo.
