Seymour AV 5001 Build Quality

The 5001 IceBlocks came in a large brown box with separate boxes for each of the amps and separate boxes for the cables. Everything was packaged well and seemed to be well protected. Molded foam caps protect the amps from both sides, was easy to store, and worked well. After shipping them back in the same box and having them returned again, I can say without reservation that the packaging is more than adequate. Your UPS driver would have to be some sort of sadist to damage these amps.

I opted for the black version of the Seymour AV amps. They also come is stainless steel. The sides are the same (regardless of your color choice) with a semi-gloss black finish. The rounded cover is the only difference. The black top isn't exactly black - it is flecked with purple and blue creating an almost glossy night effect. I personally think it looks quite stunning - up close. From far away it looks black. Which is sort of what I wanted so again - happy customer here.

As you've noticed from the pictures, the top is rounded on the front corner. The amp is probably a bit smaller than you'd expect about 1/2 the size of a rack space (3.2" by 8.5" by 15.1"). This makes them very easy to place in your cabinet - especially in twos. They are very solid for their size with quite a bit of heft to them. Unlike some of the more esoteric offerings, they are not lead lined and nearly impossible to move, they are just as heavy as the components would indicate.

Speaking of esoteric - the Seymour AV 5001 Monoblocks tread the line between esoteric and budget very closely. One thing you expect in an esoteric amp is good looks. Well, the Seymour AV offerings have that in spades. Both of the finishes are stunning (I've seen the stainless at CEDIA) and the fit and finish is nearly impeccable. My only problem with the fit and finish is the Seymour AV logo sticker on the front. While it looks fine at first blush, it really doesn't look right in comparison with the rest of the unit. Better some sort of backlit cutout or an engraving or something. Anything but a sticker.

Seymour also does something that you usually only see in an esoteric amp - quality components. And not just quality - top of the line. WBT Nextgen RCA terminals, Neutrik XLR terminals, Vibrapod isolator feet, AR Pro II Ferrite Noise Trap power cord… the list goes on. Some of it has dubious value (Vibrapod feet? What, in case of earthquakes?) but it is all there. And more. If you are really into amps and all the different tweaky stuff that can go into them, Seymour AV is for you. I generally don't buy into all of that and just go Emotiva. But Seymour AV adds one additional thing:

Reasonable price. When we look at the competition, we find:

• D-Sonic MAGNUM 250M - $790 - each
• Wyred4Sound SX500 - $899 - each
• Rotel RB-1091 - $1500 each
• PS Audio GCA 500 - $3K (stereo so about $1500 a channel)
• Bel Canto Ref 500 - $5k pair ($2.5k each)
• Jeff Rowland Model 501 -$ 4,700 each

These amps all have the same B&O guts with different cases and components. At just over a grand for the 500 watt monoblock, the Seymour AV amp isn't exactly leading the pack in value but if you take into account all the components that go into them, you're going to find that they have more in common with the most expensive on the list above. Most competitors would probably like to bury the Seymour amps under a mound of "not chocolaty enough" user reviews. The price is frankly amazing for the level of workmanship and quality of components that are contained within. I asked Chris for and exhaustive list. This is what he sent:

• Stainless steel or black pearl blue 5-coat gloss finish
• Indirect power illumination (no direct LEDs firing into your eyeballs)
• Switchable balanced and unbalanced inputs
• D.H. Labs Revelation 99.99% pure solid silver signal wire
• WBT Nextgen Topline RCA terminal
• Neutrik RF-shielded XLR terminal
• Insulated, gold-plated 5-way binding posts (Uninsulated available as an option for those using massive spades. I had a customer - literally - hook up $22,000 MIT cables to the outputs, and they didn't like the insulated posts. So, uninsulated is a custom option)
• Vibrapod isolator feet
• Vibration dampened chassis (clear absorption layer in between the top and the bottom, and heavier gauge steel bottom)
• Soft clip circuitry, with red LED under the front to indicate input-shaping
• RF/EMI hardened assembly (twisted wires, ferrite filter)
• 100 hour factory burn-in (I have had customers claim a bit more change in the next 2-300 hours - I haven't heard it and I know you guys jest at such talk - just reporting what I've been told. Still, burning off the first 100 hours of component drift is unique for us.)
• 10 year warranty
• Made here in Ames, Iowa

One thing you'll need to realize is that the 500 watt rating on the 5001 is actually a 4 ohm rating at 1kHz. Unlike many amps, the Seymour AV offerings are all rated down to 2 ohms. This means that there are very few speakers (electrostats a possible exception) that would prove too much for these amps. At 8 ohms, typical for most speakers, the 5001 pushes a rated max 300 watts (technically at 4 ohms it pushes 550 watts at 1kHz). Due to the protection circuitry and limitations in the zobel network, this amplifier cannot hit its power spec at full power bandwidth.

Manufacturer's Note: B&O’s philosophy with their designs is that music is by its nature transient, and thus the power requirements are different than if you designed an amplifier to just pump pink noise or sine waves continuously on a test bench. Therefore, they’ve sized the components such as the Zobel network to handle full power, but at decreasing time limits as the frequencies increase. From Bang & Olufsen’s design manual, Figure 11 (see right) shows that if you wanted the amp to sit there 24/7 the maximum power output it can handle decreases with frequencies above 4kHz. Figure 12 shows the opposite; that if you wanted full-bandwidth amplification, how long you could sustain the signal. Being able to pump full power at 25kHz for 100ms, for example, is realistic when it comes to music or movies; you will get full power bandwidth with dynamic content. Evidence for this is that you never saw the red LED’s fire off under the front. You can jam on this amp relentlessly and the four protection circuits will keep it from being damaged. I’ve abused the modules on the test bench, but have never met constraints beyond the red soft-clip LEDs blinking with actual speakers playing content.

Taking apart the amp, we find the Bang & Olufsen's patented analog ICEPower amplification module mounted to a fairly substantial piece of aluminum. Around the top of the unit is a blue LED strip providing the internal lighting. I suppose if you really don't like the lighting, you could ask Seymour AV to eliminate that strip (it is plugged into the board for power and glued in several places). Between some of the components there is what looks like caulk seemingly for vibration control. I couldn't get a picture of it but there is also a sort of shock system under the aluminum plate most likely for the same reason.

I was unable to measure this amplifier since I don’t have the proper test gear to do so and it’s a bit trickier than traditional amplifiers because of the high clock frequencies associated with the amplifier topology that can manifest as poor performance results on test gear if not properly preconditioned.