Haven't heard the 1.2's but owned an Aleph 5 for a while. All the above comments would reflect my observations of the 5 as well. It got very hot and sounded best when it was left on for 2-3 days of warmup. Nice sound for SS, but not SS sounding nor tube sounding though it had many tube-like qualities, warmth being among them. Did not seem to live up to it's 60W rating. It felt more like half that. I went back to tubes after a few months with the Aleph 5 and am much happier. They're cheaper to run too and I don't need to keep the gear on for 2-3 days, just a few hours, to get them sounding their best. If I had to run an SS amp I would not throw the Aleph series out of bed, especially on those cold nights! I'll stick with tubes for both heart and soul thanks!
Marco
Marco