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The 65 million dollar question of course is, could one achieve these exact results with a 'conventional' non-modulator amplifier like a Pass Labs, Krell, Classé, Bryston or Levinson? This is where I'm patently the wrong guy to ask. Hence the blue ink pot for my awards is locked away today. I simply don't have enough of a solid grasp on the high-power transistor amp scene to know what might compete fair and square with the H2O amps. Sorry - wrong stripes. However, I can tell you how Henry's amp compared to the wooden and stainless steel JJAZ ICEpower amps previously introduced in these pages. Let's trade a New Mexican't for a New Mexican proposition and move right along.

Moving right along: If you're a maximum-contact good-pressure audiophile like yours truly, the idiotic inaccessibility of the spade slots on the wooden monos is inexcusable and the US distributor's solution of adaptors a well-meaning but still mickey-mouse solution (or pippifax as us Germans say). The inexplicable absence of single-ended inputs likewise is a massive oversight that shrinks market share because of it. What were they thinking? The wooden option is very attractive but the execution isn't fully thought through. The solution will be obvious to anyone staring at the above photo in disbelief. But enough of that. Just like the H2O ICEpower amps, these ultra high-power 1000-watt into 4-ohm monsters are dead quiet, to the extent that the absence of a power light and sticking your ears right into your transducers generates zero visual or audible feedback that the amps are, indeed, powered up. Fascinating and most impressive.

Right off the bat, I was clearly in the same aural neighborhood. Still, there were changes. The most obvious -- power corrupts, does it -- was in the bass. Where the H2O seemed fully balanced, the 1000 ASP-based amps lifted the LF floor by a few additional dB, this especially noteworthy on the Kamasutra track which -- I kid you not and at pretty happy levels -- now assumed truly orgiastic proportions to help visualize the bacchanalian action that accompanies this track in the movie. In addition to even greater mass and sock, these amplifiers definitely honed low-frequency transients to a more incisive edge, not quite 'robotic alien sex' territory but revealing first glimpses thereof. I'll gladly confess to how much fun this was on this type of material. And, I'll tell you in the same breath that something about it felt simultaneously a bit assaultive. Needless to say, these effects were maximized at higher volumes and on material containing very serious infrasonic information though even the drums and electric bass on "What will come of this" [Vaya Con Dios] were slightly exaggerated. Nonetheless, it suggested clearly that these modules are capable of intense and instantaneous (very fast) current delivery and ultra-low LF distortion. Subwoofer amps, anybody? The flip side of this equation is a nearly unnatural bass potency. Of course, this could have been purely a function of feeding the Gallos more power than they really required. There is such a thing as overkill after all.
Like Henry Ho's amps, the wooden monos had distinctly more harmonic substance than the Tripath variants I'm familiar with. There is nothing whitish or lean about the Danish sound though it is cooler than valves and not deliberately saturated. If most solid-state diminishes harmonic density and tubes emphasize it, this class of amps seems to more or less walk the middle. Depending on whether you approach them from one or the other pole, this would seem to either increase or decrease this quality. The H2Os had the advantage in tonal body which required playing material with little bass to affirm. That avoided diluting this inquiry with the psychoacoustic perception of increased weight across the range that comes from simply increasing low-bass presence.


Female vocals to the rescue by way of Fado diva Cristina Branco [Post-Scriptum, l'empreinte digitale 13131]. Even here, the acoustic bass guitar via JJAZ seemed slightly louder than entirely realistic but focusing on the solo Portuguese guitar and Cristina's voice, the traditional power supply was clearly warmer and fuller than the switch-mode version. One observation I don't want to put undue weight on is the appearance of a certain inner-ear pressure (not ringing really but a tactile sense of pressure) that occurred whenever the JJAZ monos played even at the very beginning of a listening session, something that never once transpired with the H2Os. What did it mean? Subliminal artifacts of ultrasonic switching not properly filtered? I have no idea but it's something that happened consistently and thus had to mean something.


In fact, I could switch to the M250s right afterwards and have this sensation disappear. Peculiar. The H20s were clearly sweeter sounding and timbrally more developed and the bass balance was more appropriate in the overall context. Incidentally, the wooden monos I had for review had undergone some minor modifications at the hand of the US importer, Wayne Waananen of Bolder Cables: "With permission from Mr. Jensen, I replaced all the internal wiring. The mono-blocks now have cryo-treated, solid core 99.9995% 19-awg silver for input wiring. I replaced the AC wiring with my Nitro AC cable. The speaker output wire is now 12 awg." These minor changes in fact reflect the only opportunities to tweak the ASP Series modules unless you started to modify the actual boards. We're simply talking about the flying leads from the board to the input and output terminals. That, the chassis chosen, whether RCAs and XRLs (or one or the other) are provided and of what make and model, what color power LED and what footers come with the package - those are likely the only items that will distinguish different commercial ICEpower offerings unless one pursued Henry Ho's path (to build one's very own power supply) or Jeff Rowland's (which includes input transformers along with other customizations). Add brand cachet and its subjective worth relative to what retails seem commensurate. We might be seeing the birth of countless repackaged ICEpower amps spanning the fiscal gamut. Acoustic Reality's already doing it. Electronic Visionary Systems is planning on it, albeit with more significant performance modifications. In the case of JJAZ, the solid Patauk casings are custom and require 3-week lead times while the stainless steel enclosures are standard for both 500w and 1000w modules in either stereo or mono configurations.


Conclusion
Compared to current commercial Tripath offerings, already the stock ICEpower modules used in the JJAZ amplifiers represent a clear advance in this class of devices. The most important forward step is added harmonic body which reduces the somewhat distant mien that otherwise can accompany extreme resolution and transparency. Speed is exceptional and noise floors, for all intents and purposes, have disappeared altogether. The monikor ICEpower is very clever as it simultaneously hints at huge power reserves and ultra-modest operational temperatures. But the concurrent suggestion of a cold sound is patently wrong - this is a warmer and fuller sound than Tripath. (I have not yet heard Red Wine Audio's battery-powered micro-power Tripath amp which Michael Lavorgna just received. This statement might thus have to exclude that particular implementation. Since Michael is a serious tube man himself, we shall learn soon.)


ICEpower transient bass attack, extension and articulation down low can approach actual hyper realism when the power output far exceeds the chosen speakers' true needs. This suggests that this topology could be a true god-sent for those with challenging low-impedance and/or inefficient bestial loads. The JJAZ IP205 stereo amp -- same power as the M250s, half the money -- was less guilty of the hyped leading-edge formation in the bass than its more muscular siblings but this specific signature remained somewhat recognizable. H2O's variation on the theme here introduces -- for lack of a better word -- a more human element. For pleasure listening, I'd invariable return to the M250 monos over either of the JJAZ siblings. The H2O is softer, warmer and more relaxed yet sacrifices none of the astonishing resolution of the Danish offerings but appropriately tones down their über-bass behavior and unravels the innate tension that behavior injects. It also adds timbral heft especially in the all-important midrange. This was true compared to both the mono and stereo JJAZ amps. On a flip side, both offer comprehensive short-circuit protection. The H2O monos do not. It's a feature lacking with the A-Series modules and could become an understandable deal breaker for some.


To run in the JJAZ amps, I had originally parked them in our video system. That sits us at a greater distance than my 2-channel rig. A greater farfield perspective and consuming movie soundtrax with their potent visual distractions had me initially focus on the indisputable strengths of the stock ICEpower modules - the enhanced body and fullness of dialogue over the eVo4, the testicular drop of bass extension, slam and sheer mass that accompanied the usual movie bombast.

Once installed in my customary music system, certain shadows arose. I partially blame those on having had more power than necessary. I partially suspect that something about the JJAZ implementation doesn't optimally shield the signal path from switch-mode noise artifacts. I won't be able to satisfy this suspicion until I come across another ASP 1000-based amplifier which, as luck would have it, seems just around the corner. The getting-to-know-you enthusiasm of my JJAZ introduction has been tempered a bit by prolonged exposure. Some of the bloom has come off the rose. Think "great promise, great potential but at least in essentially unmodified form as packaged here, not entirely free of criticisms - yet". But let's maintain perspective. Considering how ICEpower pulls clearly ahead of Tripath, the appearance of a 250/500wpc into 8/4 stereo amp for $2,600 is wonderful news. A flip side here? The availability of the Acoustic Reality eAR 501, the same ICEpower module as mono block and with switchable XLR/RCA inputs - for $699/ea. before shipping and customs duties direct from Denmark.
XLR/RCA adapters by Cardas Audio (included with JJAZ amps)


I let you do the math but also remember that Bolder Cables as the US importer for JJAZ offers domestic support that doesn't require transatlantic two-way ship charges in case you require service. It's not all about price. But clearly and already at this early a stage, the inherent competitiveness of capitalism has recognized a good thing and responded rapdily. More is bound to unfold shortly. Interesting times - and good news for the shopper of high-performance, high-power amplifiers that are, apparently, stable into some truly punishing loads previously manageable only by brute-force and very expensive designs.


To close the circle and return to my opening statement about stripes, spots and tubes, my personal exploration into high-power solid-state amps which a tube fool like yours truly could love has netted its first rock-solid candidate: the H2O M250 Signatures. To these ears, they are an unqualified slam dunk. Taking their designer's word that they drive his infamous Apogee Scintillas to perfection, monster brawn here doesn't translate into audible monster behavior. Herculean strength only asserts itself when the occasion warrants and then not in the experience but below it as facilitator. This experience isn't better than tubes. Neither is it not as good. It is a parallel experience with significant overlap in -- get this -- the vocal range. Liquidity without texture. In toto, it's a presentation that stands fully on its own, makes absolutely no excuses and liberates even a tube fanatic from constantly looking over his shoulder. Small chip weds Goliath power supply and they live happily ever after? You may not believe it as yet but I do. This fairy tale is as true as they come. Bravo, Henry Ho! The JJAZ amplifiers -- especially the smaller stereo version -- follow just a little further down the road for half the bread. Interesting times indeed.
H2O Audio website
JJAZ website
JJAZ US distributor website