Hypex vs. ICEPower vs. Tripath Compare and Contrast

[stokessd]

I have been fiddling with Tripath based amps for a couple years, and while they do some things really well, there is a nagging harshness or something similar that is amusical. I had a chance to buy an ICEPower 125ASX2 module. The differences were very interesting and because I just can't leave well enough alone, I bought a set of the Hypex UcD180's (just the plain ones; which seemed like a fairer fight; I'll mod these later).

The contenders are:

41Hz Amp 5 (with extra PS caps) which is based on the Tripath TA2022 chip
ICEPower 125ASX2 (I don't know anything about the topology)
Hypex UcD180ST and Hypex 400 SMPS.

My listening has been through Quad ESL63's and Seas 2-way speakers based on a 27TFFC tweeter and a ER18RNX midbass. I'm using my transformer coupled DAC fed by an airport express and lossless files.


Here's my initial thoughts:

The tripath amp has some harshness in the upper octaves, it's hard to describe, it's not quite the same as a harsh normal amplifier. But it sounds reasonably good.

The ICE amp has way more bass authority than the tripath amp, it's almost bass heavy, but not quite. The treble is more refined too, but there is still a bit of disjointedness across the spectrum. That's also hard to describe, but it's noticable compared to the Hypex amp. Without the hypex to compare it to, I never would have noticed.


The Hypex amp has full warm bass that is not quite as sterile and clean as the ICEpower amp, but is still very clean and tight. The Dyna amp in contrast is big fat and flabby in the bass department. The Dyna is good sounding, but hardly accurate. The rest of the frequency spectrum in the Hypex is just there, and right.


The ICEPower and the Hypex, and to a lesser extent the Tripath, are amazingly transparent and distortion free to a degree that I've never heard in any other standard amp solid state or tube. These amps in generally just aren't there, it's hard to compare the two because I'm listening through them to the source. I've been comparing them to my Grado 225s and my ultra low distortion headphone amp.

I have to say that the Hypex is certainly a keeper.

Here's some pics of the various amps:


Thoughts?

Sheldon

[DSP_Geek]

I love the cabinets. Thanks for showing those Neutrik RCA connectors - those were exactly what I needed without knowing it!

As to the Hypex modules, apparently the HG models are even nicer than the standard ones, and Bruno is threatening a newer series called ncore.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/class...pex-ncore.html

[StigErik]

Originally Posted by stokessd

The ICEPower and the Hypex, and to a lesser extent the Tripath, are amazingly transparent and distortion free to a degree that I've never heard in any other standard amp solid state or tube. These amps in generally just aren't there, it's hard to compare the two because I'm listening through them to the source.

Very interesting review you have made.

Personally I have no experience with Tripath, but a great deal with ICEpower and Hypex. I completely agree with your description on how these amps sound.

It's interesting however that ICEpower and Hypex are considered as the devil himself by some....

[Bernie7]

In my setup I rate them in the following order (1 is best):

1. Tripath tk2050 300wpc
2. UCD400HG with HxR
3. ICE 500wpc

All of them are monoblocks, the ICE is a commercial 500wpc version. The Tripath and UCD were close, but it pips the UCD for its airier, open treble. UCD seems a bit better in soundstaging. All else about equal. THE ICE surprisingly was a poor third with its overly smooth highs which lacked some texture and harmonics. This was confirmed by a friend who heard the ICE in my setup and his own.

My setup: LDR passive preamp, Swan F2.2 speakers. Others may disagree, but this was in my system and to my ears, so peace

[john65b]

I also have played with all three, and on my speakers (Magnepan Tympanis IVa), I like the Icepower 1000ASP. The Hypex 400AD was very nice, but the 1000ASP was a huge increase in quality and tightness of Bass. Tripath TA3020 was somewhere close.

On HF, it was more of a wash between the Hypex, Tripath and Icepower, but I now biamp the HF with a class A amp.

I am building a test Tripath amp (5 channels of TA3020) to see if biamping would be beneficial.

I have to say the initial impression was the Tripath was more enjoyable, while after listening to other types of music, the Icepower and Hypex started to show their strengths...

[Pano]

Sheldon. I have reformatted and attached your photos. Reduced from 7megs inline to 600K attached. Please be kind to our memeber with limited bandwidth and please read this:
Pictures -- Why Not attach Them ??

[stokessd]

I didn't realize it was still 1997, and we all still were sitting on 14400 modems, I'll try to limit my pictures to postage stamp sizes and the lowest quality. I also had this problem on the slowtravel group where I was admonished in a thread about posting your travel pictures; that my pictures were bigger than 640x480. It was a thread showing off pictures!

I have issues with attaching my stuff into forums because I like to host my own pictures, and then I have control of what people see of mine. I wish I could do the same for all my posts too.

The ideal solution to this issue would be to have your forum software automagically make an attached thumbnail of whatever blessed size is chosen for each linked graphic, and then retain the link to the original.