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Post by gsand on Jul 26, 2018 19:52:56 GMT -5
I wonder what flavor of class D they are using I just picked up the latest gen of Ice 1200AS2 and yes its 1200W into 4ohm It was so clean and powerful that I sold my XPR-1's I took the same path. Congrats and enjoy. It’s a good feeling no longer being worried about owning the boat anchors when they go tits up and Emotiva can’t or won’t fix them after the warranty period is up. Agreed, that's exactly why I also sold my XPR-1's |
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Post by brutiarti on Jul 26, 2018 21:29:12 GMT -5
I wonder what flavor of class D they are using I just picked up the latest gen of Ice 1200AS2 and yes its 1200W into 4ohm It was so clean and powerful that I sold my XPR-1's I took the same path. Congrats and enjoy. It’s a good feeling no longer being worried about owning the boat anchors when they go tits up and Emotiva can’t or won’t fix them after the warranty period is up. Same here. After I had to send my Erc-2 three times back to TN for repair, I got nervous as well. |
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Post by sandbagger on Jul 26, 2018 22:07:39 GMT -5
I wonder what flavor of class D they are using I just picked up the latest gen of Ice 1200AS2 and yes its 1200W into 4ohm It was so clean and powerful that I sold my XPR-1's I took the same path. Congrats and enjoy. It’s a good feeling no longer being worried about owning the boat anchors when they go tits up and Emotiva can’t or won’t fix them after the warranty period is up. There was no worry about quality or longevity of the XPR's they are bullet proof. Having heard the improvments of D over the last 10 or so years and finally thinking I could live with some NCores(big ones) I had been looking for a pair, then the new Ice tech came out and jumped all over it at the price it was initially offered. I kept both in the system for a few months and was not missing much if anything in my system. I do wished I had kept the XPR's for another 2 weeks as I finally found a pair of Apogee Duetta II's that replaced the MLogans.... |
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Post by brutiarti on Jul 27, 2018 7:55:40 GMT -5
I took the same path. Congrats and enjoy. It’s a good feeling no longer being worried about owning the boat anchors when they go tits up and Emotiva can’t or won’t fix them after the warranty period is up. There was no worry about quality or longevity of the XPR's they are bullet proof. I had to send one Xpr-1 for repair because the power button would not work. I'm not sure about being bulletproof in the long term |
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Post by sandbagger on Jul 27, 2018 8:59:36 GMT -5
There was no worry about quality or longevity of the XPR's they are bullet proof. I had to send one Xpr-1 for repair because the power button would not work. I'm not sure about being bulletproof in the long term I am sure that is the same button they use on most of their stuff, every now and then your going to have a problem but ..... you should have been using the remote trigger anyway  |
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Post by chicagorspec on Jul 27, 2018 9:36:59 GMT -5
Experience taught me Emotiva and bulletproof have no business in the same sentence.
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Post by rbk123 on Jul 27, 2018 10:05:17 GMT -5
I wonder what flavor of class D they are using I just picked up the latest gen of Ice 1200AS2 and yes its 1200W into 4ohm It was so clean and powerful that I sold my XPR-1's I took the same path. Congrats and enjoy. It’s a good feeling no longer being worried about owning the boat anchors when they go tits up and Emotiva can’t or won’t fix them after the warranty period is up. Very impressive if you both found the Class D to surpass the XPR's in sound. Slightly less, but still quite impressive if you found them to be equal in sound. |
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Post by foggy1956 on Jul 27, 2018 11:01:40 GMT -5
I wonder what flavor of class D they are using I just picked up the latest gen of Ice 1200AS2 and yes its 1200W into 4ohm It was so clean and powerful that I sold my XPR-1's Can't find a viable link for the ice modules, any suggestions? |
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Post by chicagorspec on Jul 27, 2018 11:36:37 GMT -5
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Post by chicagorspec on Jul 27, 2018 11:38:04 GMT -5
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Post by leonski on Jul 27, 2018 12:58:22 GMT -5
Going thru the specs for the '1200 watt' module, you'll see they have severe thermal shutdown limits of UNDER 300 watts. And a time limit is specified as well.
ALL ICE Modules have this same characteristic. ALL are time limited at some power much lower than the module rating, which to ME is a red-herring number.
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Post by chicagorspec on Jul 27, 2018 14:26:53 GMT -5
Whatever. Mine have never shut down one moment playing music, while my last Emotiva amp shut down four times to the point of needing to travel back to Franklin.
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Post by teaman on Jul 27, 2018 14:42:05 GMT -5
How do the IcePower amps compare to the Bryston? |
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Post by chicagorspec on Jul 27, 2018 15:34:59 GMT -5
How do the IcePower amps compare to the Bryston? Haven’t really compared yet. 1200AS2 are just running the woofers, which they seem rather adept at, as I would expect since they are next-gen and more powerful than what the speakers are normally built with internally. I’m having my deck redone and a screened porch (my wife’s lifelong dream she’d tell you I’ve denied her until now) put on the house, so the basement door is open as much as it’s closed with the guys going in and out for tools all day. With the A/C off and the audio room over 80 degrees, I’m going exclusively Class D for the next few weeks. Those Bryston are nice to have running over the winter, but not so much right now, LOL! |
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Post by boomzilla on Jul 27, 2018 16:19:51 GMT -5
Class D is the future, and some implementations sound as good now (if the likes of klinemj are to believed, and I think he is) as previous technologies. But there's still a lot of SERIOUSLY inferior class D stuff floating around (Crown XLS amps, anyone? At least anyone other than Andrew Jones...). I think it's fair to say that Class D is still in its technological infancy. Some few implementations have had gifted designers do their voicing, but the vast majority of Class D stuff STILL sounds like dreck. So why do I think that Class D is the future? Because it's cheaper to manufacture - period. This translates into higher profits for manufacturers that no longer need to spend money on beefy transformers, expensive power supply capacitors, and complicated circuitry demanding high-quality parts. After all, if the manufacturers can produce the same specs for less money and at greater profit, then to hell with how it sounds! That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!  |
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Post by chicagorspec on Jul 27, 2018 17:23:27 GMT -5
Agreed on all counts, Boom, with the exception of cost being the only driver. While that may well be the most significant, I think the light weights and especially small footprints, as relates today’s ever-smaller living spaces, are and will continue to be important drivers to bringing listeners newly into the Class D fold.
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Post by craigl59 on Jul 27, 2018 17:39:41 GMT -5
Last year purchased Nord's Stereo UP class D amp from Colin in England This was getting rave reviews and I was hoping for the maturity of the technology.
At first, the amp sounded like my $300 Yamaha receiver. Then I switched opamps and it sounded a bit better. After a week the left channel blew and it was sent back to Colin who graciously refunded the purchase price.
Then went back to my XPA-1L monoblocks and was floored by the improvement in sound. There was no comparison. Have just now upgraded to the XPA-1s and they blow away any class D I have heard.
Maybe there are some Class D amps out there that are comparable to better class A and A/B amps but I haven't heard them and haven't heard anyone claim so on the web. I do know of 4 cases in which audiophiles have reported similar stories to mine above and have shifted to another amp type.
Am waiting for someone to describe the new PA-1's audio quality and hope it surprises us with excellence. Think, however, as both previous posts are suggesting, that Class D is for practical reasons similar to the sunsetting of Plasma TVs and replacement by inferior LED ones.
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Post by chicagorspec on Jul 27, 2018 17:57:51 GMT -5
Interesting story. Glad to hear you are happy with the XPA-1s. I recently had a pair of Nord One Up monoblocks, and as I bought them used am glad I didn’t have your experience! I was also unmoved and sold them down the road. I have not listened to the Nords (Hypex nCore) and the ICE1200AS2s on the same speakers due to timing of what was in the house when, but am quite happy with the ICE amps thus far, moreso than I ever was with the Nords. Clearly as Boom suggests in referencing Crown, all Class D executions are not identical!
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Post by leonski on Jul 27, 2018 18:25:15 GMT -5
Last year purchased Nord's Stereo UP class D amp from Colin in England This was getting rave reviews and I was hoping for the maturity of the technology. At first, the amp sounded like my $300 Yamaha receiver. Then I switched opamps and it sounded a bit better. After a week the left channel blew and it was sent back to Colin who graciously refunded the purchase price. Then went back to my XPA-1L monoblocks and was floored by the improvement in sound. There was no comparison. Have just now upgraded to the XPA-1s and they blow away any class D I have heard. Maybe there are some Class D amps out there that are comparable to better class A and A/B amps but I haven't heard them and haven't heard anyone claim so on the web. I do know of 4 cases in which audiophiles have reported similar stories to mine above and have shifted to another amp type. Am waiting for someone to describe the new PA-1's audio quality and hope it surprises us with excellence. Think, however, as both previous posts are suggesting, that Class D is for practical reasons similar to the sunsetting of Plasma TVs and replacement by inferior LED ones. And eventually replacement by the Vastly Superior OLED technology. 'D' amps are all still bridged or half-bridge types with switching PS. Over at Hypex, for the nCore, Bruno really believes in LOTS of feedback. A LOT. What kind of amp was the Nord? Hypex? ICE? Proprietary? Apparently they use BOTH! The Hypex stuff gets very good press and users seem to stick with it. When I owned an ICE based integrated, it was an ASP module which inclued the PS onboard. But after all was said and done? It left me unsatisfied, especially in the highs where I noted some picket-fencing (comb filtering?) and phasiness. While the new stuff IS 'new', I rather doubt it's 'better'. Most of the same limits exist. I'd suspect the new PA-1 amps to be much like all OTHER ICE Amps in sound character. Does EMO use an ASC or ASX module? Sometimes a buffer before the amp can make a difference. My PSAudio integrated used the 'Gain Cell' from that company to provide switching, gain control, another set of outputs and some balanced connectivity. |
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Post by brutiarti on Jul 27, 2018 19:12:19 GMT -5
I had to send one Xpr-1 for repair because the power button would not work. I'm not sure about being bulletproof in the long term I am sure that is the same button they use on most of their stuff, every now and then your going to have a problem but ..... you should have been using the remote trigger anyway No they don’t. They use a complicated microprocessor (i was told by the tech). I used the trigger that’s why I didn’t notice that the front panel wasn’t working. |
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