ICE Amps for classical music?

When it comes to peaks in classical orchestral music, the term peak is actually a misnomer. Classical music has sustained passages of high complexity which can be particularly heavy in the lower frequencies. This can place an incredible demand on power requirements for a sustained period of time. I have much music that has 'crescendos' that last minutes, not seconds. With insufficient power, those protacted moments when the entire orchestra is playing together at full-tilt can sound strained and muddy. High power is a requirement here, although power by itself does not guarantee excellent reproduction and musicality.

My speakers are not inefficient at 90 db into 4 ohms. However, I am readily drawing 500+ watts of power when listening to the final movement of Mahler #6 at a spirited volume. This movement is huge with prominent double-basses, cellos, and brass, all playing together. With that amount of power, it remains sweet and clear, with no collapse of the stage and no strain.

So, back to the OPs original question. While ICE amps are a tremendous value and can pack a punch in the power department, are they able to make beautiful music? That is, do they have the depth, warmth, flow, naturalness, transparency, and beauty of live acoustic music? There are many amps that make an impressive sound. I would suggest there are very few amps that accomplish the OPs original intent.

I know what people are going to say. I suspect to approach this goal, you will need to mate your ICE amp with am excellent and costly tubed preamp. There is no way around this. Perhaps people with direct experience can be more direct as to how to get there.

On another note, I now find that reproduced orchestral music sounds great at low levels and at concert levels. I am also finding that it sounds awesome at very loud levels. Playing orchestral music louder than it should be played, and finding that it sounds absolutely wonderful, is an unusual treat in audio. Most stereos at high levels will have a soundstage that falls apart and moves too far forward, with peaks that are harsh and fatiguing. It is possible to put something together that is musical and accurate when loud.

I may know what happened with the Weseixas shoot-out. This is far-fetched, but maybe he just did not like the Bel Canto amplifier? It seems at least plausible.