What after Aleph 3, need more juice?


Bought Watt/Puppy 5.1, Aleph 3 isn't up to task in my new bigger room. Love Aleps but need more power. Any suggestions please? Maybe i should sell W/P and buy other speakers to match my amp...?
darqo30011ffe
I've a similar system, WP5.1 and Aleph 3 in a medium sized room so I know why you like this combination. I have a number of other amps as well, when I want more power I switch to a BAT VK-200, it really integrates well with the WP's. You should give this a try, they cost about 1650 used (maybe less now that a new model is coming out from BAT), 100 WPC into 8, 200 into 4. And you won't miss the heat buildup that you are used to from the Aleph, the BAT runs very hot. The only thing is that they have balanced only inputs and you need an adaptor if you don't have a balanced pre.
I had the opportunity to borrow a friend's Aleph 3 last spring to compare to my BAT VK3i and found they share many of the same positive qualities.

Some of the differences I noticed were that the Aleph 3 did acoustic guitars better than the BAT creating a very REAL and absorbing experience. Both had very deep soundstages, but the BAT was much wider. And when it comes to power and ease of matching to a preamp, well the BAT wins that one pretty easily.

South Park is exactly right, the VK200 runs just a hair cooler than the Aleph 3, and at 1500-1600 bucks it's a great bargain.

However, if you could swing the extra cash, monoblock Aleph 2s would be pretty sweet!
In rereading your post, don't sell the Wilson's! You can get amazing sound, just up the power, they can take it. Also, the Watts are designed to be connected to the Puppy crossover, so you should not biamp them as suggested above, and the manual agrees on this point. I have heard that Krell amps work well with these speakers. I also have Counterpont SA-100 modded by Mike Elliot which works wonders, and which fills the room just as much as the BAT.
hmmm...? W/P 5.1, are 4ohm, Aleph 3 is 60wpc into 4ohm! How BIG is your room...? If Aleph's 60watt (class A) wont do, you need more than a 100-200wpc in AB. Maybe Plinius 100 MkIII with 100wpc in class A? You ought to sell them and for the money get the Living Voice OBX.
I have used this speaker as my reference for six years. It has been my experience that they need a lot of power to sound their best. I have used a Krell KSA-150, BAT VK-500 with BAT-PAK, Pass Aleph 1.2 monoblocks (Aleph 2 is a better match for some reason) and the Pass X-600 monoblocks. The best match of the bunch seems to be the X-600's. They really make this speaker sing. I have a feeling that you can't go wrong with either the Pass X-250 or X-350 either.