EVS is proud to announce new power amps based on the ICEpower® modules. These amps are sold direct to the consumer for incredible value. All have 3 year parts and labor transferable warrantee. 30 day unconditional money back guarantee. I have been modifying, tweaking and manufacturing high end audio gear for over 29 years.
These new amps are based on the ICEpower® 200ASC and 1000ASP modules.
The EVS100S stereo amplifier uses two 200ASC modules (100 watts a channel into 8 ohms) in true dual mono configuration including separate power cords for each channel and the modules separated by three inches. Therefore, having separate mono blocks will not sound better unless you can significantly shorten the speaker wires.
The two supplied
power cords are 14 gauge shielded Volex cords...very good. Standard input jacks are OFC Soundconnections and the output connections are our exclusive binding post bypasses (we run the output wires through holes underneath the binding posts to the outside of the amp, tin the end of the wire, wrap it around the outside of the binding post and solder it to itself....this way the binding post is used only as a clamp and does not give any coloration to the sound....this type of wire to spade/wire clamp system will give better sound than any binding post there is). The wiring is state of the art and the AC wires are only 2 inches long and the output wires are only 4 inches long. The amp is 16 inches wide, 8 inches deep and 3 inches tall. It weighs a little under 6 lbs. EAR feet are standard. I can also sell a mono block version of the amp for $400 each (just now reduced from $500 each) and envision these for people that need an odd number of channels like 3, 5 or 7 channels of super sound or already have their system set up for mono blocks or just like cute mono blocks. The mono block chassis are the same as for the EVS500Ms described below.
Prices for the EVS100S dual mono stereo amp or a pair of EVS100M amps are:
$800 for unbalanced inputs only.
$880 for balanced and unbalanced inputs.
$200 extra for built in unbalanced Ultimate Attenuators.
$35 extra for second set of input jacks for Ultimate Attenuators.
The EVS500M is our super high powered ICEpower® mono block amps. These amps use ®ICEpowers most powerful and best module (the 1000ASP) that puts out over 550 watts into 8 ohms and over 1100 watts into 4 ohms. These amps will redefine value in high powered amps. The mono block chassis are 8 inches wide, 12 inches deep and 3 inches tall. They use the same feet, input jacks and binding post bypass system as described above. A pair of them can easily sit next to each other on a shelf. The amps weigh 7.5lbs. each.
Prices for a pair of EVS500Ms are:
$2000 for unbalanced input only ($1000 each).
$2080 for unbalanced and balanced inputs ($1040 each).
$50 extra for a second pair of output jacks to make biwiring easier.
All amps are black chassis with black anodized engraved front panels. Larger pictures of chassis are here:
Customer Comments:
Hi Ric,
Wow! You really knocked one out of the park with these babies.
Even right out of the box I was impressed with their detail, nuetrality, immediacy, and 3D imaging. They did exhibit a touch of coarseness and hardness and, compared to my MA1s, lacked the last word in delicacy and textural subtlety.
Even at this point they totally lived up to (actually exceeded) my original goal of an economical, decent sounding summer replacement for my MA1s.
About 5 hours in it occured to me I was essentially breaking in two pieces of gear because my new Oppo (bought as a stopgap player) had very little time on it.
The next evening I switched to LPs. At around the 15-20 hour mark I really started to hear what these amps are capable of. I put on a series of recordings from the 50s and 60s that were full of analog warmth (in the best sense). Original (and early reissues) of London, Decca, and EMI classic and baroque chamber performances, AP and Classic Records Jazz reissues, Orignal Vanguard and Cisco reissue folk recordings. By the end of the evening I was starting to wonder if I was really giving up anything at all in terms of subtle information retrieval. One of my references, my father's original Vanguard, Joan Baez Vol2 (by no means mint but very playable) never sounded better. No hint of artificial glaze or glare, just fully rounded beautifully rendered tones. These amps just seem to give back whatever you put into them without imparting any character of their own (ugh.....terrible cliche, but no less true).
I proabably have about 25-30 hours on them total. At this point I'm about 99.9% sure that my MA1s are going up for sale. I may still revist tubes one day (not as a replacement but just as an alternative) but I'll never go back to giant, Class A space heaters.
I still absolutely floored by the fact these two, unassuming looking, black shoeboxes can fill my room with such beautiful sounds. This amp is a poster-child for Giant Killer.
On 7-25-07 steve sent me these further comments: Had another revelation with the new amps. Put on a new reissue of Joni Mitchell's Blue which sounded really nice overall, but I did notice a slight bit of coarseness on some of the louder vocals. Checked out a review online and found this:
"Most significantly, there's a near elimination of the gritty texture that sometimes dogged Joni's vocal peaks".
Anyway, I then carted out an old audiophile warhorse: "Growing up in Hollywood Town". Vocals on that were absolutely stunning, and completely grain free. More importantly, I now realize these amps perform like greased lightning. They track dynamic changes like nothing I've ever had in my system before. Piano and percussion attacks were absolutely staggering and these were through my Quad 989s which are not generally known for reproducing dynamics.
Regards,
Steve
Note: Steve is describing his new EVS100Ms balanced---$880!!!!.....his Atma-phere MA1 OTL amps sell for something like $10,000!!!!
I have been listening to a pair of Ric's 500M monoblocks for about six weeks now. IMHO, and in my system (s), they sound outstanding.
System:
Source: Melos DVT, CAL CL-10/Modified Museatex IDAT-44, EVS-modified Toshiba 3960
Preamps: none with Melos, TAD-150 Signature, Luminous Audio Axiom
Speakers: Piega P10, Vienna Acoustics Beethoven
-Dean M.
I just got the 100 watt stereo ICEpower class D amp from Ric yesterday.
For context, I have the following system:
Art Audio VPS Dual Mono line stage
Sony S9000ES heavily modified by Ric Schultz
Sequerra Met 7 and Met 8 MKII monitors and subwoofers
A mixture of cabling and power cords from Stealth Audio, Art Audio and CPCC.
I have played music through the amp for approximately 10 hours. Given that the amps need a minimum or 60+ hours and are not fully broken in, here are some initial impressions:
The amp creates a big sound that belies its small size. I has great detail and articulation of detail. The dynamics are impressive. It can go from forte to pianissimo on a dime (and vice versa) and has not yet sounded congested. It has fantastic sense of air--if the recording was done in a hall, you will definitely hear it. It has bass galore for such a small amp. On acoustic bass, arco notes are played with bite and growl if the recording calls for it. I images like crazy. Each instrument has its own distinct place with clear boundaries, and it creates a huge soundstage. If you listen to any well recorded electronic music, it creates the illusion of an electronic vapor that fills the entire room. It recreates depth and height amazingly well, and maintains distinct and clear layering as you reach further back into the stage. Image density is fantastic, You get a real and accurate sense of the dimensions of each instrument, and they all have a great body and definition. It has a great sense of continuousness---seamless from top to bottom with no range of sound (treble, midrange, bass) being exaggerated or underscored. And most importantly for any piece of gear, is extremely musical.
...............Several people have commented on the high frequency problems with many class D amps. After breaking in the EVS 100S for another 20 hours and removing my preamp and inserting Rics's excellent attenuators, I can feel comfortable saying that I heard no such thing in my system. What I did hear was the most startling clarity, transparency, sense of uncompressed dynamics, huge soundstage (width, depth, and height), great imaging, and fantastic musical tonality. I have to say that removing my tube preamp and inserting Ric's attenuators was a revelation which really opened up the sound tremendously. The music wasn't as spectacular as with the good tube preamp, but the colorations that many tube amps and preamps insert were obscuring the sound with this amp. It sounded more open, transparent, clear and more "natural" particularly on acoustic music. If you want to hear a disc that has high frequencies that don't fall off into the ether and portrays a great sense of air, room acoustic, and musical nuance (the player breathing, for example), listen to Eduardo Equez playing the Prelude to Bach's Partita in E Major on his Baroque Lute (MA Recordings, "The Lute Music of J. S. Bach, Volume 2"). Beautiful music, well -recorded disc and no abrupt high frequency falloff. It's going to be hard to put my tube preamp back into my system after hearing it with the attenuators. I'm having so much fun pulling out old CD's.......
-Jacob O.
I own a pair of Ric's 500M amps (I use them with his Ultimate Attenuators!!)
Source: Denon 2900
Speakers: lightly modded B&W CDM-9NT
Speaker cables: Kimber Bifocal-XL
ICs: VH-Audio Pulsar (WBT silver connections)
Power: Dedicated circuit, Modified Monster HTS3500MKII, VH-Audio (DIY) flavor Power cords with Furutech terminations, Walker SST, "Jon Risch" bass traps and room tunes, etc.
I absolutely love the sound from these babies,
OK, I have noticed a slightly darker character to these amps than I had with my previous amp (Anthem MCA50), which is VERY good for me and my speakers (B&W's are typically a bit too bright), though it could just be that less RFI is making it into my system now......
These amps are very quiet....no hiss, hum or buzz.
A neat experience: A non-audiophile friend stopped by....I placed him in the sweet-spot and put on a song I knew had some history for him.....I came back to the room right before the track ended and saw he had tears in his eyes....I feel similarly, these amps in my set-up seem to evoke an emotional response from me.
-Doug C.
I bought a pair of Ric's EVS500M monoblocks last November and have spent some time breaking them in and trying different combinations of cables, sources and pre-amps. Some of them don't work very well, others are pretty nice. Two combinations are kind of representative.
Combo 1
Sony XA777ES
deHavilland Mercury 2
EVS500M
B&W D802
Mapleshade cables
To start off, I am a huge fan of the Mercury2 in combination with various solid state amps. It sounds refined with smooth highs adding a certain glow to the music without having the typical tube sound. I was therefore disappointed when I listened to the EVS500Ms in this setup. The lack of high frequency dynamics were quite apparent and (for me) spoiled the superb bass control and amazing midrange this combo was able to produce. Now, the sound of the Mercury2 together with the EVS500M is not bad and the character of the high notes is reminiscent of some tube amp combinations, so tube fans might very well love it. I was not too keen on it.
Rather than give up on them, I decided to experiment with several input/cable combinations (thanks to audiogon), which led me to the following setup.
Combo 2
Accustic Arts DAC I MK3
AudioZone Pre-T One
EVS 500M
B&W D802
Acoustic Zen (copper) cables
Amazing difference. The timid leading edge of high notes is gone. The soundstage is big and three dimensional, the bass control and smooth midrange are still there. In part, this is due to the DAC which sounds exceptionally smooth. The biggest difference, however, came from replacing the Mercury with the Passive Pre-T. This dramatically improved the problems that I had about the high range and led to a sound that is almost edged into the air. No smudging of anything, neither in the time dimension nor in the soundstage. The cost has been less of that nice tube glow, so I would say it is a matter of taste, and especially bad recordings suffer from this.......
I like my setup so much that I ordered a second pair for some bi-amping.
-Martin R.
I recently got a pair of the 500M monoblocks. I , too, have a tube preamp (a Counterpoint, significantly upgraded by AltaVista, and very neutral) and the last thing I would ever say is that the high frequencies of the 500M in my system "lack bite".
I only have about 150 hours on my amps so far, but I can say these amps are by far the most revealing I've ever had in my system. Any changes---power cords, interconnects, tubes, isolation, AC power---have been readily heard. Especially with tube rolling, changes, and their effect on the tonality of the system and performance at the frequency extremes, are dramatic.
The sound of these amps (or perhaps the lack of inherent character) matches my experience with Ric's other products: neutrality, transparency and clarity.
-John K.
3-26-2008: All ICEpower amps discontinued