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Review: Pass Labs Aleph 3 Amplifier

Category: Amplifiers

Old design, apparently still sends tremors in the shape of dissmisal or wholhearted approval, througout the audio community. Regardless of all the fuss, the Aleph is thing of the past, along with Aleph 30. Scratched of the board. Finished. Done! Even Nelson has distanced himself from this design, by going probably more modern path?!
So why all of the fuss? Is this "box" soo good to become a classic, or it is "lifeless", "collored" etc... that some had named this amp?
Just replaced my old SFC-1 (also reviewed) with Pass Aleph 3. And now, when all the excitment is over with, i feel i can draw some conclusions about this amp.
I have several CD's that have been my favorites for last couple of years that i am familiar with. And would for sure know if something is missing, or if i would to hear MORE? In fact that's the same reason we usualy upgrade.
I chose 'bare bones' Cary Slp-50 tube amp, with two 12au7's running in pure class a operation (that's what technical data said). Old (1994) defunct DPA three piece DAC/Dpa T1 transport totaling over $15K when new. I figure, if it was great then, it must be good now?
Speakers are DIY watt/puppy clones (Focal/Seas/Peerless and all the good x-over parts)
Wire Discovery 123 speaker cable, Pbj for Dac/pre and unknown Monster pre/amp (i am not big into wires)

Sound? My tube amp had deeper soundstage, and solid imaging. Softer treble, and looser bass. What gave overall darker presentation. Even 'emotional' sound that was definitely sign of higher colloration than the Pass. Much higher! I just had to play piano (Satie Piano Works vol.1 Naxos) to hear those high notes, where sound is like striking chips of ice againsteach other. Alwas have complained about Sony's John Williams The Guitarst, and the sound quality. Aleph brought these performance much closer to me, even at the low volume levels. Bossa Nova brasil on Verve in past, alwas brought bass troubles int my system. Even though that Alep 3 is not supposed to DO bass, still brought some improvement. Especialy, with electric bass! Robert Lucas Luke and Locmotives(Audioquest), was feast and the beast! On this one i had to turn-up the volume somewhat. Not because of lack of dynamics,but for pure joy!
Large orchestra and Pass did wonderful job together! Berloz Symphony Fantastique, with all the bells and whistles was outstanding wit its panoramic soundstage!Bruckner symp. No 4 (Naxos), and quite slow beginning wasn't just empty space. I could "peek" into the concert hall and hear many things they were just void, in the past. When all the action started in Rossini's Barbiere di Sivilia (ACUM), all came together but still preserved steady placement of the individual instruments. Meaning, that there was a lot of going on i wasn't aware of!
YoYo Ma's Bach's suites, Cello did sounded "woody" with tho dose of high energy, that sounded like flatulance on my tube amp. Very impressive with the Quarteto Italiano's Beethoven Late Quartets vol.2. This analog recording outclasses all the modern recorded attempts.
The amp delivers detail, detail lots of it! But it doesn't do just that. It comunicates the artist intentions. It isn't "cold", nor "warm". It is just. Music. With purity that Aleph delivers, i do not believe i'll be looking for more! It runs hot, but not as hot as my old tube amp with four Kt90's.

Other recordings: Calamus Splendor of Andalus Ma rec
Arvo Part Tabula Rasa naxos
Wagner Taunhauser opera
Mozart collection 10 cd's

Associated gear
Cary slp-50, Dpa Dac/T1 transport

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Showing 2 responses by sean

sean
6,231 posts
 
Glad to see another "convert" into Nelson's camp. While i do believe that the Aleph's were a divergence from most of his prior work and his current offerings, i think that the love and finesse that he puts into any product shines through as far as sonics are concerned. I don't doubt one bit that you like what you hear and am glad that you are enjoying your purchase. Sean
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sean
6,231 posts
 
El: My experience with the various Nelson Pass designed amps that i've tinkered with have led me to believe that they are highly load dependent. That is, they are somewhat of a chameleon in terms of sonic characteristics. Most of what one will hear will depend on the impedances that they are presented with. While this makes for a VERY "hit or miss" type of experience with them in terms of system compatibility, my experience is that they tend to work best with lower impedance loads AND prefer to be left on 24/7 for increased thermal stability.

With the above in mind, Pass amps can be quite finicky when it comes to speaker cabling. If you can couple them to a speaker cable with a low nominal impedance ( high capacitance / low inductance ) and low strand count ( solid core or lower count stranded ) and a speaker that has a lower nominal impedance, you'll probably be quite happy with them. If you're using speaker cables with a lot of stranding and / or higher impedance speakers, you might end up with hard, bright and sterile sound. Like anything else in audio, it is all a balancing act and a matter of personal choices. Sean
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