Aleph-3 Questions

I purchased my Aleph 3 as a demo with very few hours on it. I was initially disappointed that it did not sound as good--a little raw--as the used ones I had heard. Once broken in, I have no complaints. Be patient; I think you will be very pleased. FYI, I use mine as mid/tweeter only in a bi-amped system but I don't think that makes any difference, other than the Aleph is probably a better treble than bass amplifier. The 3 has only 20 db gain and an input impedance of only 23Kohms; mismatches could detract from its performance. Cheers,

You sound like me. I am very hard on every new piece of gear--fear of failure, perhaps. I say relax and let this wonderful piece of gear break in. And yes, it needs at least one hour of warm up before sounding good. And longer is better. Going directly from a tube amp (especially an old style like the ST-70) to ANY solid state is an adjustment. It is not necessarily a matter of "better" but different. Although in this case, I think you will eventually see the Aleph 3 is much better. I replaced my Dynaco ST-70 in 1961 with a Marantz 8B--much improved sound-which I used for about 25 years. This was replaced with a solid-state Marantz (MA-5), later with Adcom GFA-555, then a Krell KMA-100 Mk.2 which was finally replaced by the Aleph 3 on mid/highs of a bi-amped system. The Aleph is hands down the best of the bunch--within its power range, of course. Relax and enjoy.