Amp with a hard,clean and cold sound...

I owned a Bryston 4B SST and 14B SST, and both had harsh top ends in my system.

Frankly, I believe you are describing the sound of Channel Island D200 amps.

Interestingly, the CI Audio D200 and H2O amps are similar in their designs in that both utilize toroidal transformers rather than SMPS.

06-14-06: Plato
Tvad, you keep referring to toroidal vs. SMPS power supplies as if this was a significant point of some sort.

Frank, I'm not sure how to take your comment, so let me be precise in why I posted that. It was simply because I found it interesting that both the CI Audio D200 and H2O amplifiers were recommended as filling Grisselham's requirements, and I found it coincidental that they both have toroids.

Having heard several digital amps, and NuForce amps, I prefer those with toroidal power supplies.

I meant nothing more significant than that, and I don't have a clue from a technical perspective how a toroidal power supply is better or worse than a SMPS, or how it affects the sound of an amplifier. I just happen to prefer the sound of the CI Audio digital amps that have toroidal power supplies.

I hope this clears things up. I certainly wasn't looking for a fight.