D-Sonic custom Audio amps - Page 3

I'm interested in what other owners of ICEpower amps have to say about their experiences including reliability, sound, dynamics, distortion, problems, etc.

Read some of the reviews on 6moons about the ICE stuff, especially the 1000ASP based Bel Canto Ref1000's. Those are the modules I have, as well as some 250ASP and 250ASC based stuff, but the reviews on 6moons (if you can handle their writing style) is quite accurate. All the ICE stuff has a presence in the midrange that you typically have to pay much more to get, and bass control like nothing else. And what the 1000ASP amps give you is massive dynamics and headroom without feeling strained in the lease.

Personally I wouldn't worry about reliability, I haven't heard any issues, and since they run so cool I'd expect them to prove quite reliable over the long haul.

I see that Samsung's new THX Ultra2 receiver will have ICEPower.

I haven't heard anything about the new Samsung's with ICEpower. Do you have any info?

The Samsung was originally announced for delivery in 2006 but now I hear it is getting close. Don't know the actual time frame, though.

That was the 2005 CES report, this was the 2006 and the 2007 CES reports.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/trad...rware-receiver

http://www.audioholics.com/news/trad...rware-receiver


Samsung has been playing games with that thing for almost 3 years now.
So if the past is any example, do not count on seeing that Samsung AVR anytime soon. If at all...

Where'd you hear it's getting close? We've been hearing rumors of this unit since CES 2005, as I recall.

Pioneer is said to be coming out with an ICEpower receiver - I think that one is more likely to be real.

I've seen mention of Pioneer using ICEpower in some car audio amplifiers, so it seems likely. Any links to where you heard this?

"The King" thread on this forum. Here's a link with a picture in it - note the ICEpower logo on the front panel.

http://www.avtalk.co.uk/forum/index....Q=0#msg_236526

I spoke with Dennis at D-Sonic and asked him about providing a standard 3 channel amp with 1000ASP modules. I told him that many of us here on the forum like to upgrade our $800 receivers regularly but would like to have a more permanent solution for providing a lot of power to the big guns up front. Is there any demand for a 3 channel 500 watts per ICEpower amp for around $2k?

Thanks for the link. I had seen this, but hadn't noticed it was ICEpower.

I think there's more and more people doing exactly that so there should be a reasonable market....I know if I went back to a receiver as a pre-pro I'd be a buyer.

What I haven't seen mentioned is how many watts/ch to figure out which modules they use. Judging by the size it appears theres' room for the 500 or 1000ASP's... but I think it's more likely they'll use the same configuration as the Rotel 1077.

Just got my Magnum 1000S (500 wpc stereo amp) from d-sonic today. Tremendous amp for the money. Not quite as much power as my Krell but at a tenth the cost and a tenth the weight it's a bargain. I've had a chance to play several of my favorite tunes and so far, this amp delivers -- smooth, clear, on a par with the best I've had. More later.

What is the downside to these types of amps? Why aren't they more popular? I would think that ICE-power would be showing up in a lot more products, especially since they are so powerful, are light weight and run cool.

I am interested in the answer to this as well. These amps seem very appealing at the power and price point. I know my Def. Tech 7001 and CLR 3000 would love 525 watts per channel.

Any downsides to these amps vs. solid state amps? Would anyone like to do a comparison chart of the ICE Power vs. Solid State? That would be interesting. I have heard that the new digital amps would be the wave of the future. I guess that have not taken off due to the old stuff shirts who take a while before adopting new technologies.

Well, I've been tracking these things for a few years and they are becoming more an more popular. Besides the smaller assemblers like D-Sonic, Acoustic Reality and Red Dragon the list of companies using them continues to grow; Jeff Rowland, Bel-Canto, PS Audio and Rotel come to mind and I'm sure there are others. The Rotel 1077 is quite popular and some say that it sounds better than their 1091 and 1092 which use the 1000ASP. Pioneer looks as though they will be using ICEpower in their upcoming flagship. And let's not forget the inventor of these modules B&O - have you seen the price of some of their stuff?

Why aren't they more popular? I have three theories; 1.) Size, while they are relatively small compared to conventional amps they are quite a bit larger than their Tripath, Equibit and UcD counterparts which are finding their way into into more and more products like the Panasonic XR series.
2). Cost, an educated guess based on what I could have purchased a raw 1000ASP module for would put OEM purchase price at around $200 to $250 per module or channel - that's not cheap at that level, $1400 just for the guts of a seven channel amp then you've got to add in the rest of the stuff; casing, connectors, U/L certification, packaging, storage, sales and distribution..... Gets up there pretty fast.
3). Macho man syndrome - if it's not the size of a Hummer it can't be any good!!

The only possible downside to these amps is what is called digital switching noise - this will only affect other components upstream from the amp and only those that are not IMO properly designed to reject RMI/EFI. (probably why the likes of Bel Canto uses ferrite chokes on the input and output wiring.) I had both the 500 ASP and 1000 ASP amps in my system and they didn't affect anything at all and were dead silent. The sound was simply superb.

I'm planning on getting these amps too, the 500S and the 250M for my fronts and center. Dennis said he could build a custom 3 channel at 250W/8ohms but it would actually cost more than the two separate amps.

Yeah, I'm going the same route with the 1000S stereo and 500M mono for my fronts and center in my plasma tv room. I don't know if it's worth it but for a few hundred dollars more you could go with all 1000ASP units. Never can tell when you might need more power in the future.

bump ..... any more news or feedback on these amps ?

I now have active-triamped speakers for L-C-R and just don't have the space to accommodate my big solid state amps.

I will soon be speaking with Dennis on maybe a custom 6x525 along with one of his "stock" 2500-7 ( 3x525 and 4x250 )

Now if he could stuff 9x525 in one box, maybe with 2 power cords, that would be a monster under one roof !

- Andy

Bump again.

Did you go this route?

D-sonic could probably stuff in as many modules as you need. Probably wouldn't fit in your rack! I noticed that the three channel 500wpc unit is up on the d-sonic.net website. My stereo / mono combo do the job just fine, though. When you talk to Dennis tell him he needs to get photos up there instead of the sketches he made so people can get an idea of what they really look like.

I emailed Dennis a few days ago and he said it would be six weeks before pictures would be up on the website.

I am in the process of selling off several of my SS amps.
Talked to Dennis a couple weeks ago and he can easily do 7x525 under one hood.

- Andy

Hmmm that's a lot of oomph. PS Audio does one for about $10k US and the power cord is optional..

Do all the amps discussed here meet FCC Part 15B?

the amp modules themselves do, I think (lit @ICEpower)

Why?