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Alvin Gold commented on the Ekos in March 1989 (Vol.12 No.3):

The heavyweight arm introduction of the year, of course, is the Linn Ekos. Visually almost identical to the Ittok, it is a triumph of the artisan, being essentially bankrupt of new thinking, especially when measured against the Roksan Artimez. Instead, it could be seen as the triumph of evolution over revolution. But it is a triumph.

The arm is not the same as the Ittok because almost all the components are different. I think only the bias force dial—incidentally, the only item…

Martin Colloms commented on the Ekos in March 1990 (Vol.13 No.3):

Based on the well-loved Ittok—the first of the true super arms—the $1750 Ekos looks very similar to its forebear and is distinguished by its excellent all-black finish and the incorporation of the arm-rest in the pillar. Ekos seeks a higher mechanical and sonic performance standard, which engineering intuition indicates would confer benefits. (In practical terms, it offers little measurable improvement.)

The form may be similar but the build has been improved. Three…

Apart from considerations of sound quality, a major reason audio perfectionists have resisted the blandishments of CD is because its hardware is…

It was time for some rowdy music—Fair Warning by Van Halen (Warner Bros. 3540-2). Now the slight rounding and mellowing effect of the Quicksilvers was starting to come in handy! This kind of recording, having been engineered for the masses, can actually sound more natural when something in the system…

I hope I'm not giving too much away too soon with the statement that I wish I'd had more state-of-the-art equipment on hand to use in the system with the Aleph 3. During the fairly lengthy review period, the Assemblage DAC-2, Audio Alchemy DITB, CAL Gamma, and Rotel RDP-980 D/A converters took turns as the source component. Digital signals came from either the Audio Alchemy DDS III or the Rotel RDD-980 transport. Jitter boxes used were the Audio Alchemy DTI Plus, Monarchy DIP, and the Theta TLC, alone and sometimes in series. The preamplifier was an Audio…

The review text file from Muse Kastanovich in my CompuServe mailbox had an addendum attached to it. "Shake yo' groove thing, ya ya." it read. "I think it would be good for John Atkinson to take a listen to the Aleph 3 in his own system. I feel the Aleph 3 is worthy of Class A, and at its price that's quite a breakthrough. Thanks—Muse K." Then I read his review. He put the little Aleph 3 up against my personal reference, the humongous Mark Levinson No.333? And against a longtime favorite of Sam Tellig, the Quicksilver M-135? And found it superior to…

For an ambitious single-ended/balanced comparison I hooked up the Pass Aleph 3 SE MOSFET power amplifier, which I reviewed in the April 1997 Stereophile (Vol.20 No.4, p.196). The first CD up was one that I noticed had been served particularly well by the Sonic Frontiers Power-1 in a previous listening session: Kathleen Battle's French Opera Arias, with the Orchestra of the Bastille Opera (Deutsche Grammophon 447 114-2).

The top octave was a little silkier with the Pass amp, the…

Description: Stereo power amplifier with single-ended, class-A output stage. Power output: 30W into 8 ohms (14.8dBW), 60W into 4 or 2 ohms (14.8dBW, 11.8dBW, respectively). Frequency response: 2Hz-100kHz, -0.5dB. Input impedance: 23k ohms. Voltage Gain: 20dB. Output impedance: 0.08 ohms. 1kHz distortion: 0.2% at 30W (8 ohms), 1% at 60W (4 or 2 ohms). DC offset: ±100mV. Power consumption: 250W at all times.
Dimensions: 12" W by 6" H by 12" D. Shipping weight: 38 lbs.
Serial number of unit tested: 5736.
Price: $2300. Approximate number of dealers: 40.…

Following its 1/3-power, one-hour preconditioning test the Aleph 3's heatsinks were hot, though not unexpectedly so for a class-A design.

The input impedance of the Aleph 3 measured 22.3k ohms. The output impedance was at or under 0.1 ohms up to 1kHz, and just slightly higher (0.12 ohms) at 20kHz. The amplifier's voltage gain measured 20.3dB—low, as amps go, but close to specification. DC offset measured 48mV in the left channel, 46mV in the right, both fairly high figures but not high enough to cause any real problems. Signal/noise (ref. 1W into 8 ohms)…