Pass Aleph-3 questions


I have a Aleph-3 and it gets bright in the upper mids at high volume.I believe it may be clipping.I have tried just about everything to tame it.My conclussion is its clipping.Anyone ever experienced this? Has anyone used 2 Aleph-3's? If so,what were the sonic differences between 1 amp compared to 2? Thanks!
david99
My speakers are 92 dB 8 ohm.It sounds wonderful at moderate volume but when I push it hard it becomes very bright.I have tried different tubes in my 99,different interconnects,speaker cables,different speaker placement,room treatment.I have tamed it a bit but not enough.My 99 output impedence is 100 ohm.I guess I will have to get used to listening to my rock and metal at moderate levels which is still quite loud but I thought I would get more (clean) volume out of this lttle guy.
If your listening to rock and "metal" with 92 db speakers, 200 wpc is not enough to REALLY "jam". You've got the wrong amp for what your trying to do. Sean
>
I would say 200 wpc with 92 dB speakers is plenty of power for rock and metal and probably over kill! The Pass is 30 wpc and Im almost there now.It plays louder than I need but as I have said it gets bright at very high volume.Its a single ended amp and has a midrange to die for.I wouldnt trade it for an over kill amp anyday.Lots more to music than volume anyway,and this amp plays music! Tubes,single ended and analog is where its at for me.I have a friend who just bought a 225 wpc amp and sure it plays louder but not as much as I imagined it would.It just goes to show in this hobby you cant have everything but I still will keep the Pass.
David: Other than my lengthy off forum reply, there are certain speaker cables that give a boost to the area of sound that you describe (upper midrange). I have found that some of the lower priced Kimber Kables that I have tried have done this in both of my systems (4TC, 8TC & 4VS to a lesser extent). I assume that other cables also have this characteristic as it does add a sense of liveliness to the sound, that I like as long as it is not too extreme. I am not knocking Kimber at all because I use them myself, but I would not advise them for your setup. Some people feel that "covering up" a system defect is not the way to go, but I just look at it as fine tuning and not accenting what I don't care for in the sound, all cables are tone controls to a certain extent. I once memo'd a pair of Transparent cables (lot of talk about them lately). They were Music Waves that retailed for around $300.00 for a 12 ft pair. They did not accent this area at all, but had a less engaging sound in my system at the time (my room is not very lively either). Anyway, I wonder if something like this would get the best out of your system?
Dekay,I had Kimber 8TC, Harmonic Tech.Pro-11 and MIT T-2 biwire for an audition and I went with the MIT.They pushed the upper mids back a bit without losing detail.They also have the best bass of the bunch.The soundstage seems more natural also.Thank you for your off site response.I plan on getting back to you (too many kids around today)