Opinions on Wyred 4 Sound ICE amps

Hello Mcondon,

"Personally, I ended up buying a W4S amp based on a reassurance from Rick Cullen that their amps sound a lot better than Bel Canto's Class D amps.."

Its unethical behaivor.... IMO

".... my impressions at Audio Exchange and in my own system were the same and left me unimpressed with W4S and Class D generally. YMMV, of course "

From one extreme to another. Firstly, you auditioned only amps based on mass production ICE-power module, The best amp based on such output stage is Jeff Rowland 312.

Secondly, when you will audition Spectron, Mark Levinson(No53), Kharma, Weiss and few other first class switching amplifiers then and only then you can make some generalized comment.

Brrrrrrrrrrr...

Dob,

The person who started this thread asked about the Wyred 4 Sound amps, not about Spectron, Mark Levinson, Kharma, or Weiss switching amplifiers. I owned a Wyred 4 Sound amp, so felt I could offer first-hand impressions.

The amps you mention may sound terrific, although I suspect are considerably more expensive than Wyred 4 Sound amps and are not on the radar screen of the person who started this thread.

But since I have not heard the amps you referred to, my generalization about Class D amps was unwarranted.

I need an amp for my dad's old speaker (german brand, the enclosure is made from stone, can't remember the name, 87 db).

I found a second hand W4S MC4x250 for a good price, and tempted to give it a try.

I own Threshold SA1 and 10E monoblocks, do you guys think MC4 is comparable/better than the 20 yearsold Thresholds?

Seems though, as most class D amps is leaner in the lower mid, upper bass. Might be, that some speakers suits better and some worse.

These are the best buy in Class D generally to match to tube pre-amps.

They are highly damped and sound best with speakers that benefit from this and a lot of power and current

ALso, the small physical size and light weight makes these very practical for many to use rather than big, heavy monster amps that may be required otherwise.

In these scenarios, they are hard to beat.

Otherwise, YMMV more and other amps are more competitive practically.