Oldskool,
I have about a year's experience with the SC-05 and some recent experience with the SC-25. Here's some real world experience I can share (please feel free to PM me if you want more details or have questions):
1 - the ICE amps are great - I am not saying they sound better than the Denon, but you seem to get more headroom for the same money based on my research. But as I'm sure many will point out if you stay within the headroom most good amps will sound equivalent
2 - I love my SC-05 but have been annoyed with the SC-25. It seems that some SC-25 units have a glitch where they won't wake from a long standby time with a remote command. Physically pressing the power button makes wakes it up, but off overnight it's likely to happen again. Very annoying. And Pioneer has been completely unresponsive to my service calls (though my local dealer is helping me out).
3 - Global crossover only. You can't cross the fronts at a different point than the surrounds or center. Also annoying but not huge deal for my setup.
4 - As has already been pointed out, no video upscaling through HDMI inputs. Again this is fine for me as all my sources are HD, but may not be for you.
5 - No on screen GUI except for initial setup. Volume, sound settings etc... are only displayed on the front of the unit, not on screen.
So for me personally I am happy with my SC-05, though I definitely would not get the SC-25 based on my experience so far with it. When it comes time for me to buy again I will go with a good flexible processor and an A1400-8 or similar.
I basically would agree with Peter where the ICE amps are great, but the rest is a mixed bag.
Cheers,
