Aleph 3. Anybody used one?

[walpurgis]

I know its been around for a while, but I've had a hankering for a Nelson Pass Aleph 3 power amp for some reason. Has anybody here got extensive experience of this device? I'd be interested to hear opinions and about any comparisons made. I use (amongst others) a Nelson Pass designed Forte Model 2 Class A pre-amp and I find it pretty impressive. The Aleph 3 is similar in concept to my Monarchy Audio Class A power amps, which I suppose is why I'm interested. Would it be more and better? Hard to see how though as the little Monarchy amps are really something.

[jandl100]

I had one for a weekend loan from those nice guys at Walrus in London.
I used it with the high efficiency (102dB/W) Avantgarde Uno horn hybrids that I had at the time.
I would have imagined that to be an ideal match.
I was really excited at finding a used example having read the rave reviews and fully expected to buy it.

Yuk. Moderate rez at best, a whole layer of detail was removed.
Pleasant enough, but 'pleasant' doesn't really do it for me.

Maybe that's the Pass Sound - and if you like that then maybe you'll like the Aleph 3, too.
But I've never gone back to the brand.

[walpurgis]

What pre and source did you have at the time? Its strange that the Aleph 3 gave you a feeling of lost detail. I've not heard it accused of that before, but if that was your experience maybe there was a mismatch of some sort. Thanks in any case.

[jandl100]

Pre & source? Dunno. This must have been 12-14 years ago!

On Audioreview, I posted a review on the Aleph 3 and someone else posted exactly the same impression. The Avantgarde speakers are very hi-rez, it could be that the Aleph 3 is good enough for most speakers.

Hmm, it was dynamically slow and bland as well. I was really disappointed.

But many people prefer a smoother sound, and the Aleph 3 would be fine for them.