Seymour AV Ice Block 5001 500watt Monoblock Amplifier Review

[admin]

It's not hard to see that I'm impressed with the Seymour AV Ice Block 5001 500watt Monoblock Amplifier. It has plenty of power, great aesthetics, and near perfect functionality. Most of all, they provide esoteric components, looks, and construction at near enthusiast prices. That alone should be a huge selling point for those with smaller wallets but refined tastes. Plus, you'll have an amp that is not only a show piece for the uninitiated but also sports all the "extras" that will impress your esoteric friends. What more could you ask for?

Discuss "Seymour AV Ice Block 5001 500watt Monoblock Amplifier Review" here. Read the article.

 

[Chopin_Guy]

I really liked these amps the first time I saw them here from the electronics expo preview. They certainly give the user great performance and an amp that is aesthetically pleasing enough to be on an open rack. However, I would have to say given the offerings from companies such as D-sonic and Wyred (mentioned in the review), their only advantage is in those aesthetics which is reflected in the higher price.

Nonetheless, very nice write up as there is very little information or impressions of these amps available up to this point...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm still thinking of what Gene said about how these amps cannot produce those powers Continuously (RMS).

So I assume they can only produce those rated powers Transiently?

 

[gene]

I'm still thinking of what Gene said about how these amps cannot produce those powers Continuously (RMS).

So I assume they can only produce those rated powers Transiently?

If you really want to compare apples to apples and measure continuous full power bandwidth of these amps vs linear amps and other Class Ds that don't power limit, than 500wpc ICE amps are about 50watts continuous with 10dB of headroom.

Of course I don't know of any linear 50wpc amps with 10dB of headroom so with real program material ICE will sound infinitely more powerful than a typical linear 50wpc amp.

 

[Jim Robbins]

Awesome review! I love the template with the blanks I can fill in with my favorite audio descriptions. I think you should get royalties for that for sure!

I have seen, heard, and used the SeymourAV amps as well. I love the way they look and would like to own some when I get the cash. They would be awesome in my 2 channel setup.

I am pretty sure the power cord has been changed, btw, to something much more flexible and usable. I liked the thick beast, but it was a bit unmanageable.

Now, if they would just make a pre-amp... *grin*

 

[tbergman]

Interesting, still way out of my price range but nice to see someone making a quality product right here in Ames, and I didn't even know about it.

 

[gene]

Ironically the Seymour Ice Amps seem to be about the best value in town of the bunch as you will see in an up and coming article called "Attack of the Clone Amplifiers" coming to a Home Theater Publication near you

 

[mtrycrafts]

If you really want to compare apples to apples and measure continuous full power bandwidth of these amps vs linear amps and other Class Ds that don't power limit, than 500wpc ICE amps are about 50watts continuous with 10dB of headroom.

Of course I don't know of any linear 50wpc amps with 10dB of headroom so with real program material ICE will sound infinitely more powerful than a typical linear 50wpc amp.

Then they should advertise them as such, no?

 

[engtaz]

Well done witty review. My favorite was the fill in the blank. To get a wife to understand is beyound words. LOL

 

[6kids&adog]

Tom,

I'm shocked! How could you forget to include, "air - in the upper octaves" in your list of fill-in-the-blank terms?

 

[Tom Andry]

I'm shocked! How could you forget to include, "air - in the upper octaves" in your list of fill-in-the-blank terms?

I'm telling you there is a audiophile thesaurus out there that all those guys use. One day I will get a hold of it and publish it for the masses. Then we can all have gold-foil embossed chocolate ears too.

 

[PaulF]

Ironically the Seymour Ice Amps seem to be about the best value in town of the bunch as you will see in an up and coming article called "Attack of the Clone Amplifiers" coming to a Home Theater Publication near you

Gene, great idea for an article. There seems to be an entire cottage industry built around stuffing ICEpower modules into shiny boxes with Neutrik connectors and charging a fortune for them. I would like to know what differentiates them all. Some claim custom changes -- high impedance front ends, bypass of input caps etc. Rotel claims to have worked with B&O to customize the control software.

I think some of these vendors have missed the point with class D. The reason I am looking at class D is because I need a reasonably sized, reasonably efficient 7 channel amp for my HT yet most focus on 500-1000W monoblocks. Who needs that? BTW, when I look at the ICEpower web site, nothing seems to suggest their amps are targeted towards high end, high-fidelity power applications but rather lower end integrated powered speakers and mobile sound!

 

[VladP]

Gene, great idea for an article. There seems to be an entire cottage industry built around stuffing ICEpower modules into shiny boxes with Neutrik connectors and charging a fortune for them. I would like to know what differentiates them all. Some claim custom changes -- high impedance front ends, bypass of input caps etc. Rotel claims to have worked with B&O to customize the control software.

I think some of these vendors have missed the point with class D. The reason I am looking at class D is because I need a reasonably sized, reasonably efficient 7 channel amp for my HT yet most focus on 500-1000W monoblocks. Who needs that? BTW, when I look at the ICEpower web site, nothing seems to suggest their amps are targeted towards high end, high-fidelity power applications but rather lower end integrated powered speakers and mobile sound!

From B&O website:
Standard ICEpower solutions

Our standard solutions are ready-for-installation audio power conversion modules created for a variety of applications:

* Music systems for consumer use (full-range active speakers, subwoofers, amplifiers),
* Installation and multimedia audio systems (in-wall / in-ceiling speakers),
* Home theatre amplifiers / receivers,
* Stereo or multi-channel amplifiers – high-end and high-power systems,
* Professional audio systems for touring, studio and installation use,
* Guitar and bass amplifiers,
* Powerful automotive and marine audio systems.

Application

The solutions in the ASP Series offer excellent sound quality to suit discerning high-end audio applications, as well as the ruggedness to endure life on the road in professional audio equipment. The high performance, compact size and excellent reliability of the ASP solutions make them of great value in:

* Active speakers for professional touring, studio and installation use;
* Stereo or multi-channel amplifiers: high-end and high-power systems;
* Active subwoofers with high power requirements for professional and consumer use.

We must be reading in different places. There are many places that point out to the HiEnd audio application at the B&O website, but if one does not want to see them...

There are also quite a few professional reviews as well all stating that these ICEPower-based amps compete well with high end power amps and are quite a bargain. Do a web search and you will find quite a few people comparing ICEPower amps with many respectable brands and many people preferred ICE power. Are these people all delusional?

It would be great if somebody did a comparison of all these ICEPower-based amps to see if the differences claimed between all these clones are real. It would be especially good if these comparisons were accompanied by actual measurements.

 

[VladP]

I'm telling you there is a audiophile thesaurus out there that all those guys use. One day I will get a hold of it and publish it for the masses. Then we can all have gold-foil embossed chocolate ears too.

I was wondering why no measurements were done on this amp. To me the main (if not the only) advantage of the audioholics reviews of audio equipment have always been measurements. I know they are using standard ICEPower modules but an independent measurements are always helpful (and the measurements done before on the Pioneer ICE amp were of a different and modified module anyway).

 

[PaulF]

We must be reading in different places. There are many places that point out to the HiEnd audio application at the B&O website, but if one does not want to see them...

There are also quite a few professional reviews as well all stating that these ICEPower-based amps compete well with high end power amps and are quite a bargain. Do a web search and you will find quite a few people comparing ICEPower amps with many respectable brands and many people preferred ICE power. Are these people all delusional?

We are reading the same thing, I'm just interpreting it differently. Look at the list of bullets you copied from their web site, they tag on "high-end" like a throw away line in a long list of applications. I doubt that any serious high-end consumer audio company would position their reference monoblock amps in the same vein as professional (commercial) amps, back-ends for integrated in-wall speakers or guitar amps! B&O positions their modules as catch all.

Over the last 4-5 years I have researched almost every known class D amp/module that exists. I have heard the ICE amps in the Rotel 10 and 15 series amps and the Pioneer SC receiver series. They are OK but certainly not class A/B killers. But my point is this: when someone like Wyred, D-Sonic, Red Dragon, Bel Canto or Seymour take the same module and put it into a fancy box, what makes it different? Most claim to have modified the original ICE amp to improve it's sonic performance. I would like to know what they have done and see the comparative results of the differences. Seems like everyone has a secret sauce for improving B&O's amps, you think B&O would have figured it out themselves by now.

 

[VladP]

We are reading the same thing, I'm just interpreting it differently. Look at the list of bullets you copied from their web site, they tag on "high-end" like a throw away line in a long list of applications. I doubt that any serious high-end consumer audio company would position their reference monoblock amps in the same vein as professional (commercial) amps, back-ends for integrated in-wall speakers or guitar amps! B&O positions their modules as catch all.

Over the last 4-5 years I have researched almost every known class D amp/module that exists. I have heard the ICE amps in the Rotel 10 and 15 series amps and the Pioneer SC receiver series. They are OK but certainly not class A/B killers. But my point is this: when someone like Wyred, D-Sonic, Red Dragon, Bel Canto or Seymour take the same module and put it into a fancy box, what makes it different? Most claim to have modified the original ICE amp to improve it's sonic performance. I would like to know what they have done and see the comparative results of the differences. Seems like everyone has a secret sauce for improving B&O's amps, you think B&O would have figured it out themselves by now.

I don't agree that they just tagged "hi end" - it is just that their amps do have quite a broad application list - what's wrong with that?

Serious high end companies - how about Jeff Rowland or BelCanto for starters? I understand that you don't regard Rotel as a high end company but they use ICE technology all the time.

I have researched all these amps as well and I ended up getting Wyred 4 sound for my B&W802D and I am quite happy with them. I think my speakers sound as good as I have heard them in various stores powered by Classe or Mcintosh. I am not sure why we should talk about them as class A/B killers but IMHO they are very competitive sound wise in their price range and they don't seem to be worse by any means. But there are other benefits over class A/B they offer - light weight and lower power consumption.

I do totally agree with you in that I'd like to know whether all these modifications made by various small companies make any audible differences. I would especially like to compare measurements of all of these clones.

 

[PaulF]

Agreed on the benefits, especially as it relates to a full 7-channel HT system. I too am looking for an amp to power the 802Ds that I will pair with it.

 

[gene]

We are reading the same thing, I'm just interpreting it differently. Look at the list of bullets you copied from their web site, they tag on "high-end" like a throw away line in a long list of applications. I doubt that any serious high-end consumer audio company would position their reference monoblock amps in the same vein as professional (commercial) amps, back-ends for integrated in-wall speakers or guitar amps! B&O positions their modules as catch all.

Over the last 4-5 years I have researched almost every known class D amp/module that exists. I have heard the ICE amps in the Rotel 10 and 15 series amps and the Pioneer SC receiver series. They are OK but certainly not class A/B killers. But my point is this: when someone like Wyred, D-Sonic, Red Dragon, Bel Canto or Seymour take the same module and put it into a fancy box, what makes it different? Most claim to have modified the original ICE amp to improve it's sonic performance. I would like to know what they have done and see the comparative results of the differences. Seems like everyone has a secret sauce for improving B&O's amps, you think B&O would have figured it out themselves by now.

Paul;

Wait till you see the article I am posting on Monday "Attack of the Clone Amplifiers". IT addresses your post exactly. There is very little that can be done to the ICE amp to improve upon it short of redoing the entire power supply which to date nobody has done b/c its so much easier to just slap a fancy box around it and sell a high end name. Stay tuned...

 

[PaulF]

Gene, I look forward to it. Hopefully you will debunk some myths.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I look forward to the part where it says, "the so-called 500-watts modules actually produces 50 watts continuous RMS power 20Hz-20kHz with about a 10dB Headroom."

I don't know guys. If an amp (any amp) produces 50-watts continuous RMS power, then it should be called a 50-Watt amp, not 500-watts!