Pass Aleph 1.2s.... Anyone familiar

The Pass Alephs are lovely amplifiers. There are competing amps that have better bass control, or better dynamic liveliness, but very, very few solid state amps can challenge the Alephs for midrange naturalness.

If your speakers are a difficult load in the bass (low impedance), or are a bit underdamped and demand lots of current and tight control, then the Alephs will not sound as tight and solid as a good competing amp. But chances are that competing amp will not begin to approach the midrange magic of the 1.2's. In serious high-end audio seldom is there a choice that's an across-the-board winner; almost always, there are tradeoffs.

I sell a couple of amps that I consider to be worthy competition for the Pass Aleph 1.2. If the Alephs were still made, I might very well be a Pass dealer.

What speakers do you have? I'd want to know that before telling you to jump all over the Aleph 1.2's the first chance you get.

Also, the Aleph series amps were a difficult load for some preamps - their input impedance tended to be unusually low. If you can find out what the input impedance of the 1.2 is, check with your preamp manufacturer and make sure it's happy driving that load.

Best of luck to you. I hope it turns out that the Alephs would work in your system, as they are truly superb amplifiers.

My speakers are Talon Peregrine Xs. They usually present a light load to the amplifier. They are rated at 90.5 db/watt but i hear they really have an effeciency of over 94 db. I dont know how damped my speakers are?

I think in the end i would probably end up buying an Aleph P preamp, but woud the amps low input impedence make using a passive preamp presently a real problem? Just curious... Thanks

I owned the Aleph 1.2's for a short period. They are fantastic and I have also heard the Levinson 33H. I say IMHO forget the 33H, it is not nearly as musical or emotionally invoving as the Aleph. Actually I'll be honest, after hearing nearly the Levinson ref sys (have not heard the 33 monos) I find it all just terribly bad sounding. I just got a 31.5 which I think is perhaps the worst sounding transport I have ever had in my home... Oh, yeah back to you :) I also owned the Talon Audio Khourus at the time I had the Aleph 1.2. I did not think there was a synergy there. The 1.2 did not seem to have the intestinal fortitude if you will to drive that speaker correctly. This came across as a closed in sound with less than stellar dynamics. I hear great things concerning the Talon gear and either the Pass Labs X350 or X600 monos.

Holiday Wishes,

Mike M

I have Aleph 2 monos (100/200 8/4) driven by a P, and find it thoroughly effortless with an 88dB/1w speaker with a 4 ohm woofer quite flat to 30Hz in room.

The lowish imput impedence DOES preclude passive use, IMO.
Using a P also allows running balanced with longish ICs at no sacrifice. The combination, even with my unshielded Red Dawn (Alephs LOVE Nordost) ICs the setup is DEAD quiet. Phew!

Can't imagine the 1.2 wouldn't drive your speakers handsomely....

Also, the P drives my Sennheiser 600 well right off the RCAs.

I am not trying to be a smarty pants by saying this, but... I understand Subaruguru's point of "Can't imagine the 1.2 wouldn't drive your speakers handsomely....", however, I owned the 1.2 and the Khourus thus I do not have to imagine, it is not a good combination for the reason I stated in the prior post.

Best regards,

Mike M