Aleph 2 - more gain

Dear supporters,
I woluld like to have more gain from my Aleph 2 monobloks.
I know that single ended connection give us 26db gain but rest of my equipment is balanced, and that‘s the only way I’ll go.
Please suggest….
1. maybe good preamp (Aleph P1.7 or other)
2. …or maybe (I don’t know) I could play with 10k input resistors (lower values)
3. …or something else 🙂

Tnx a lot
Tony,
 
can you describe rest of your system, upstream of Aleph 2?

26db of gain is respectable figure from such simple circuit, there is no much leeway to increase it further without increase in distortion, simply because open loop gain isn't especially high (increasing closed loop gain goes with price of decreasing already modest feedback, so distortion is rising, same as damping factor)

now, 26db is practically 20V/V

as Aleph 2 is 100W@8R, that means for full blast you need measly 1.41Vrms to balanced input

pretty much any balanced source nowadays is having at least that much, so if you need any sort of preamp it can be either simple buffering stage or preamp with moderate gain - 6db or so
 
Tnx Zen Mod on Your reply…
Aleph’s are driven by Cambridge Azur 851N network streamer in preamp mode and Monitor Audio Platinum 100II speakers…so far, sound is fantastic but I tought that little bit gain would be nice. Any how…I’m enjoying the sound a lot. I’ve asked because recently I’ve tried passive balanced volume control (Silk Audio) with +6db on XLR and it was beautiful 🙂.
Tnx a lot,
Tony
 
no technical facts about balanced level for Cambridge, neither on-line nor in user manual

in any case, hard to believe that Cambridge is not having at least 1.41Vrms at output, but anything could happen if taking in account that many audio files aren't exactly all the time redlining 0db

anyhow, why not just obtaining Silk and be done with it?

of course, if you're eager to DIY something, that's another issue

btw. Balanced Iron Pre is exactly what you need, if going DIY

https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...ya-store-register-your-interest.390509/latest
 
Sorry for hijacking this thread, but it was the youngest.
I have theese aleph 2 boards and tested them today with 15 volt, just like regular nmos test.
I wrote the currents in each emitter resistor under each device, a few boards look of, but are they to way off?
I know half is CCS other half gain , but could be swapped.
Number way down is the collective load current.
20231025_161016.jpg
20231025_160945.jpg
 
few boards look of, but are they to way off?
looking in quartets, all numbers are more than close enough

if you're going to combine quartets to get octets, just choose closest quartets to pair

so, you're good to proceed

note - I'm looking at 8somthing numbers, assuming that's mV across 1R

worse case is 827 vs. 845, inside quartet ...... and that's under 2.5%

nothing to worry
 
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