Passlabs Aleph 1.2 with CJ Tube 17LS/16LS Preamp

That may not be the greatest of matches. (this is my meaningless opinion only!) Why ?

A) The aleph 2 amps never really seemed to have that much power. Unlike most ss amps, the alephs don't have linear power output respective to load. The aleph 2 put 100w into 8 ohms, but only 160w into 4. I know my 100w arc vt100 had significantly more powerful bass than the 100w alephs. The mccormack dna-1 DEMOLISHED them in the bass department too. Your B&W speakers have wonderful bass. They always seem to benefit from big amps.

B) I found that the aleph's sounded noticably better in balanced mode.

C) CJ gear is more of a warm/glow sound rather than high resolution. I found when I put a tube preamp (AI 3a w/NOS telefunken) in front of the aleph's, it seemed to take away their spooky clarity. Not a good match at all. I also found the vk-30Se/aleph 2 didn't sound quite as good as the aleph P/aleph 2. The 30SE did WONDERS for the vt100 though! I have not yet tried my new BAT vk-5i/NOS with my aleph 2's. I plan too in the near future - will report !

You're correct about the impedance issue; it's not a good match electrically. It also depends on how difficult your speakers are to drive; the B&Ws are pretty demanding in this department. With your proposed setup I would expect a lean bass presentation and possibly a rolled off high end as well. Good luck finding the right amp. I did just read a good review in the Absolute Sound of the Marsh A400 which is a bargain, i.e., $2000 for a 200 watt amp, and possibly a better match for the CJ pre.

While I agree that the cj/Pass Aleph combo is not the best way to go because of the impedance mismatch, I do want to point one thing out. Arupg is considering Aleph 1.2's not Aleph 2's. While they share the same topology, the Aleph 1.2 is a whole diffent animal than its little brother. The 1.2 is 200 watts into 8 0hms and about 300 into 4. Having spent time with both amps, this extra power seems to make a lot of difference.

I am currently using 1.2's on Wilson speakers and have all of the bass performance you could ever want. It is tight, deep and very controlled. I to have used the Alephs with BAT preamps (the VK-5i and the VK-50se) and found it to be a pretty synergistic combination (the 50se was the better match). Like John, the best results I got was with a Pass preamp (which is not surprising given the natural synergy of using components from the same manufactuer. The combination of a Pass X0 pre with the 1.2's is hard to beat.

The 1.2's will do an excellent job of driving the B & W's but I would not recommend using the cj preamp with them.