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 December 15, 2005
Chillin’ with ICEpower: Bel Canto Design’s S300 and Red Dragon Audio’s Leviathan Rare is the privilege of comparing two new audio power amplifiers at the same time. Rarer still is when both components share a similar "off-the shelf" technology. Rarest of all is when the amplifiers sound as different as guns and mortars, despite a common provenance. In this case, one product is from Bel Canto Design, a Minneapolis company with more than a decade of experience in the rough’n’tumble business of high-end audio. The other is from Red Dragon Audio, a startup company in Provo, Utah. The shared technology is a method of audio power conversion developed in the 1990s by a Danish scientist, Karsten Nielsen. Eschewing normal, often disastrous entrepreneurial urges, Dr. Nielsen assigned the ownership rights in his patents to Bang & Olufsen, the company whose glittering home stereo products have for 80 years defined the term Danish modern. B&O’s assessment of Nielsen’s class-D circuitry was that it produced power amplifiers that were "Intelligent, Compact, and Efficient," hence the brand name: ICEpower. Wisely, B&O chose not to limit ICEpower to their own in-house use for two reasons. First, they believed that Nielsen’s invention produced a sound so superior that it deserved to replace all competition, and second, as large as B&O is, the market for music-playback components is infinitely bigger and impossible to monopolize. Opportunities abound for lightweight, high-power, cool-running amplifiers for car stereos, mass-market rack systems, and miniature music devices, all areas of commerce outside B&O’s brief. Seeing an opportunity to serve consumers as well as their shareholders, B&O embarked on a creative departure from the norm. They decided to distill Nielsen’s ideas into modules of varying output power and offer them for sale to any manufacturer with smart money to invest. After testing evaluation boards, a number of multinational corporations as well as several high-end audio companies adopted ICEpower as a long-term product platform. I wondered if such a low-cost "convenience" device could serve the needs of a purist hi-fi system. Bel Canto Design S300
The S300’s form follows the functions performed by a pair of ICEpower 200ASC analog modules. The 200ASC is the size of a CD and weighs less than a turkey sub. The circuit board integrates power conversion with a switched-mode power supply (SMPS). Although I’m not competent to explain the workings of an SMPS, I can tell you that a personal computer runs on an SMPS, and that the S300’s SMPS replaces the archaic "linear" power supply -- transformer, bridge circuit, and electrolytic capacitors -- used in unregulated power amps. Transformers and capacitors take up space and weigh a lot, and their combined cost is the biggest part of an amplifier’s selling price. Sonically, a power transformer is a liability that imparts 50/60Hz line noise to the music signal. Getting rid of this glaze results in major sonic benefits, as NuForce has shown with their Reference line. Sacking unwieldy linear supplies also means goodbye to hernias and slipped discs. B&O targeted the plug-and-play ICEpower 200ASC "for the strongly competitive consumer audio market." I read that as meaning mass-market applications -- low fidelity -- and an examination of the 200ASC board’s layout and a parts count supported the notion that it will find a bushel of uses outside a diffuser-lined listening room. However, I consider the 200ASC’s inherent sound quality of much higher fidelity than those of most mass-market products. Other features of the ICEpower 200ASC are short-circuit and overload/overheating protection, EMI filtering, soft-clipping optimization, and 12V trigger capability. Like all ICEpower modules, the 200ASC is ruggedly built and easy to replace in the event of a catastrophic act of nature. In short, the S300 signals a new departure for Bel Canto Design. Their groundbreaking eVo series, which pioneered alternative thinking in high-end amplifier design, is almost redundant. The eVo series continues to use the Tripath error-correction chip with linear power supply, and remains in the Bel Canto catalog -- for now. Clearly, ICEpower has sonic and economic advantages that suggest it will shape Bel Canto’s future design schemes. User interface
The S300’s shoe-string-thin power cord is best ignored lest one form the wrong idea of the amp’s seriousness of purpose. After trying both lean and beefy AC cables with the S300, I settled on a shielded 10-gauge (beefy!) OFC cord with Furutech connectors. Signal transfer from my Audio Aero Prima DAC to my Audio Research Reference 3 preamplifier to the S300 was via Grover’s balanced interconnects. The S300 drove a pair of Usher CP-6371 two-way, three-driver dynamic loudspeakers, which are 87dB efficient, to "loud" levels (+90dB at the listening position) without audible stress. Since I abhor numbing my eardrums, I didn’t try to find the S300’s clipping point, leaving that chore to men with oscilloscopes. The S300 was less sensitive to preamp output than my reference NuForce Reference 9 amplifier. A volume setting of "17" on the NuForce equated to about "27" for the S300. This is a nonissue for me, but some people are neurotic about turning up the volume on their preamps. In order to compensate for accustomed gain settings, I had to spend about 30 seconds dialing in the ARC Reference 3 preamp. After that, setting comparable gain for different music was a quick fiddle with the ARC. I mention this because testing fairness requires that the review product’s gain be matched as closely as possible to the reference unit’s. The owner’s manual calls for a 40-hour break-in period, which takes three days at la casa Saxon. At the end of each session I turned off all electronics except the Bel Canto. Like my trusty old Bel Canto eVo4, the S300 sounded best when left on all the time. Sonic virtues My first and most lasting impression of the S300 was that it was the perfect amplifier for stepping up from a receiver to hi-fi separates. It performed the tasks we audio veterans expect of a high-end component: imaging, inner detail, and large-scale dynamics. Fledglings who acquire an S300 will be pleased they did. By jumping into the middle of the hi-fi hobby for $1600 without flailing around in the shallow end, they’ll end up saving money. This is a great time to become an audiophile. Stereo imaging is the hook of high-end audio gear. Years ago, when I began to audition replacements for my JVC receiver, a dramatic discovery was how musical notes "popped out" of the space between the speakers. In the listening rooms of New York City hi-fi dealers, I could almost see the musicians. Further auditioning proved that more expensive electronics did this magic act better than the stuff I could afford. After a year of pound-foolish investments, I finally purchased an amplifier that placed the instruments from side to side and from front to back in three tactile dimensions. The Octave Research OR-1 Silver Hammer set me back three thousand 1981 dollars. This recollection evokes a further digression. At a retail price of $1600, the S300 approaches the goal of the genius who invented ICEpower: high fidelity at a reasonable price. In fact, I have to restrain myself with regard to the S300’s price/performance ratio. Until 2005, the cost to buy into high fidelity had escalated as if decreed by OPEC. Even good used equipment was out of reach for many consumers. While recent developments have slowed that trend, I remain jaded. Despite rumors that $1600 is a fortune in most of the known universe, I can’t help thinking the S300 a bargain. Facing competition from the tiny Bel Canto eOne S300, my monstrous old Octave Research OR-1 would have self-destructed more rapidly than most. Cranked up to overheating, the OR-1 expanded soundstage width to the outer edges of my speakers. Depth extended back in the classic trapezoid pattern described by The Abso!ute Sound’s Harry Pearson, but the "visual" cues stopped at the rear wall. By comparison, the S300 had much more energy in the upper frequencies, where imaging cues reside. The front plane of the soundfield extended 3’ to the sides. From there, the stage raked back in a sweeping trapezoid that extended out into the park across the street. This cavernous dimensionality turned out to be a strong suit of ICEpower. Both ICEpower amps I tested broke through previous soundstaging boundaries in my room. I found the S300’s midrange lucidity unprecedented for $1600. Musical instruments, particularly horns, displayed a power and solidity heard from linear amplifiers of much higher price. Percussion shimmered and wafted, while my beloved tinkling bells cut through the mix with startling presence. If I never listened to solo voice, I would be thrilled with the S300, price no object. But it was the S300’s high resolution of instrumental music that confounded me with vocal recordings. Whether listening to a soprano or a baritone, I felt at a remove from the microphone feed as compared with those same voices through the NuForce Reference 9. For instance, Aaron Neville’s complex vocal ornaments in "Nature Boy," from Nature Boy: The Standards Album [CD, Verve 065633], sounded slightly more distant and simplified by the S300. But had it not been for the S300’s clarity and punch with instruments, the vocal discrepancy might have gone unnoticed. In large-scale dynamics, the S300 induced this extrovert to grin. Its amplitude competed with linear amplifiers of higher power rating. Air-guitar players should revel in the way the S300 extended the reach of keening chords. The sense of pace inspired my feet to dance. Lovers of salsa and the meringue should be hot to move. The main hesitation I have in recommending the S300 to serious music lovers is its bass performance. For example, Adagio d’Albinoni contains sustained organ chords against which Gary Karr’s double bass swoops and dips [CD, Cisco Music GCD8003]. I could detect the organ’s deep notes, but the octave-higher harmonics that reinforce the double bass were less audible than they should have been. Moreover, Karr’s 1611 Amati bass lacked the lower-frequency bloom and swell I’ve heard from other, more expensive amplifiers in my system. For people who don’t listen to organ and double bass, this observation may be inconsequential. Newcomers accustomed to lifeless stereo receivers or murky integrated amps should greet the Bel Canto eOne S300 with amazement. Its big soundstage, soaring high notes, and robust dynamics are unattainable at any lower price I have seen. To anyone with a limited budget, I would heartily recommend the S300. I would even recommend the S300 to a golden-eared audiophile on a pension if he can try a tweak we discovered late in testing. My friend Rocky, a long-time fan of Bel Canto products, predicted that the S300’s rubbery feet caused the ills I heard -- soft bass, subtle veiling. It seemed logical that the "lossy" footers dissipated some of the tremendous energy of which the S300 is capable. We removed the feet and balanced the amplifier on three massive ebony cylinders called Shun Mook Diamond Resonators. The results defy logic. Upper bass expanded filling the room; midrange took on a spooky verisimilitude. The amp had guts! Others who have heard S300 with Diamond Resonators under it have agreed: the little Bel Canto can compete with the big boys of hi-fi amplification. The only problem is Diamond Resonators cost $400 for a set of three and are unobtainable except on the used market. Substitutes such as maple or spruce blocks might work as the poor man’s "resonators." The main goal is to replace the feet that come attached to the amplifier and experiment with wood blocks or footers of other kinds. There is a great amplifier inside the S300 waiting to emerge. Red Dragon Audio Leviathan Had I tested the Bel Canto eOne S300 by itself (without Diamond Resonators), I might have concluded that ICEpower was great for entry-level buyers but a tad veiled and bass-shy for experienced hobbyists. After all, no one wants an amplifier that sells for $1600 to be the dreaded Final Purchase. Thankfully, ICEpower has saved us from that morbid fate. By following an upgrade path from the 200ASC that culminates in a module of enormous potential, it’s possible that the last amplifier we may ever buy will be ICEpowered -- assuming the module’s shortcomings have been addressed. Enter Red Dragon Audio’s Leviathan, a thoughtfully modified ICEpower monoblock power amplifier. The Leviathan uses a module from ICEpower’s Professional Analog series, the ICEpower 1000ASP, for which Bang & Olufsen claims "state-of-the-art performance." (Bel Canto uses the 1000ASP in their REF1000 monoblock.) Online literature hints that this "turn-key" module with SMPS is the one to use. Rated at 1000W into 4 ohms, with a dynamic range of 118dB and a 6" x 9" footprint, the 1000ASP spearheads an assault on the amplifier market, bringing B&O "closer toward the vision for ICEpower to be used everywhere" (my italics). When I listened to an unmodified 1000ASP prototype a while ago, I thought Dr. Nielsen’s vision slightly rose-colored. However, Red Dragon’s Leviathan exploits the platform’s enormous potential with results that the plug-and-play prototype did not realize. For Red Dragon’s Ryan Tew, a young man with a lifelong interest in hi-fi, ICEpower’s specifications suggested that the technology’s built-in electromagnetic interference (EMI) filtering was marginal. He figured he could improve the sound of ICEpower by doing a better job of filtering out the EMI/RFI generated by the technology itself. While he was at it, Tew substituted a few high-quality parts in key locations, rerouted and added solid-silver wiring, then housed the modules in a wooden chassis whose damping properties may be the secret to the amplifier’s performance; it definitely looks magnificent. Whatever Tew has done, technically and cosmetically, other high-end manufacturers should emulate. At a retail price of $5995/pair in exotic hardwood -- ebony is one of the choices -- the Red Dragon Leviathan shows ICEpower users the way. Nothing I threw at the gorgeous Leviathan uncovered a flaw. It passed the Gary Karr bass test and the Aaron Neville texture test with Grade-A scores. On Schubert for Two [CD, Deutsche Grammophon 471 566-2], Gil Shaham’s close-miked violin needs increasing power in the midrange at the same time Göran Söllscher’s more distant guitar requires subtle low-level control. The Leviathan not only handled the violin’s robust highs and the guitar’s suave trail-off, it also captured each instrument’s woody resonance. This ability to fill out the sound of an instrument is a virtue of tube amplifiers that few transistor amps have matched in my system. The volumetric sizes of pianos, cellos, and acoustic guitars are audibly defined on good recordings, with which I can separate amp pretenders from contenders. As the least transistor-sounding solid-state amplifier I have had in my system, the Red Dragon Leviathan is a leading contender for the title of Best All-Around Amplifier. Classical music fans, especially, should love it. By the end of the first week’s listening, I had realized that the Leviathans had improved on my reference NuForce Reference 9 amplifier in amplitude and top-end sweetness while coming a close second in bass weight and sustain, where the NuForce technology continues to reign supreme. Paired with my Audio Research Reference 3 preamp and later joined by ARC’s superlative-defying Reference CD7 CD player, the Leviathans’ bold, ballsy sound belied their price and size. Their soundstage was hugely hemispherical, and their frequency response was whole-cloth, with no holes or rolloffs. Their tonal balance was as my partnering tube components decreed: rich but honest. Although six grand is a lot to spend on living essentials, in the mad world of hi-fi it is now considered a moderate amount. Anyone contemplating the purchase of a first-class power amplifier should listen to the Leviathan or risk blowing his dough on a linear-power-supply boat anchor. I have heard $40,000 linear amplifiers that barely edge out the Red Dragon in a few parameters -- but not at all in midrange liquidity. Can one justify spending huge sums of money on so little marginal return? The answers are relative and none of my business. The Leviathan’s high resolution and tight bass are in contrast to my impressions of an unmodified ICEpower 1000ASP prototype I heard a few months ago. That amplifier had a simplified texture and a soft upper bass similar to the S300 (on its stock feet) but worse. A compilation disc of jazz and blues singers I have copied from 18 different CDs revealed the differences between the stock ICEpower amplifier and the Red Dragon. On the stock 1000ASP, the singers sound as if they all recorded in the same studio, using the same microphone and the same equalization. Voices are identifiable and lyrics are intelligible, but the each performer’s essence is homogenized. This diminution of unique timbres lowers the level of performance as well: The music is less emotional, more fatiguing to decode mentally. With the Leviathan, I easily discerned that the tracks on my compilation disc derive from different releases. Each had its own recording signature, and the voices were in front of my nose rather than behind a sheer curtain. It was like comparing CD playback to MP3. Yet, the only differences I could detect between the untreated stock unit and Ryan’s masterpiece are the following: a handful of modifications that do not look particularly rigorous, the use of MDF and wood to damp some chassis vibrations and a set of brass cones to drain away the rest. That is it. Although Ryan Tew’s modifications aim primarily at eliminating EMI/RFI, I would love to have another try at the 1000ASP prototype using nothing more than Rocky’s Shun Mook Diamond Resonators in place of the unit’s rubber feet. I think the ebony footers alone would bring the prototype’s performance up to the expectations of Bang & Olufson. Meanwhile, I feel confident in saying that in order to experience the full potential of ICEpower, you must audition Red Dragon Audio’s Leviathan. Anyone looking to purchase a magnificent amplifier of any kind should do the same. …Jim Saxon Manufacturer contact information: Bel Canto Design, Ltd. Website: www.belcantodesign.com Red Dragon Audio E-mail: info@reddragonaudio.com
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All of Bel Canto Design’s
new eOne series of half-chassis-width components are ICEpowered. The eOne S300 ($1600 USD)
is a 150W stereo power amp that measures 8.5"W x 3"H x 12"D and weighs 9
pounds -- compact, though not as alarmingly teensy as the NuForce Reference 8. The
S300’s appearance benefits from several generations of product design, combining line
and color in a way that reflects its Bel Canto pedigree. Its faceplate, rear panel, and
heft are worthy of a company that found its sea legs in industrial design and plans to
march on with its established identity. The half-chassis’ satin-silver-and-black
finish looks smashing.
The Bel Canto eOne S300 was a
snap to install. It handles like a curling dumbbell: cable connectors are the finger-tight
kind, and in/out buttons determine whether the balanced or the single-ended inputs are
used. The brief owner’s manual warns against shorting the speaker terminals, advises
how to troubleshoot for hum and noise, and describes what happens to the blue LED when the
power switch is in the On position. (It lights up.) The specifications are helpful. I
especially like knowing that the S300’s signal/noise ratio is 90dB, a key fact not
readily found on the ICEpower website. Unfortunately, the owner’s manual’s
"Design Features" section is as informative as a mob suspect with an attorney
present. Fortunately, ICEpower literature is available in abundance at 