Original Aleph 3 can be bridged into mono amp?

[Pass lover]

Hi every body

I was wondering if somone bridge original Aleph 3 amp
to Mono block.

Due to the fact that its power is limited ( 30W), it
can not meet my requirement.

Now, if I have 2 Aleph 3 stereo amp, can I bridge them
into 2 mono power amp.

Can I use a pair of Y RCA interconect cable- hook them
from my Pass P pre to 2 Aleph 3?

So I have to ground 2 negative (- )speaker out put
together?

To be honest, I found the idea from Mark Levinson
manual guide. They show clearly how to bridge their
stereo amps into Mono ones

But Aleph 3 is MOSET amp. Is there any harm to Alep 3?
They will be over heat?? Their current will be higher
than usual then destroy my speakers?

My System is:
Cardinal CD
Dacapo DAC
Pass P pre
Aleph 3 amp ( original, NOT diy one)
ESL 63 speakers

Please help

I am looking forward to your advice.

 

[GRollins]

I thought I was seeing double. We just had this same question yesterday or the day before:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=114078
In any event, the answer is yes. You can bridge an Aleph 3. You will end up with a transitional step from a normal Aleph to an Aleph-X. (To be an Aleph-X, you'd need to modify the front end.)
The caveats:
--You'll lose a channel. By definition, when the two channels become one, you'll be listening in mono. Assuming that you want to listen in stereo, you'll need another Aleph 3.
--A bridged amp will not deliver power into as low an impedance as it could before bridging. The Aleph was a 30W amp into an 8 Ohm load, I believe. After bridging, it would deliver something on the order of 120W into 8 Ohms. The fly in the ointment is that it will not deliver full power into a load much less than that. The current isn't there. In the case of the Alephs, class AB isn't much of an option. Yes, you can listen to loads below 8 Ohms, just don't expect the amps to turn into rock and roll beasts as they will current limit before reaching the power levels you might expect; the amps will not deliver 240W of class A into a 4 Ohm load.
--It's not as simple as using a Y cord. The signal to one channel has to be inverted. Then you connect the speaker to the positive outputs for the two channels. Leave the grounds alone.
--The choice of output stage devices doesn't matter. Whether it's bipolar or MOSFET, a bridged amp is a bridged amp. Its performance depends on other factors, such as the bias current and the strength of the power supply.

Grey

 

[Pass lover]

Thank you very much for your reply Grollin, your knowledge is admirable


I am a newbie, so please be patient


According to Aleph 3 owner manual guide, the max out put of Aleph3 is 23 V, 8amps.

My ESL 63 will shut down at the peak of 40 V. It is 8ohm speaker

I am not sure whether Aleph 3 will increase its output after being bridged?

The 2 Aleph 3 amps' performance will be the same or get more distortion or far better than 1 stereo Aleph3 ( at leats more head room)?

Here is the link show how to bridge ( incl RCA and XLR cable)
http://www.proceedaudio.com/manuals/bridgemanual.pdf

I would like to hear from you

 

[Daveis]

And this applies to other Aleph amps like Aleph30 and Aleph J?

 

[Babowana]

I am not sure whether Aleph 3 will increase its output after being bridged?

The 2 Aleph 3 amps' performance will be the same or get more distortion or far better than 1 stereo Aleph3 ( at leats more head room)?

If you bridge Aleph3, you would get about doubled output voltage swing.
If you parallel Aleph3, you would get doubled output current capacity.

If you do bridge, the distortion harmonics might change from the 2nd to the 3rd.
If you do parallel, the distortion of the original would maintain the same.

 

[jacco vermeulen]

Originally posted by Pass lover
My ESL 63 will shut down at the peak of 40 V. It is 8ohm speaker

In your dreams, the ESL63 dips to a little over 3 Ohm.
2 in parallel will have more benefits than bridging them.

(personally, i never felt the need to drive ESL63s with 100 watt/ch power amps)

 

[Daveis]

If you do bridge, the distortion harmonics might change from the 2nd to the 3rd.

Really? that would seem a bad compromise then, to change the nature of the Aleph's sound that way.

I have a friend with an Aleph30. He loves the sound, just wishes he had maybe twice the power.

So I can't really recommend that he bridge now... because it'd likely change the sound character.

 

[Babowana]

... it'd likely change the sound character.

Yes.
For example, I have Zen and bridged Zen (X-fied).
The sound characters are different.

Nevetheless, Papa informs that some like the 2nd harmonics while
some like the 3rd. According to my subjective taste, I marginally prefer
the 2nd to the 3rd, particularly in the sweetness of upper end
frequencies.


Seasons Greeting

 

[Pass lover]

Thank you very much for your all ideas.


As a newbie, could you please explain a bit about parallel amp set up?

I know Horizontal and Vertical biamp.

Is parallel set up is Horizontao biamp?

 

[Babowana]

As a newbie, could you please explain a bit about parallel amp set up?

Hope this will help.