The Black Ice Audio F18A is the next level of Black Ice Audio and is built in Maryland. We have gathered and tested components for the last 10 years to bring the F11 to a new level.

THE BLACK ICE AUDIO F18A

The F18A is built by Jerred in our Maryland workshop. The F18A capable of up to 25 WPC is built using hand picked upgraded parts purchased from U.S. companies. The F18A is a massive upgrade over the already exceptional standard F11 amplifier. Built around the EL84, the only tube ever developed specifically for music reproduction the F18A is sonically superior in, detail, speed, holographics, sound stage, separation, and bass. Hidden behind the captive touch glass front panned is our proprietary Odyssey Circuit, designed in 2015, a dual-phase balanced V-drive tube circuit. The F18A features four inputs for a pure signal path to your components. Using the Exact Biasing Vu meter you always know exactly what your tubes are doing with the turn of a knob.

The F18A is a God Tier tube headphone amp with direct output from the tubes, no solid state devices or OP-AMP adding gain to the signal path only a resistor to protect your headphones. The F18A can make any headphones sing no matter how hard to drive. The F18A includes a substantial metal remote to harness the power of the F18A.

The F18A can run many EL84 and equivalent tubes with the Exact Bias: You are just choosing the tubes we bundle with your amplifier.

Here are the peak power levels with the Upgraded tubes we offer.

• The Gold Lion EL84. 23 WPC. Brings you smoother highs, more energy and air in the upper mid-range, and tighter bass with more extension than the already excellent stock Electro-Harmonix EL84 tube. This is a great first tube upgrade for the F11.

  
  

• The Tung Sol 7189: 25WPC. Adds about 2 watts of extra power over the standard EL84. In addition to fuller bass and excellent mids. The 7189 has a great upper mid range. These tubes give the FX10 and F11 some more presence with hard to drive speakers. These should be part of your tube collection if you are an EL84 lover like us. We are not sure how long the supply will last.

  
  

Please Note: Upgraded tubes take the place of the stock tubes, you will only receive one set of power tubes.

BUILT IN MARYLAND

The signature sound of the F18A is a fine line of transparency and musicality that results in an accurate, yet organic & natural washing-over effect. Because of this wonderful mix, choosing the right tube will have a major impact on the overall sound of the amplifier. Unlike other manufacturers where the circuits in their equipment require you to use a certain type of tube and brand with their products, the Black Ice Audio amplifiers make it easy for you to roll different types and brands. With the use of the onboard meter and the tuning wand provided with the product, you’re able to bias accordingly. It’s that easy.

AMAZING CONTROL

The Odyssey Circuit gives our pure tube amplifiers the bass performance of solid state. You get all the smooth detail in the highs and 3D holographic mid range of tubes but maintain that tightly controlled bass that solid state amplifiers are known for. No other pure tube amp can compete with our Odyssey Circuit.

LOW NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

We only need 4.5 dB of negative feedback to control any oscillation in our circuit because we only use 2 gain stages in our amplifiers. Less negative feedback means a cleaner signal and better sound reproduction. Typical tube amplifiers can use up to 6 gain stages which add magnitudes of distortion to the signal and need as much as 20dB of negative feedback to control. Negative feedback in amplifiers is like scrubbing a stained white T-shirt. The darker the stain the harder it is to remove, if you have a light stain(2 gain stages) you can remove all of it easily(4.5 dB). A really dark stain(6 gain stages) and you have to scrub it very hard(20 dB), you won’t totally remove it, and you will likely damage the fibers of the T-shirt in the process.

EXACT TUBE BIASING

Bias our tubes in under 30 seconds with the centralized backlit Vu Meter and the Biasing selector switch which makes checking the bias amperage in real time simple with a turn off the knob. Using the provided tuning wand and the backlit Vu Meter each tube can be biased exactly where you want it. We design our amplifiers to run at the exact setting for the user selected power tubes, we do not feel any auto-bias that operate within a range is superior to the user dialing in the correct setting for the specific tube. We admit that Auto Biasing is a cool tagline, but Black Ice Audio prioritizes audio purity and tube life and Exact Tube Biasing is the only way to achieve that goal without compromise.

MAXIMUM DYNAMICS and CLASS A CURRENT

We design all of our amplifiers to have full dynamics at low power. Current is what drives speakers! To maximize available current we designed the circuit to exploit the Triode side of the tube with maximum efficiency producing the most Class A current possible before we leverage the Pentode and push/pull for overdrive. Our amplifiers can drive inefficient speakers with ease and our watts per channel rating is not a reflection of our true power.

JUPITER CONDENSOR CAPS

Increase the speed, air between notes, resolution, and bass extension. It reveals everything an artist intended in the recording. Uncluttering complex sections of music and minimizing the time to get the signal to your speakers. Finally, it enhances the smooth character that makes a poor recording sound better.

VISHAY NAKED Z FOIL RESISTORS

Improves detail, definition, transparency, accuracy, and lowers the noise floor. It extends the noise floor and black background and gives more separation to each note, creating a more detailed presentation. Because of their extremely accurate tolerances, they bring back the frequencies that other resistors filter out and lower distortion. Naked Z Foil Resistors induce the least noise possible in a circuit.

OFC WIRE (Single Crystal Cast 12 Ga):

Improves dynamics and microdynamics. Crescendos will explode with power and the smallest background detail will become noticeable giving you the information between the notes.

WELLS DC FILTRATION:

Filters AC noise and is like having a small power condition in your amplifier. It lowers the noise floor up to 45 dB creates an inky black background and creates a huge 3D soundstage not possible without this technology.

ISO ACOUSTIC FEET

Isolates the chassis from the material your amplifier is placed on making sure it doesn’t affect the sonic signature of the F85A and creating a neutral background. The feet also dampen unwanted extremal vibration such as the sound waves from your speakers on the chassis and also minimize the transfer of internal micro vibration to your other equipment.

ULTRA FAST CIRCUIT TRACES

We use only two circuit boards: The control board signal/power supply board is integrated to lower the chance of failure and shorten the path for electrons to flow. A shorter path means that there is less opportunity for interference or noise to be introduced into the signal. Superior to P2P design.

BLACK ICE AUDIO TECHNOLOGY

INCLUDED IN THE BOX

• F18A Integrated Amplifier

  
  

• F18A Remote Control

  
  

• 4 Power Tubes

  
  

• 4 12AX7 Signal Tubes

  
  

• Bias Tuning Tool

  
  

• Power Cord

  
  

• Dust Cover Bag