Pass Aleph amps suitable for HT?

Michael,

Where do you live? I'm here in Scottsdale, AZ. I have an Aleph 3 that goes into my music system only in the winter -
oct-march. This amp heats my bedroom in the winter! In the summer I'm back to my Rowland Model 2. Whichever amp is in use, is almost always on..
My video system is in the living room. I have a Parasound 1206 - always on & it runs relatively cool. I've never clipped this amp on music or video,(I use Montana SP's for my main speakers}. It's just not as musical as the Pass or Rowland.
If I were you I'd buy a used pair of Pass Aleph 2's & a strong 3 channel amp like the Parasound 2003A. You could drive just about any speakers, and in my opinion you'd have the best of music & video. This is the configuration I have planned if I go back to Magnepans for my main chainnels.
Remember, you can't bridge the Aleph 3 for a center channel,
only bi-wire, & there aren't many biwirable center channel speakers I've seen below the Aerial... I have a PSB C6-their top center channel, it's only got 1 set of binding posts.

Good Luck!

Daniel

I have sold the Pass line for quite some time now, and can tell you from first hand experience with the Aleph mono's on a number of higher end speakers of moderate sensativity like your Hales, that they will not really do it for home theater...unless you iike to listen to your HT very softly and don't expect much in the dynamics department! Really, dynamics and clarity should be what your after for home theater, even with low level iistening!...just more of what the mixer intended really! The only speakers I've heard do well with 30 watt or so Mono's from the Aleph line-up are higher sensitivtity speakers like Wilson's!!! In this case, when your talking about using a speaker that's 94 db sensative or higher, you can get very strong snappy dynamic performance with a good hi-current/lower wattage amp like the Aleph's, yes. But in your case, your already working with a modest sensitivity 4 ohm speaker that need's all the dynamic assist it can get!...using marginally powered amps isn't going to help you if you expect wowwie zowwie from your HT playback! And for music, if you only listen to vocals, instrumentals and small chamber music, you'll be fine with a smallish amp(s). If you want HT playback capabilities, Rock, Pop, Full Scale Orchestra, Percussion, etc, you'll be less thrilled with your choice!
I still think, if you want to stick with Nelson Pass's gear, the Pass X150 and above will do better service for double dubties, mixed with a 3 channel for the rest of the set-up..just will!
At any rate, if you do decide on the Pass Aleph's, and it sounds like your set on em but just want some encouragement to do so, I'd definitly not concider running em full range for HT chores. You should also be rolling the speaker off up higher from your surround processor(at say 60 hz or above), if you want to salvange any hopes from the speakers slapping at you durring action sceens! And don't even think about using these Hales full range with no surround sound pre/pro doing your processing for you for movies!!!...this is a no no for quality HT playback! If you plan on using a standard 2 channel preamp and amp combo for doing your home theater listening, you'll get muy muy week Dolby Digital playback from DVD's!!! You need a good surround sound processor to get the dynamics from the soundtracks. Otherwise it just sounds flat and lifeless!!! If you don't think so, just give it a try vs. a quality surround processor and see!
Anyway if you like the Aleph's (and they're very musical, clear and refined sounding), and are set on using em, just make sure you use a surround pre/pro for HT, and set the speakers for "small"!!!...you'll be way ahead of the game. Also, the lower expense, but otherwise good enough quality for center and rear channel dubties type 3 channel amp's (like the ATI's, Aragon's, Proceed's, McCormmack's, Classe's, or minimally, Adcom's and Acurus's) should be fine for the added speakers! Dialogue is alway's going to sound boxy and colored from the center, with less important rear action going on durring movie's, so you can get away with some amp here that's a good timber match and similar detail to you Aleph's for 3 channel dubties. Have fun none the less...

I'm using an Aleph 4 (100w/ch into 8ohms) for right and left and a Proceed Amp2 biwired for the center. (with all Revel speakers) It sounds wonderful!! The Aleph 4 has plenty of power and speed (slew rate is 30v/usec) for sound effects in movies. People are blown away by the realism. For stereo music, of course the A4 is beautiful. The Aleph line will recreate anything, just make sure you have enough power for the speakers you've chosen. You MUST have a proper digital processor though, to send the right signals to each channel, including a subwoofer. Don't use the analog out of your dvd player.