Official ICE CLUB rules..

Cmiller

I agree on the sound of the Elite,i have a SC-25 and its a night and day difference compared to my brand new Onkyo 608 i have in my bedroom..I really never listen to the 608,but last night i turned it on,to listen to some music before bed,and i thought some setting was wrong,but nope,everything was set-up correctly..Granted i have different speakers on the 608 "Klipsch Synergy B20",but WOW, it sounds "cheap",compared to the SC-25....IMO..

mantis

I think this thread needs some pic's. I may add that to the rules for a 2011 upgrade.
Yeah Pic's front and back wired up would be wonderful. A shot front he listening position , a shot from the gear location etc etc etc.

I know we are going to have a new member soon.

leroyjr1

Handing in my ice certification....

B Run

Just joined the club! Picked up an Elite SC-35 this week. It's running my Rti's beautifully and just wanted to send a thanks to Mantis. I did a lot of research first and you were spot on with all your reviews and opinions. I'm replacing an Onkyo 3008 which was nice (until it broke) but I prefer the sound of the Pioneer. I was running an Adcom GFA7000 with it but no longer feel it's necessary with the Ice amps. My next step is Klipsch RF82's and I cannot wait to hear how it sounds with them! Pics coming soon.

nooshinjohn

Just grabbed my SC-37 yesterday... has anyone had troubles with 4 ohm speaker loads on these? My little Maggie SMG's sound good and all, but they are not as dynamic as they were with the Sunfire 425/5 with music.

HT however, I was impressed with the sound I got from just three channels and no sub in the mix yet.

mantis

B Run wrote: »

Just joined the club! Picked up an Elite SC-35 this week. It's running my Rti's beautifully and just wanted to send a thanks to Mantis. I did a lot of research first and you were spot on with all your reviews and opinions. I'm replacing an Onkyo 3008 which was nice (until it broke) but I prefer the sound of the Pioneer. I was running an Adcom GFA7000 with it but no longer feel it's necessary with the Ice amps. My next step is Klipsch RF82's and I cannot wait to hear how it sounds with them! Pics coming soon.

Looking forward to reading your review. It's nice to not need an amp to power your current speaker package. When you get your Klipsch your in for a treat. Dynamic range and sheer force has never been so present in your room with ICE and Klipsch working together. I did a job a few months back with them together and it was down right scary. I made me want to get a full Klipsch system.
Onkyo and Integra receivers are very nice in their own right but do not hold a candle next to a Pioneer Elite for many things , the biggest being sound quality.

mantis

leroyjr1 wrote: »

Handing in my ice certification....

I'll keep it warm for yeah when you return. Sorry to see you go.

mantis

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Just grabbed my SC-37 yesterday... has anyone had troubles with 4 ohm speaker loads on these? My little Maggie SMG's sound good and all, but they are not as dynamic as they were with the Sunfire 425/5 with music.

HT however, I was impressed with the sound I got from just three channels and no sub in the mix yet.

Maggie's are a bit much for the ICE amps. I strongly suggest if this is what you plan on using it with to use a external amp. Yes the receiver will run them but at a reduced Dynamic range as you already experienced. Lower volumes no problem , reference is where it's going to get hairy.

SRTer

mantis wrote: »

Maggie's are a bit much for the ICE amps. I strongly suggest if this is what you plan on using it with to use a external amp. Yes the receiver will run them but at a reduced Dynamic range as you already experienced. Lower volumes no problem , reference is where it's going to get hairy.

Maggies are rated like 86dB in sensitivity at 4 ohm if I remember correctly. My neighbor has a set with a Emotiva XPA-2 making 500 watts and still ain't happy.

He says the low end frequencies are just not there. Had to buy a sub for 2 channel music!

No AVR will do, buy cheap AVR with Pre-outs.

leroyjr1

For Maggies skip the avr all together and get a pre amp/amp combo.

Toolfan66

If I had a set of Maggies the last thing on my mind would be Emotiva..

Drenis

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

If I had a set of Maggies the last thing on my mind would be Emotiva..

Seems to be a lot of negative opinions on Emotiva... that might deter me from purchasing something from them in the future. I wonder why so much hate?

+1 for ICE even though I'm without. Still happy with my non-ICE Elite.

Face

mantis wrote: »

Maggie's are a bit much for the ICE amps.

Only for those who have receivers with ICE modules, not real ICE amps.

tonyb

John, did you really expect a receiver to keep up with the 425 watt Sunfire ? Current brother....current.

SRTer

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

If I had a set of Maggies the last thing on my mind would be Emotiva..

Last thing on your mind but the first thing on many people's HT budgets.:biggrin:

I didn't want to go used but I'm starting with used Adcom this Monday. You know, I'm not against EMO but this board has made me not to want to by one and tell anybody about it.

SRTer

Face wrote: »

Only for those who have receivers with ICE modules, not real ICE amps.

I have heard good things about Wyred 4 Sound ICE amps. This is on my list for next year.

SRTer

Drenis wrote: »

Seems to be a lot of negative opinions on Emotiva... that might deter me from purchasing something from them in the future. I wonder why so much hate?

+1 for ICE even though I'm without. Still happy with my non-ICE Elite.

See, the same here for me and the EMO.

Also, the Pio Elite non-ICE amp AVR's are nice, for it was the Pio Elite VSX-23 that made me want a more expensive Elite. Not that the 23 was bad, it was so good, I thought that it could only get better with more money spent.

leroyjr1

SRTer wrote: »

Last thing on your mind but the first thing on many people's HT budgets.:biggrin:

I didn't want to go used but I'm starting with used Adcom this Monday. You know, I'm not against EMO but this board has made me not to want to by one and tell anybody about it.

You should definitely try the Emo amps out for yourself. Go onto the AVS forum, it seems like everyone has one. I've spent alot of time in the photogallery over there and I've seen some very nice expensive setups with emotiva amps.

nooshinjohn

tonyb wrote: »

John, did you really expect a receiver to keep up with the 425 watt Sunfire ? Current brother....current.

No, not at all. To be honest, using a receiver again is something that I thought I would never do. For my little apartment, this is all that I could ever need for power, but when we do get settled back in a house, I am going to look at different speakers that will be more efficient, and maybe a pair of 7/400 Sunfires.

Drenis

SRTer wrote: »

See, the same here for me and the EMO.

Also, the Pio Elite non-ICE amp AVR's are nice, for it was the Pio Elite VSX-23 that made me want a more expensive Elite. Not that the 23 was bad, it was so good, I thought that it could only get better with more money spent.

This is really the first community that's advised against them. I assume there was some bad experiences perhaps? I still VERY much LOVE the design of the Emo's and the color combination. Performance figures are respectable. My question is how much headroom do they have and how efficient they are at those levels. And yes, I too have seen many setups including someone local who swears by Emo.

As for the VSX-23, that's what I run currently and it does a BANG ON job. Best receiver I've ever purchased. Just GOBS of power... but not enough for the A9's... I can't wait to pick up my Carver tomorrow after lunch... The Elite will have to do for a while as my main center piece.

nooshinjohn

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

If I had a set of Maggies the last thing on my mind would be Emotiva..

This.

On my mind is 450wpc of Tube Power.

EndersShadow

Post #113 Reported for tube pornage :eek:

tonyb

Drenis wrote: »

This is really the first community that's advised against them. I assume there was some bad experiences perhaps? .

No, not necessarily, it's just that there are soo many better options out there. Emo is good for what it is, a budget HT amp, imho anyway. But if you care to investigate alittle, there's some good quality stuff on the used market specifically that the Emo just can't hold a candle to. Granted they look nice and all, but looks have never played music....at least in my day anyway.

madmax

I cannont abide by rule number 3. Besides, what is an ice system anyway?

tonyb

madmax wrote: »

I cannont abide by rule number 3. Besides, what is an ice system anyway?

Thats when you turn down the A/C enough so that ice crystals start forming on the display.:biggrin:

SRTer

Drenis wrote: »

This is really the first community that's advised against them. I assume there was some bad experiences perhaps? I still VERY much LOVE the design of the Emo's and the color combination. Performance figures are respectable. My question is how much headroom do they have and how efficient they are at those levels. And yes, I too have seen many setups including someone local who swears by Emo.

As for the VSX-23, that's what I run currently and it does a BANG ON job. Best receiver I've ever purchased. Just GOBS of power... but not enough for the A9's... I can't wait to pick up my Carver tomorrow after lunch... The Elite will have to do for a while as my main center piece.

As soon as I though about getting the RTi A9's, I said to myself. Onkyo TX-NR1007 or Pioneer Elite SC-35 because I didn't think I would be buying an amp at all.

After checking everything out, I went with the SC-35 because of my familiarity with Pio's, extra power, cooler running D-class ICE amps and it's iPod functionality.

The Onkyo sounded warmer and it was literally warm. Recently, I have heard problems with Onkyo's going bad, overheating, HDMI switching problems and a recall.

Not with my Pio's, it been good. Knock on wood.

SRTer

tonyb wrote: »

No, not necessarily, it's just that there are soo many better options out there. Emo is good for what it is, a budget HT amp, imho anyway. But if you care to investigate alittle, there's some good quality stuff on the used market specifically that the Emo just can't hold a candle to. Granted they look nice and all, but looks have never played music....at least in my day anyway.

I would say Macintosh has looks, much better than EMO. I love analog needles and one day, I will have a nice MAC sitting on the floor.

tonyb

SRTer wrote: »

I would say Macintosh has looks, much better than EMO. I love analog needles and one day, I will have a nice MAC sitting on the floor.

In the looks dept., the Mac has few equals but sound wise....another story. From what I've heard over the years, they do great on the upper freq range and into the mids but at the lower end they tend to be alittle loose and not as dynamic as some others. Personally I think they are overpriced for what your getting but if you value looks, you'd be hard pressed to do better.

I love meters too and wish more amps would include them.

Drenis

SRTer wrote: »

The Onkyo sounded warmer and it was literally warm. Recently, I have heard problems with Onkyo's going bad, overheating, HDMI switching problems and a recall.

Not with my Pio's, it been good. Knock on wood.

I too, read a lot of people running Onkyo and read many issues. I read once of a unit actually catching fire!:eek: Aesthetically, I could care less for them. Usual reason people tell me why they bought it cause it had HUGE advertised power.

I was a very loyal Yammy user but with the deal for the Elite I got, I would have never considered going that route and probably settled for another Yammy or Marantz. I know my old (advertised) 75w per channel Yammy never had huge power output. Disappointing actually...

heiney9

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

If I had a set of Maggies the last thing on my mind would be Emotiva..

Yep, watts don't mean diddly squat. Emo and Maggies, makes me cringe just thinking about it.

H9