Any SS class A experience to share?

I'm running a Pass Labs Aleph 5 with a ARC LS-2B modified by Great Northern Sound. The ARC is a hybrid pre using a single 6922 tube. I recently compared my GNS-modded LS-2B directly with my friends stock LS-2B and the difference was profound! Both of us agreed the mod was well worth the $750 (standard mod). But that is off the topic. Class A amps do run hot. My Aleph 5 is not too hot to touch, but you wouldn't like to leave your hand on it for more than 10 seconds or so. They draw full power constantly so they do cost more to run. The Aleph 5 pulls 300 watts continuously. I can ONLY speak about my personal experience with this one single class A amp as most of my audio experience is with tube amps. Of all of the SS I've listened to (and I've listened to $5k amps in comparable systems that are well set-up) the Aleph is the most tube-like SS amp I've ever heard. It pairs off nicely with the ARC and gives a warm, lush sound, and a wide sound stage that actually has some depth as well (most of the SS amps I've heard lack depth when compared to tubes IMO). The Aleph 5 is 60 watts, and does pair off better with higher efficiency speakers. I'm running it now with Silverline SR-17 monitors (GREAT little monitors). At 89db they will let you push them pretty loud, but in a larger space I think I'd like a more efficient speaker to go with them. I don't think this experience is proprietary to all class A SS amps, so YMMV. Hope that helps!

As far as bass slam with the Aleph 5; I don't know if I can comment as of yet. The Aleph 5 is a new amp for me (as of about a week ago). I've been running it thus far with the SR17 monitors which don't get down below 40mhz. I also can't comment on the Aleph 3/30 comparison that Subaruguru mentions, since I have not either of those amps. Though the SR17's have a remarkably tight low end for such small boxes, I cannot say I'd equate the effect to that classic SS bass slam that hits you in the chest (not really fair to expect that from a small monitor though). I'd be curious to hear more comments on this (Suabru?) since I've not tried the Aleph 5 with bigger speakers yet. Maybe I'll bring it home and hook it up to my La Scala's! One additional comment I can make regarding Class A, as it pertains to my Aleph 5: They most definitely sound better, and more refined as they get hotter. 1 hour minimum, but many folks leave their class-A's running 24/7 and claim they sound best that way (after a few days running). I haven't really been able to tell the difference past two hours (it sounds great at that point) to two days (sounds the same to me as two hours, as far as I can tell, though my listening has not been so deleberate to really make a really critical judgement), so I save the power and shut them down when I know I won't be listening for a while (the Aleph is in my work system, so it shuts down on weekends). If I heard this amp blind I would NEVER guess I was listening to an SS amp (I would guess tubes or hybrid).

Hey Viggen, I recall that thread...are you still messin' round?! Which Silverlines are you getting? I recently got an Aleph 5 for my work system and am pretty amazed at how tube-like the sound is. It's not tubes, but it has its own nice qualities that makes up for what it is lacking. Still, when I get home to those SET's I am back in heaven! I must say the Aleph is really impressing me though! Never heard SS sound so good. I'm running it through Silverline SR-17's and that combination is like liquid butter! I'd like a bit more efficiency from the speakers if I were in a larger space though. For small spaces I couldn't ask for more.

Hi Viggen- the work system is pretty plain: Rega Planet 2000 on the front end. Cables are mostly silver. Stealth CWS IC's and DH Labs Q-10 Speaker cables. The DH Labs are outright bargains and I use them on the home system as well. The Aleph 5 is 60 wpc, so is essentially twice the power of your Aleph 3, so I cannot say that our experiences will be identical, but I take it the essential charachter of the two amps are quite similar sonicly. Can't comment on the SR-11 either as I haven't heard it and it is an altogether different speaker than the SR17. I went to a monitor speaker because I will likely have to move the system into my office (a smaller room). But it is currently running in 1200 SF with 11 foot ceilings and I find myself yearning for a bit more punch from the speakers at times. The combination is really smooth though, and quite musical. I may sell the SR17's to go back to the horn speakers I so love in my home system. I wonder how the Aleph would sound with horns. SS and horns is a combination I normally would reject on principal, but having heard what the Aleph does with the SR-17's it has me very curious.

Well Viggen, you are right about one thing, the bass on the SR17's is utterly amazing, and I'd never believe it was possible to get that kind of bass from such small enclosures if I weren't hearing it with my own ears. As far as your comparing it to the SR-11, I'd have to say that I doubt very much that comparing the two would be fare. The SR17 uses two Dynaudio drivers and has a claimed range down to 38hz (though I'd say 40 was more accurate). The SR-17's are the top of the same manufacturers monitor line while the SR-11's are one from the bottom and almost half the price. If this were two different manufacturers I'd say that didn't matter at all, but for the same manufacturer to outdo their top-of-the-line monitor speaker with their bottom-of-the-line monitor would be pretty self-defeating. I could see that if time had passed and technology had progressed, but this is the same current crop of speakers we're talking about. I cannot comment by direct experience of the SR11, but the two reviews I could find were mixed. My general understanding of Silverline products, and direct experience with the SR17, is that Alan Yun puts out some fabulous products at bargain prices, so I have no doubt that the SR11 is a fine performer in it's class. As far as imaging goes, again, my experience of the SR17's is STELLAR in that department as well. They are absolutely one of the most transparent speakers I have ever heard. We're talking Casper the Friendly Ghost here!! Soundstage is wide and deep and precise (even more so with tubes). I'd not heard anything in my research that would support your comparison of the Aleph 3 vs Aleph 5 either, but again, I have not heard the two side-by-side.

It's hard to go wrong with tubes Dudley! Looking forward to your post burn-in evaluation!

Viggen; Alan Yun should be easy to reach and I've found him to be very responsive. Your original comments on the similarity of the SR17 to the SR11 strikes me as something that might have been in the SR11 review on the Silverline site the compares the SR11 to the SR15. Regardless, if you are interested in researching the SR17 I still have my list of URL's for reviews for the SR17 from my own research:

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/masz07.htm
http://www.soundstagelive.com/cgi-bin/recaudiohard.pl?read=20
http://www.audioreview.com/PRD_120554_1594crx.aspx
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/speakers/messages/82753.html
http://www.silverlineaudio.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=37

As to the Aleph question, I take heresay with a healthy grain of salt, and a big-ass bag of salt if someone is trying to sell me something. That's not to say the folks you spoke to are necessarily off-base. I'd guess you probably agree, with all the buying/selling and testing gear in your own space with your own ears that you've done recently. If you can afford the time and expense of doing that kind of extensive auditioning, there is no better way to evaluate a component than that IMO!

Well, perhaps I'm not communicating as clearly as I could. I certainly believe that these two monitor speakers made by the same manufacturer may be similar in some ways, and in this case, the designer being Alan Yun, I'd guess that we have two outstanding products for their price point. But for me to believe that the two speakers in question actually performed similarly overall, I would have to believe Alan Yun to be a poor businessman, and I don't believe that to be the case. The one monitor is almost twice the price of the other. If I were to give you another example that puts the conversation in an different arena: I'm no big fan of cars myself, and prefer to move around on two wheels whenever possible, but for the sake of our slippery slope, let me use cars. Volkswagen makes a Passat with a 4-cylinder and with a more powerful 6-cylinder engine. Yes, I would guess that both versions of the Passat had many similarities. I would also guess that, given the choice, I would rather drive the 6-cylinder version every time. It's not to say the 4 is not a good choice...I'd just prefer the extra performance. Now for me to try to believe that Volkswagen would try to market those two cars at vastly different price points (and in the case of the cars it is closer than the speakers), and not have the more expensive vehicle offer something that they believe most folks who had the choice would pay the extra money for, I'd have to think that Volkswagen was off it's rocker! To compare the performance of the 4-cylinder with the 6-cylinder would not be a fare comparison, and that was the original point I was tryng to make about the two monitors.

I think beyond that, that we'll have to have this conversation again once the two of us hear both monitors side-by-side and make and can form a more informed opinion based upon direct experience.

...till then...