I just looked over the schematic for the Aleph 4 and balanced input certainly doesn't get you half the gain. It should double it. And the feedback is the feedback. That's not going to change.
Choice of Pass Labs Aleph for old MBL 101
I am looking for a good match for older MBL 101 (1990 production, no bass section / subwoofer, only three Radialstrahler units).
My current setup is:
Proceed PMDT - coaxial - Pass Labs D1 - rca - Pass Aleph 4 - 7 feet of 14 gauge copper - MBL 101.
(no fancy cables, I intend to move on to AES/EBU digital, XLR interconnects and some 8 feet of 10 gauge copper)
I skipped the preamp for now, as I listen only to digital, and Pass D1 has sufficient voltage swing to drive Aleph 4.
To characterise the current system's sound, once Aleph 4 has fully warmed up (a full hour), I am quite impressed.
The other day I noticed in our local, unassuming Hi-Fi store window a set of Pass Labs amps - a pair of Aleph 0 and an Aleph P. Asking price seemed fair (3000 Euros; as the store was closed, I know neither which version of Aleph P that is, nor if and when Aleph 0 s have their caps changed).
MBLs are =<4Ohm design (http://wegavision.pytalhost.com/MB/mbl92/, page 15: http://wegavision.pytalhost.com/MB/mbl92/MBL92_15_101.jpg).
Aleph 4 gives 100 W in 8 Ohm, and is optimised for 8 Ohm.
Aleph 0 is a 75 W amp, Class A SE at low power; however, it is able to leave Class A and do push-pull 150 W in 4 Ohm, and around five times higher impulse current than Aleph 4.
Now I wonder if MBL 101 would be better served by Aleph 0, or will it be more or less the same as Aleph 4 (or even worse)?
My current setup is:
Proceed PMDT - coaxial - Pass Labs D1 - rca - Pass Aleph 4 - 7 feet of 14 gauge copper - MBL 101.
(no fancy cables, I intend to move on to AES/EBU digital, XLR interconnects and some 8 feet of 10 gauge copper)
I skipped the preamp for now, as I listen only to digital, and Pass D1 has sufficient voltage swing to drive Aleph 4.
To characterise the current system's sound, once Aleph 4 has fully warmed up (a full hour), I am quite impressed.
The other day I noticed in our local, unassuming Hi-Fi store window a set of Pass Labs amps - a pair of Aleph 0 and an Aleph P. Asking price seemed fair (3000 Euros; as the store was closed, I know neither which version of Aleph P that is, nor if and when Aleph 0 s have their caps changed).
MBLs are =<4Ohm design (http://wegavision.pytalhost.com/MB/mbl92/, page 15: http://wegavision.pytalhost.com/MB/mbl92/MBL92_15_101.jpg).
Aleph 4 gives 100 W in 8 Ohm, and is optimised for 8 Ohm.
Aleph 0 is a 75 W amp, Class A SE at low power; however, it is able to leave Class A and do push-pull 150 W in 4 Ohm, and around five times higher impulse current than Aleph 4.
Now I wonder if MBL 101 would be better served by Aleph 0, or will it be more or less the same as Aleph 4 (or even worse)?