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Pre amp for Pass Aleph 3

Current or former owners of the Pass Labs Aleph 3 amp, please give me some idea of what pre amp you like and sounds good as well as mates well with the 3. I just picked one up and know it needs a pre amp with a bit of gain. No passives with this amp as noted in the Stereophile Class A review.

Im currently thinking of AA Modulus 3A, Cary SPL-50 or EA-3 DJH Sig. pre as well as an Audio Note M-One. Id like to have a MM phono stage...but not necessary. Price range used is ~1K.

Thanks for the ideas and thoughts,
Ken
128x128kehut
13 responses Add your response
jameswei
883 posts
 
I'm happy feeding an Aleph 3 directly from a Mark Levinson 390S CD player. I have also had good experiences in another system using a Pass Aleph P (and an Aleph Ono), which was supposedly designed to mate with the Aleph basic amps. A used one should be in your price range.
dill
2,523 posts
 
Pass Aleph P with the Ono.
honest1
586 posts
 
I had good luck wiht a Classe CP35. There was a version with a phono stage.
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drubin
3,274 posts
 
There is no reason yo can't use a passive with it unless you have a very low-output source and/or your speakers are quite inefficient. What you should avoid, however, is a preamp with a high output impedance. This is not too common and is likely to occur only in a tube preamp, but is something to be mindful of. The reason is that the Pass has a comparatively low input impedance.
ad010685
102 posts
 
I specifically found Aleph amps delicious with passive preamps.Of course impedance matching is extremely important but results are outstanding IMHO
Cheers
kehut's avatar
kehut OP
668 posts
 
Thanks guys...

Ad010685, which passives specifically?
ad010685
102 posts
 
In the past I used a DACT DIY based passive. Now Luminous audio shunted passivewith 4.99 ohm Caddock
Cheers
tiverson2000
14 posts
 
I feed my aleph 3 with a benchmark dac1. I use the volume control on the dac. minimalist route, I have an adcom 5 disk changer feeding the dac1 thru coaxial cable. The sound is pure pleasure to my ears. Speakers are totem model 1 sig. and velodyne servo sub. very simple and minimal setup for two channel.

Tony
kehut's avatar
kehut OP
668 posts
 
Thanks all. I paired the Aleph 3 with a EA-3 DJH with some RCA 6SN7GT/231 Gray Glass tubes..Very smooth sound.
jtgofish's avatar
jtgofish
515 posts
 
A friend has used a Supratek Grange to good effect.The Aleph 3 to my ears sounds good but a bit lifeless.So vibrant sounding preamps like the Suprateks suit them well.Even the cheap Chenin would work well.
peterh
41 posts
 
I have Aleph 2 mono amps and am VERY happy with a Placette active pre amp. Rarely seen on used Audiogon but WORTH THE WAIT. It has plenty of gain in my system,is the best I've heard, dynamic, detailed, coherent. Guy, the man who builds them is a gentleman. Try it at home. PH
nolitan
865 posts
 
I heard a buddy's Aleph 3 driven with Emotive Audio Sira Pre-amp= best sound I heard from the Aleph 3
david12
1,454 posts
 
I tried my Aleph 3 with a Pass X2, if I remember correctly and it was horrible. Neither I nor the dealer, nor Pass the company, could figure it out. I got great results from 2 tube pre's, but I prefer tube pre's anyway, first a Graaf WBT then Conrad Johnson premier 17. Both were excellent
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