I spent several days comparing the Pass Labs Aleph 1.2 to my reference amplifier—the $9900/pair Boulder 500AE monoblock, using my Dunlavy Signature SC-VI loudspeakers. Both models share the ability to produce copious amounts of volume without stress, but each excels in dramatically different sonic parameters. My DATs of the Young Philharmonic Orchestra of Munich performing in Boulder's Chatauqua Auditorium, which I had recorded with J. Gordon Holt, had superior three-dimensionality through the Alephs…
search
Steven Stone compared the 500AE with the Pass Aleph 1.2 in November 1997 (Vol.20 No.11):
We all have biases. The trick is knowing your biases so they don't get in your way. Mine are pretty obvious. I don't like "fussy" gear that demands special care and feeding. I'm lazy—I want to just turn stuff on and begin listening. Perhaps that's why I have a positive bias toward Nelson Pass's designs. They're reliable, untweaky, and usually sound good.
The Aleph 1.2 is the third piece of Pass Labs electronics I've lived with. I own a pair of Aleph 0 amplifiers, and I reviewed the Aleph P preamp in the February '96 Stereophile. Because of my past experience with Pass gear, my…
So they're hot, they're happening, and they're pretty damn awesome. But exactly what qualities make the Aleph 1.2 so sonically stupendous? My listening notes include copious references to the 1.2's lack of any sort of electronic signature. This is a midrange to die for—clean without a trace of an electronic signature. In addition to its nonelectronic nature, the 1.2 also has unflappable suavity. Nothing ruffles its calm. Even the most dynamic material in my arsenal, like the JGH/SS private recording of the 1812 Overture, complete with howitzers, didn't rock the 1.2's world. This sense of…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
This review was the first full Equipment Report conducted in my alternate listening space, a room 16' square with an 8' ceiling. These are terrible proportions—all the dimensions support the same standing-wave frequencies. I needed to install lots of damping—heavy velvet drapes on three windows, a large overstuffed sofa, an area rug—before the room became tolerable.
The main stereo speakers, Paradigm Reference Studio/60s, flank a library table bearing a 27" television, the speakers farther forward of the table. The center speaker, a Paradigm…
Sidebar 3:Measurements
I measured the Myryad MDP 500's performance through all three sets of inputs: digital, analog, and multichannel analog. (The last are the only ones fed to the outputs without being digitized.) The input impedance via both sets of analog inputs was a moderate 16.7k ohms at 1kHz. The MDP 500's output impedance was a low (good) 59 ohms at 1kHz, rising slightly and inconsequentially to 68 ohms at 20Hz and 61 ohms at 20kHz.
With the volume control set to "0" and the A/D analog sensitivity set to "–3," which is how Kal Rubinson had used the unit, a 1V input level…
Recently, I caught myself smiling at a tiny ad for Nirvana cables that proclaimed them to be "the quiet cable." My smile wasn't because the claim was outlandish, which it wasn't, but because it was so typical of Nirvana Audio Products—small, understated, and all too easy to miss. The ad could just have easily and just as accurately have read "Nirvana...the quiet company."
Nirvana's first product, their Transmission Digital Interface, went on sale in 1992. Although virtually no advertising surrounded its launch, it quickly became an underground success. Ever since, Nirvana's…
Monty Alexander's piano on Never Make Your Move Too Soon was another great example. It wasn't just notes—each note was a sharp, clean hammer blow, followed immediately by a blooming vibrating stream and enveloped a half-heartbeat later by the distinct, building resonance of the piano's soundboard and body.
Perhaps most obviously, the S-X improved dramatically on its predecessor's performance at the frequency extremes. One test I use for high-frequency performance is the cymbals on Never Make Your Move Too Soon, particularly "What a Dif'rence a Day Made." The image should hang tangibly in…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Fully balanced interconnect cable.
Prices: $1095/0.5m pair, $200/m additional length (2001), $1185/0.5m pair, $1400/1m pair, $220/0.5m additional length (2008), single-ended (RCA) or balanced (XLR) termination. Approximate number of dealers: 10. Warranty: limited, lifetime, transferable.
Manufacturer: Nirvana Audio, P.O. Box 448, Lynbrook, NY 11563. Tel: (516) 593-4700. Fax: (513) 599-1997. Web: www.nirvanaaudio.com.
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: VPI TNT turntable, JMW Memorial tonearm, Grado Reference cartridge.
Digital source: Simaudio Moon Eclipse CD player.
Preamplifier: VAC CPA1 Mk.III.
Power amplifiers: Classé CAM 350, VAC Renaissance 70/70 Mk.II, Mark Levinson No.20.6.
Loudspeakers: Magnepan MG 3.6/R.
Accessories: Bright Star Rack of Gibraltar and isolation systems; MIT Z Systems, PAC Super IDOS, Nirvana AC isolation and delivery systems; VPI 16.5 LP-cleaning machine, Sumiko Fluxbuster; Nordost ECO3, Music Fidelity DiskSolution CD treatments; Sheffield/XLO Test…
As the person who "invented" subjective testing, I have followed with great interest the many articles in the mainstream audio press which purport to prove that none of us can really hear all the differences we claim to hear, particularly those between amplifiers. My reaction has usually been: "Why didn't they invite me to participate? I would have heard the differences under their double-blind listening conditions." I could make that assertion with supreme confidence because I had never been involved in any such test.
A few weeks ago, however, I was involved in such a test. It happened…