Digital Amp's

If you want a polite sound get a class A amp. If your liking is more towards "real" get the ICE powered H2O Signature.

You can't judge ICE amps one any one you've heard. I've owned two, and heard three. It's hard to believe they all share the same PWM module.

PWM amps are more system dependent than any solid state I've owned. They love big power supplies in all attending components, and they want shielded power cords.

I'm having my DAC and transport modded. Every subtle improvement matters, one would never hear with any solid state IMO.

Faziod, There are people, including I, who have heard the H2O, and very fine
Class A amps, on the same system. None preferred the Class A. BTW, No H2O
has gone to anyone for a mod, other than the builder.

My Pass had zero feedback. These days, zero feedback is not an unusual thing. In fact, there are "digital" amps that employ zero feedback.

Understood. No worry, we are all preened. :)

Ecclectique, If I were the only person singing the praise of the H2O, then the my outrageous speakers would be central to the H2O's relevance in use with normal systems. There are H2O amps powering a wide range of speakers now.

As much as I like class A amps, I love tubes more. To many, tubes beat class A when it comes to airiness, and depth. One only has to read 6Moons, and Audiofankj's reviews to see how H2O stacks up against tube amps. In both instances, the H2O has usurped their beloved valve gear.

As I mentioned, the H2O bares little resemblance to other ICE amps. It stands alone, with it's loaded analog power supply.

Hello Audiofankj.

I think I would have been careful to say the amp in my hands have blown the competition away in my system. Even though I never said that. :)

I don't think I stated on this thread, my speakers are the 1ohm Scintilla. On general discussions like this, I am leaning on the more normal systems of yourself, and of Strajan, the reviewer of 6Moons. Systems I figure readers can identify with more.

Frankly, I think it is a feather in Henry's (H2O) hat, that it performs so well on the most difficult speaker load devised.

I had moved from all tubes to tubes and solid state when I switched my Apogee Stage speakers to larger Apogee Duetta speakers. They are both nominal 4 ohms, but there's a lot more panel to drive. I tried the Pass X150, and liked the results. There was a nagging high frequency beam I never was able to rid of. At the time, it was my best system sound.

In anticipation of getting the Scintilla, I bought Pass Labs X600 monos. On the Duetta, it was more dynamic, and warmer than the X150. At least one listener liked the X150 better.

The Scintilla is not just another Apogee. It is a partial bipole. It's presentation is simply music in the room. Any amp that can push the 1 ohm Scintilla is wonderful, in my book. Never mind one Pass mono had heat stroke a number of times. The sound was bold, and dynamic. The bass was fugitive, however. The sound was the best I'd heard in my home.

A fellow Apogee owner mentioned that he had heard the little known Acoustic Reality eAR amp on his Scintillas, and it was great. I couldn't see why. The Pass's noise level, and distortion stats are way better than that of the eAR.

I gave it a try. He was right. The diminutive eAR gave up on some depth and wall of sound, but with the help of a big gulp preamp, it lifted a heavy veil I didn't know was there. It also gave the bass voice. It was the best I'd heard in my home.

Enter Henry Ho, builder of class A amps with enormous reserves. I asked Henry if he'd try the ICE module, in an amp of his device. He did, and loved it. Several months later I got my H2O Signatures.

The H2O has a power supply that would do a class A amp proud. Henry said, with the ICE module, "The highs are very hard to get right." Get it right he did. The whole of the spectrum sounds quite natural. With it's big analog power supply the H2O improves on the eAR. It gains in bass authority, depth, slam, naturalness, and weight.

I never have written a review of my amps. When I got them, they were the only Signatures around. I wasn't even sure if they were going into production. There are great reviews out there now. I'm willing to answer questions, or provide more details.

Eldartford,

Look at the H2O review at 6Moons. In it, Stajan compares the H2O Sig to the nicely packaged Jjaz. The 1000ASP has been popping up in, "High end" amps since it's introduction. They all share pretty much the same sound. Henry, of H2O has tried coaxing a good sound out of the 1000 ASP with no success. For great sound, there is just no substitute for a strong analog power supply. Like the review, points out, 1000ASP amps do sound good, just not on level with the H2O.