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

Arupg,

I have a friend who biwires his Kimber Select 3033 from his Aleph 4 to his Vandersteen 3. He uses KS 3033 on the treble and Kimber 4TC on the bass. His preamp is Audible Illusions Modulus 3 (not 3A) and his source is Micromega transport and Forte DAC. Introduction of the KS 3033 significantly improved the musicality of his system and lowered the dynamics from superb to excellent. Treble was more extended and more prominent without being too bright.
My system is quite similar: Vandersteen 3A Signature, Aleph 4, CAT Ultimate and I was using his Bow ZZ-Eight at the time for digital. We both use Kimber PBJ between CD/DAC and Pre and JPS Superconductor 1 between Pre and Power and I normally use a shotgunned biwire Kimber 4TC for speaker cable. When I tried his Kimber KS-3033, it absolutely did not work, so my feeling is that use of this cable is highly system dependent. You won't know unless you try. I think that at least for my taste as well as my friend's, we both found the KS-3033 to be a bright cable, particularly when fitted with the WBT connectors and with less bass than would be neutral. That is why he used it only for the treble. It improved the balance of his system which was a little bass heavy.

As far as whether the Aleph will suit you, I don't know. I think you need an audition. Some say they are quite tube-like (as far as solid state goes). I am not a tube man, so I don't relate to that designation. They have no solid-state nasties. They are certainly never, ever bright. If anything, they are laid back. Overall, I haven't heard a more complete amp, but certainly there are many that I haven't heard. It might be a good combo with the B&W's which I find a little bright. Your CJ might tame the system even more. If you can, go audition before you buy and let us know what you think.

Hello Rayhall:
Thanks for the input on the KS3033. I suspected that they could get a bit on the bright side as Kimber claims more air, & more air! Maybe, Cardas either "golden cross" or "Golden Ref" make be the cable for me then. As regards to the Aleph1.2s, yes, I wanted an amp without the usual solidstate nasties (which is the odd-order distortions). How do you feel about your CAT / Aleph 4 marriage, esp considering the low input imp of the Alephs and the fairly high output imp of tube preamps.

Hi Arupg,

I think the CAT output impedance is around 300 ohms, but I am not sure that I remember correctly. Since I am at work, I'll have to go home to check. If that is the impedance, it shouldn't be a mismatch. Nevertheless, unfortunately sonically, the CAT/Aleph in my system is not a match made in heaven. I have heard the CAT sound better with other power amps such as the Plinius. It is strictly an issue of synergy. As I said before, the Plinius doesn't come clost to the Aleph as an amp, IMO, but it did have better synergy than the CAT. With the CAT/Aleph combo, there isn't really anything wrong, but I have heard the system sound more liquid, more airy and spacious and more dynamic. Since almost any change in any component of the system can upset things, I have taken the attitude that I can improve things significantly by improving my digital source which is my next area of focus. I don't want you to think that my system sounds bad, currently. It doesn't. I don't hear many which sound better to my ears. But I think there is room for improvement. None of what I say reflects on the Aleph 4 as an amp directly. At this level, I believe synergy is more important than absolute quality (if there is even such a thing).

I've tried the kimber 1120 i/c's and they worked just fine.

My favorites, of course, are the nordost Red Dawn and SPM. Their inherent quickness and transparency really bring out the pass labs speed. The acoustic zen is a very good speaker cable too. It's not as fast nor as transparant as the nordost SPM cable, but is very smooth and excellent overall. If you are staying with the cj preamp, you should give this cable a try.

Because of their speed and transparency, the alephs seem to benefit from big dolla cables more than most.

My feeling is that all the Nordost interconnects and speaker cables, even Nordost SPM, roll off the deep bass. If you can, set up an audition between SPM and Kimber 4TC which definitely doesn't roll off the deep bass. Nordost SPM has a gorgeous bloomy upper midrange and high end, but I think you will find that it it at the expense of the lowest notes of the pipe organ, jazz bass, piano etc.