[FS] Nelson Pass Aleph 3 Pwr amp. Excellent

[GDBD59]

I bought this recently, this is the ex-Tony L. Aleph that he re-capped in 2021, and is documented in this thread.
https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/pass-aleph-3.259204/

My speakers are 92dB Triangle floorstanders. My existing amps are tiny Class D monoblocks (though 100 Watt) The Triangle are 8 Ohm, but drop down to around 3 Ohm at low frequencies. I had wondered if a beefy Class A would change the bass. When this was advertised I kinda 'jumped' at it, as they don't often come up for sale.

My normal listening levels preference are lower than Mr Average, - there were several rooms at last year's WAM show that I didn't get past the door of, - I'm not good at tolerating gigs-levels, & at a recent 'bake-off' I didn't like the sound level from huge floorstanders.

At my normal, & 'pretty loud' noise levels, the Aleph don't sound any better than the Class D's.

My visiting-partner thought the same, but she likes & can tolerate louder music, & that's when the Aleph was great.

I also have a pair of 86dB speakers, & they sound better driven by the Aleph than by the Class D's.

So whether it's as simple as the speaker sensitivity?
Or the output from my pre being a factor, - the volume is not turned anywhere near 50%. ??


It is in superb condition, I love the rugged looks of it, but sadly it's not for me.

£1200.

Buyer to arrange their preferred Courier.






20240417_130312 by Gary Dunn, on Flickr

20240417_130347 by Gary Dunn, on Flickr

20240417_130417 by Gary Dunn, on Flickr

20240417_130509 by Gary Dunn, on Flickr

20240417_133218 by Gary Dunn, on Flickr

20240418_135906 by Gary Dunn, on Flickr

 

[irb]

Wow, two for sale at once! I'm surprised - my Aleph 5 is going nowhere. The impedance of the Triangles could well be a factor. My Aleph sounds amazing with 8 ohm ribbons, but isn't happy with my 4 ohm woofers and mids (which are actually around 3 ohms in practice).

Good luck with the sale.

 

[GDBD59]

Bump

 

[karlsushi]

Well thanks for that. Put my A3 up for sale and a day later you put the same amp up for £300 cheaper

Thing is, if mine doesn't sell, I will be secretly pleased. Fabulous amps and have a bump on me.

And just a note regarding ohm ratings. The beauty of SS Class A designs is the way they double down into lower loads, so that is unlikely to be the issue. I'm sure Mr Pass suggests this amp should be perfectly happy into 2 or even 1 ohm loads.

GLWTS

 

[irb]

@karlsushi Aleph 3 manual says its rated 30w into 8 ohms, 60w into 4 ohms, 60w into 2 ohms. My comments above about my own Aleph 5, a different model after all, do seem too harshly worded, with hindsight. Can't edit now, unfortunately. I do think finding the right amp/speaker match is crucial for these, though.

These are wonderful amps, single ended class A, bulletproof, total classics, and normally near-impossible to get hold of anywhere. They're a classic piece of industrial design too.

GLWTS, both.

 

[Darth Vader]

If you listen at low loudness then the lack of bass may be due to the way the ear works - at low loudness the ear is less sensitive in the bass. Look up Fletcher–Munson equal loudness curves.

Some older amps had a loudness control which was really a bass boost. So you might try something that allows you to boost the bass frequencies for low loudness playback.

DV

 

[Doomlord_uk]

I seem to recall the Stereophile review (I think it was Stereophile) saying these would actually drive a short... not sure it's a good idea to test that idea though! Also fondly remember another comment about these not being amps you'd want to play catch with.

Now that there are two of these for sale... the thought of bi-amping with them occurs... luckily for me I have no spare cash (right now) to go for these lol.

 

[GDBD59]

@karlsushi........ yeah sorry for the coincidental timing, - I'm just selling at the same price I paid.

As to the other comments, - I don't listen 'quietly'. I actually enjoy turning the volume up quite a bit when I'm in an adjacent room. My Triangle's don't sound good at low volume....no use as a nearfield, but the Pass feeding them didn't improve the sound over my Class D, until it got to louder than I'm personally comfortable with.

 

[Tim Jones]

I am sad to see this, as I sold you the amp (and confirming you are selling for what you paid me). I had many fabulous listening sessions with it.

What these don't like (and Pass Labs mentioned this explicitly to me) is high-ohmage speakers like LS3/5s. Issues are more likely to be at the preamp end. I used passives with great success with line sources, but no good with MC/phono stage, to which end I used a Primare Pre32 with adjustable gain. That worked very well.

I think someone on here (Dan someone?) actually has the even more rare Aleph P preamp - I assume this is the one with adjustable gain for each channel and a "master" volume.

 

[GDBD59]

I don't have enough knowledge to say more than I have Tim, but the S/C pre is going nowhere, - I know it's very good. It has been used as a pre into Class D, & at least two Class a/b integrated's & was better than an Ayre K5. The speakers long-term I don't know yet, but they sound very good with the Aleph 3 & Class D.

 

[GDBD59]

Bump. Well-priced classic amp recently re-capped. Excellent condition inside & out.

 

[dan m]

I think someone on here (Dan someone?) actually has the even more rare Aleph P preamp - I assume this is the one with adjustable gain for each channel and a "master" volume.

That would be me. One of the last ones made, with remote control. Wonderful sound and build quality. If I didn’t already have a very nice Ayre amp I would buy the matching amp. The first time I heard one was in Jazz Big Boy in Tokyo driving big 4343B JBLs. Sounded great.

 

[GDBD59]

To the front.

 

[GDBD59]

Up. Can be collected, I should have added, located just north of Darlington.