Help! Please critique my HT system so I can pull the trigger!

[AdrianMills]

I think it will work fine.

Oh yes, I'm sure it'll work but the question is, in an objective test (blind, double blind, ABX, whatever) would I hear the difference between a 1000ASP module and an A/B class amp with a more linear response? How big do small differences in high frequency linearity really need to be before they make an audible difference?

I must admit 1000Wpc really is very compelling (although that’s more of a psychological comforter than a real requirement of a home system) but only if it sounds as good as 200W.

 

[silversurfer]

Maybe get your hearing tested first to find out what kind of of high frequency extension you can hear.

Or if you want to go with ICEpower, get an amp built around 500ASP. I agree with you though, knowing that you have A LOT of power on hand is a nice psychological piece of candy.

 

[AdrianMills]

Maybe get your hearing tested first to find out what kind of of high frequency extension you can hear.

I've been thinking of getting a hearing test just out of curiosity for a while now - I've always thought that I've good hearing but we all know that sometimes "thought" and reality don't necessarily match up.

That won't help in this case though as it won't test how much of a sound difference I'll be able to hear with a 0.1dB drop at 5kHz. It won’t be a loudness difference of course but there has to be some reason why amps are supposed to be level matched to 0.1 dB for ABX testing…

Or if you want to go with ICEpower, get an amp built around 500ASP. I agree with you though, knowing that you have A LOT of power on hand is a nice psychological piece of candy.

A friend pointed me in the direction of a Norwegian company called Midgard Audio that has started producing IcePower amps - much nicer looking than the Beast too.
A friend told me they cost 14,000 NOK for 2 1000ASP monoblock amps - that's about 500 US$ more than the equivalent Beasts here but you may get them a LOT cheaper because of the taxes which are higher than Danish taxes. I can't find the price on their site though.

OBERON X.1

My Norwegian friend also did some trawling of the Norwegian forums and came back with this;
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"Rumors has it that Bertram and AR is using hi quaity conventional PS in theirs while others use switched PS. Many of the users recommend switced PS cause it filters noise better and are shortcircut-safe, but some say that conv. PS sounds better !?!?!?
Some also claim that many of these ICE amps sounds a bit "unmusical"
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He didn’t mention finding any general negatives of Sørens amps.

Damn but those Midgard amps look too cool though.

 

[silversurfer]

I know Bertram's Beast amps use the ASP modules and their built-in SMPS. So there is no conventional PS. For the "A" modules the builder does have to include a PS of some kind.

Nice find on the Midgard. I might have to investigate. I am not worried about asthetics as much though. I wonder if I could buy directly from Midgard and not have go through a dealer.

 

[AdrianMills]

I know Bertram's Beast amps use the ASP modules and their built-in SMPS. So there is no conventional PS. For the "A" modules the builder does have to include a PS of some kind.

Nice find on the Midgard. I might have to investigate. I am not worried about asthetics as much though. I wonder if I could buy directly from Midgard and not have go through a dealer.

I'm not sure - there's little info on their site - even less than Bertram's! I'm thinking of sending them a mail to find out the details but only out of curiosity - I've decided to take a step back for a while as I'm getting carried away by the desire as opposed to the need; I almost pulled the trigger on 2 of Bertram's monoblocks without doing any research and then found the Midgard guys, so who knows what else is out there.

I've also checked out the freq response on my speakers and of course they are far from ruler flat so my guess is that the small higher end drop in these 1000ASP modules will be inaudible especially with Audessey EQ adding to the mix.

I hope you post on any purchase - I'd be very interested to hear your opinion.