Aleph 3 - Its 2013, are they still awesome ?

I have not heard the Aleph L. I did have a later model Aleph P with remote and then upgraded that to the X-1. My current XP-20 seems to combine and improve upon the basic character of these two pre amps: the rich, natural timbre and tonal balance of the Aleph P with the low noise floor and detail of the X-1. One caveat: I did change amps and speakers once during these pre amp upgrades, so I did not compare the three preamps in the exact same system, but I did compare the P to the X-1 in the same system and then the X-1 to the XP in the same system.

I do like the compactness and simple design of the Aleph L.

Just a final comment.

Its been a few weeks. I LOVE this amp. I finally got a taste of what hi-fi means for that much money.

Even my 89dB/4W humble Vienna Acoustics Haydn bookshelf speakers has such a new/great sound that I have temporarily shelved plans to buy a new speaker.

Am not even using a pre-amp, directly connecting it to a Benchmark HDR. Which I may replace with a Berkeley Audio Alpha Series 1, if things go well.

Thanks all for your feedback and help. Am still looking for speakers and pre-amps, but for now its enjoying/rediscovering my music.

Great news. I bet it is very musical,and easy on the ears drawing you into the music. Good for you!

Congrats. I thought you'd like them if you listened to them. If you need a bit more oomph, look into the Aleph 2 monos. Currently, I'm biamping them (to the HF and MF) with some Thresholds (to LF). But they did sound really great all by themselves.