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In Reply to: pardon my ignorance posted by wazoo on March 28, 2008 at 05:30:42:
'ICE' means 'Intelligence, Compactness & Efficiency' and the output transistors are used as switches instead of linear amplifiers. Indeed, the high conversion efficiency of the technology is the main advantage discussed in the company literature. Whether ICEpower or switching amps in general can produce better sound than linear transistor amps is still open for debate. I've heard very good sound from both technologies, and in both cases the RF noise environments limit the ultimate sonic performance, rather than the amplifiers themselves.
Keep in mind that all amplifier techniques have drawbacks. Linear transistor amps suffer from internal modulation of the transistor capacitances by the signal. This means the bandwidth of a linear amplifier stage varies with the signal voltage. High bias reduces the magnitude of this effect by lowering the resistance in series with the varying capacitances. While the stage performance is improved by increasing the bias, the standby heat dissipation and power supply requirements are made more severe. Heat sinks are acoustically resonant and applying acoustic damping to them reduces their efficiency. Operating high-power linear amps in a typical listening room in the summer requires noisy air-conditioning (unless you have a specialized HVAC installation that would cost as much as a typical house).
Tube amps suffer from tube microphonics, which limit the resolution. Some tubes do this in a pleasing way, so they have their fans. The second-harmonic distortion argument is a red herring.
The chief performance limitation of a switching amp is the dark time required between the two switches' on periods. This can be expected to be reduced as the performance of the control circuitry is improved. As long as Moore's Law is in effect we can expect integrated circuit performance to improve, so I expect switching amps to eventually replace linear amps altogether.
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Follow Ups
- Bang & Olufsen ICEpower - Al Sekela 16:38:20 03/28/08 (5)
- thanks Al - nice reply - wazoo 17:44:22 03/28/08 (1)
- Thirty years is a long time. - Al Sekela 14:21:25 03/29/08 (0)
- I had "assumed" that ICE would stand for something exotic. "Internal - Duilawyer 17:07:14 03/28/08 (2)
- I use the Gilmore Raptor monoblock switching amps. - Al Sekela 14:11:36 03/29/08 (0)
- RE: I had "assumed" that ICE would stand for something exotic. "Internal - muralman1 17:59:09 03/28/08 (0)
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