Aleph-3 Questions

So what speakers do you have? Maybe their topped out. I hope you don't have dunlavy or vandersteens (or the like). You may need something more revealing to let the aleph shine through.

Hi guys,thanks for all the advice.My speakers are Paradigm Studio Reference 80 v-1.My I.C.from my Rogue99 with phono are H.T. Prosilway MK2.Anyway my "Dream amp" is sounding mighty fine tonight.I need to get used to the sound and give it much more time to prove its self to me.I have pretty much been disappointed initially with everything I put new into my system(except BD #4 cones) under the Rogue.Im sure after another hundred hours or so I will be very happy.I got a great deal on it and could make a couple hundred if I decide to sell it so Im not sweating it.Oh it sounds so good right now! Listening to "Dark Side Of The Moon" Vinyl(of course) Thanks again!

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.

Hello David, As suggested earlier, some of the problem might be a preamp mismatch . Generally , you'd want the Output impedence of the Preamp to be 10 X ( Input Impedence of the Amp ) . Since the Aleph series have an very low input impedence, around 10 kohms ....you'd want a preamp with an output impedence of 1000 ohms or less . Most tube pre's have an output impedence of 1000 ohms or More ...and thus are not idealy suited to the Aleph series . A tubed exception is the Sonic Frontiers Line series of pre's ( technically speaking,..haven't tried the match ) . You may want to try a non-remote Aleph P ( around $1100 used ) ...the Aleph L isn't said to be so good ( I've tried the P , not the L ) . Or , you might try the Nelson Pass designed Adcom 750 preamp ( used about $750 ) . The Aleph 3 should be more transparent than the Dyn. tube amp , by a large amount . Also, it should open a whole new level of detail, nuance . Stage/image should be clearer and less wooly , ...if not bigger, stage should be better defined . A lot of staging will be down to the speaker placement as well, so you might want to do some work there ... Good luck, Martin .

rogue sez their 99 preamps' output impedence is 100 ohms, but this *can't* be correct, as my experiments w/crossing the outputs w/resistors indicates an output impedence in the 2k-2.4k range. fwiw... doug