Aleph Owners and Users...


Are there sonic differences between the different Aleph models (i. e., 0, 1.2, 3, 4 & 5)? If so, what is the best sounding amp. of the bunch, and why? Why were the 0 and 3 the only Stereophile Class A amps? What about the 1.2, 2, 4 & 5s? Does it relate back to sound/performance vs. the other models? Which Aleph model is the best overall? Does anybody have a recommendation on an Aleph model vs. an ARC V100 mkII? Thanks for the help.
mbkwood0ecf
Tom: To my knowledge, the Aleph 3,5, 4, 2, and 1.2 all use 2 gain stages. The 0 and 0s used three.
Drubin, I don't have the option of biamping or biwiring with my Quad ESL 63's. But for anyone who does, I'd certainly give it a try, though I'd ask Nelson Pass about it first. I don't think there's any risk to amps or speakers, but there still may be wisdom to be gained as to how well various arrangements work. I'm simply connecting both inputs and outputs in parallel. The biggest benefit, I think, comes with the short speaker cables that monoblocks permit. But once you have that, why not try for even more? Nelson Pass is good about responding to emails, in my experience. Look at www.passlabs.com to get their email address. Good luck!
Pardon my density here, but if you can't biamp or biwire with your Quads, how are you using the Aleph 3's as monoblocks? It's a stereo amp without bridging capability, is it not? Maybe you are using one channel per amp...
No density apologies called for, I should have explained (if I didn't). Following Nelson Pass's advice, I'm paralleling both inputs, through Y-adapters for my interconnect cables, and outputs, by bundles of wire between L/R binding posts. I'm told that I MAY get some advantage, with reactive loads, in regard to transient responds, by using both channels of the Aleph 3's, and since I can't turn one of them off, that's what I'm doing. The benefits of short speaker cables--and they are huge, IMHO--can still be had by leaving one channel on each Aleph 3 empty, and maybe it would sound just as good, who knows? (Maybe Nelson Pass would, and he did recommend the parallel wiring using both channels.)
I use the Aleph 2 to feed the top of the Apogee Mini Grands. all i can say is MAGIC!