Thoughts on Benchmark AHB2 sound ...

The clicking sound when changing volume on a pre never bothers me. I actually prefer it because it is a feedback mechanism that my change requests has been received :)... I know the Stage 2 does it as well as the Hattor. In the Hattor I suspect it is a physical changing the resistor path :D.
 
joeinid said:
The benchmark even has speakon connectors for cables. I wish more companies offered them.
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Two years ago, when I purchased my Ahb2, I already had Shunyata Venom speaker cables-spade to spade.
About a year ago, I purchased Benchmark cables-speakon to locking banana. After a 30 day trial period, the Shunyata cables were sold. No contest!
 
joeinid said:
Not yet on the Linton, but I did on my brother's pair of Harbeth C7 40th and it's superb. Absolutely amazing.
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Hi Joe, did you happen to try the AHB2 with the Lintons at any point? I've got the Lintons on trial but find something missing with them. I'm running them with a NAD C390DD and wonder how the experience might be different.
 
I returned the Benchmark at the end of the trial. Not because I didn’t like it but because I have a few amps that I prefer a little more. I do wish the AHB2 had a little more meat on the bone. I absolutely love the quiet and black background. It was totally different than I expected from reading the reviews. It was smoother and more natural but I feel it needs a very sweet tube preamp in front of it. Something like a 6sn7 type or similar tube.

So unfortunately no, never tried it with the Lintons. I enjoyed it with the Harbeth.
 
joeinid said:
I returned the Benchmark at the end of the trial. Not because I didn’t like it but because I have a few amps that I prefer a little more. I do wish the AHB2 had a little more meat on the bone. I absolutely love the quiet and black background. It was totally different than I expected from reading the reviews. It was smoother and more natural but I feel it needs a very sweet tube preamp in front of it. Something like a 6sn7 type or similar tube.

So unfortunately no, never tried it with the Lintons. I enjoyed it with the Harbeth.
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Joe - I'm pleased that you've tried the Benchmark, but relieved you've decided against keeping it.

Perhaps it would offer more enjoyment with a tube preamp, but that’s a condition that shouldn’t be required of a good power amp in my opinion.

As I think you know, I bought an AHB2 early on and before any reviews had been published on the rave recommendation of a fellow Avantgarde owner. It has some highly desirable features such as adjustable gain, is very nicely built and has a sensible price.

However I found it decidedly dull – no sparkle or excitement to its music - and I wanted to turn the volume down rather than up – that’s never a good sign.

Yes, it is dead silent and I think this was an overwhelming factor in the opinion of the other AG owner. He seemed to place this virtue higher than its vices. I too returned the unit to the dealer. If I now read the subsequent generally excellent reviews, I note that there are always provisos in the reviewers’ findings. It seems a good amp and perhaps an excellent one in some systems, but far from one that can be unreservedly recommended.

Did you try it on your AGs and how did it compare with your other amps? Peter
 
Hi Peter,

The Benchmark spent most of its time on my Duo. I do a lot of low volume late night listening and the Benchmark was actually really wonderful. Spooky quiet with details emerging from nothing. It was quite remarkable and wonderfully entertaining.

My SIT3 and especially my Luxman 590AXII are superb performers on my Duo.

Something you should consider on your new Duo is the Luxman 590. It’s serious perfection. I could easily live with the 590 and SIT3.
 
Hi Joe.
I've heard good things about the Luxman 590, but I don't think it's what I want. If I used vinyl or even needed other analogue inputs, it may fit the bill, but if I'm buying an integrated, it must offer digital inputs, even if no analogue is catered for.

I tried the Bakoon 13r recently, but it's another "room heater" that I'd prefer not to have in my home. I'm not an Environmentalist as such, but I do have concerns about these inexcusably inefficient amplifiers. Same goes for the SIT-3 I believe - worse still as it offers no way of turning it off short of fiddling around amongst the cables to find the rear panel mounted power switch!

In the EU, these devices are only permitted if fitted with auto standby (or off) circuits so they power down to 0.5W or less after a period with no input signal. My Accuphase is EU spec so has this feature, but I still baulk at burning 300+ watts to provide 5 watts of audio output. Peter
 
Ah, understood.

I’m very curious about what you think of the M33 should you decide to demo it. That’s something I’d like to hear/own based on all of its features.
 
Hi Peter,

I have read good things about the Bakoon amp. Could you please let me know what you thought of the Bakoon amplifier sound quality (heat aside)? Could you compare its sound to that of your Accuphase A36 as well as the NAD (I am very familiar with Accuphase Class A sound as I own the A70 amplifier).
Thanks!
Anshul
Hear Here said:
Hi Joe.
I've heard good things about the Luxman 590, but I don't think it's what I want. If I used vinyl or even needed other analogue inputs, it may fit the bill, but if I'm buying an integrated, it must offer digital inputs, even if no analogue is catered for.

I tried the Bakoon 13r recently, but it's another "room heater" that I'd prefer not to have in my home. I'm not an Environmentalist as such, but I do have concerns about these inexcusably inefficient amplifiers. Same goes for the SIT-3 I believe - worse still as it offers no way of turning it off short of fiddling around amongst the cables to find the rear panel mounted power switch!

In the EU, these devices are only permitted if fitted with auto standby (or off) circuits so they power down to 0.5W or less after a period with no input signal. My Accuphase is EU spec so has this feature, but I still baulk at burning 300+ watts to provide 5 watts of audio output. Peter
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apdoc2004 said:
Hi Peter,

I have read good things about the Bakoon amp. Could you please let me know what you thought of the Bakoon amplifier sound quality (heat aside)? Could you compare its sound to that of your Accuphase A36 as well as the NAD (I am very familiar with Accuphase Class A sound as I own the A70 amplifier).
Thanks!
Anshul
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Hi Anshul

Please see attached sketch to see how I rigged my kit to compare results. Here are edited notes I sent to the dealer who loaned me the Bakoon 13r and Bakoon DAC-21 (now discontinued):
I had the Bakoon units rigged up as shown and with power via the Puritan filer box and power cables. The NAD and Accuphase were rigged as usual – power via Isotek and Belden power cables.


With volume levels matching I could use the Bakoon remote to select the 3 inputs in turn, but hard as I tried, I really couldn’t say that any one was better sounding than the others. Even the SATRI link seemed identical to the conventional RCA one. Viewing this with a cynical eye, one could conclude that if SATRI was really a better technology, then other brands would do things this way too.

Then I compared the amplifier options, again as per the sketch and description below. I used my Silver Cabledyne speaker cables from the Bakoon and standard Chord Odyssey cables from the Accuphase or NAD.

The Accuphase, as I’ve previously noted, is slightly warm / soft, so not my personal first choice. The difference between the Bakoon and NAD was so small one has to factor in the massively greater convenience of using the NAD. If asked for details I’d say:

Bakoon has no balance control – OK for a power amp, but not so as an integrated
No balanced input – minor criticism

Speaker sockets are not colour coded – inexcusable

The input sockets are bizarrely arranged – they should be grouped in pairs – and marked so you don’t need to turn it upside down
The IR remote range is very limited, but this may be down to battery level.

No Auto Standby after a period of no input. Surely this is incompatible with EU regs, particularly for such an extravagant consumer of power?

The DAC-21 can’t be run from mains when the battery is too low – easily remedied as per Red Wine equipment


The convenience of a single unit that can be totally controlled from the IR remote, or app on phone or PC is a feature I value, as is the need for no cables apart from speaker cables. NAD M32 wins.

I’d like to get best performance from my system, but I’m sorry to say, the Bakoon units are not the way I want to go.


I hope this helps. Peter

View attachment Bakoon Sketch.pdf
 
Peter,

Thank you for this write-up -- very helpful! I think I am going to skip scratching my Bakoon itch. Very eager to find out more about the NAD M33 amp.
Anshul

Hear Here said:
Hi Anshul

Please see attached sketch to see how I rigged my kit to compare results. Here are edited notes I sent to the dealer who loaned me the Bakoon 13r and Bakoon DAC-21 (now discontinued):
I had the Bakoon units rigged up as shown and with power via the Puritan filer box and power cables. The NAD and Accuphase were rigged as usual – power via Isotek and Belden power cables.


With volume levels matching I could use the Bakoon remote to select the 3 inputs in turn, but hard as I tried, I really couldn’t say that any one was better sounding than the others. Even the SATRI link seemed identical to the conventional RCA one. Viewing this with a cynical eye, one could conclude that if SATRI was really a better technology, then other brands would do things this way too.

Then I compared the amplifier options, again as per the sketch and description below. I used my Silver Cabledyne speaker cables from the Bakoon and standard Chord Odyssey cables from the Accuphase or NAD.

The Accuphase, as I’ve previously noted, is slightly warm / soft, so not my personal first choice. The difference between the Bakoon and NAD was so small one has to factor in the massively greater convenience of using the NAD. If asked for details I’d say:

Bakoon has no balance control – OK for a power amp, but not so as an integrated
No balanced input – minor criticism

Speaker sockets are not colour coded – inexcusable

The input sockets are bizarrely arranged – they should be grouped in pairs – and marked so you don’t need to turn it upside down
The IR remote range is very limited, but this may be down to battery level.

No Auto Standby after a period of no input. Surely this is incompatible with EU regs, particularly for such an extravagant consumer of power?

The DAC-21 can’t be run from mains when the battery is too low – easily remedied as per Red Wine equipment


The convenience of a single unit that can be totally controlled from the IR remote, or app on phone or PC is a feature I value, as is the need for no cables apart from speaker cables. NAD M32 wins.

I’d like to get best performance from my system, but I’m sorry to say, the Bakoon units are not the way I want to go.


I hope this helps. Peter

View attachment 28479
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joeinid said:
I’m very curious about what you think of the M33 should you decide to demo it. That’s something I’d like to hear/own based on all of its features.
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Just received the following Design Details document on the upcoming NAD M33. It's expected to ship in August retailing for $4,999 (US). One point of interest is that NAD is licensing the Purifi amplifier technology but are only using its power output stage. The power supply and input stage will be of NAD's own design and they'll be building the entire circuit including the licensed output stage in house.
 

Attachments

Hear Here said:
Joe - I'm pleased that you've tried the Benchmark, but relieved you've decided against keeping it.

Perhaps it would offer more enjoyment with a tube preamp, but that’s a condition that shouldn’t be required of a good power amp in my opinion.

As I think you know, I bought an AHB2 early on and before any reviews had been published on the rave recommendation of a fellow Avantgarde owner. It has some highly desirable features such as adjustable gain, is very nicely built and has a sensible price.

However I found it decidedly dull – no sparkle or excitement to its music - and I wanted to turn the volume down rather than up – that’s never a good sign.

Yes, it is dead silent and I think this was an overwhelming factor in the opinion of the other AG owner. He seemed to place this virtue higher than its vices. I too returned the unit to the dealer. If I now read the subsequent generally excellent reviews, I note that there are always provisos in the reviewers’ findings. It seems a good amp and perhaps an excellent one in some systems, but far from one that can be unreservedly recommended.

Did you try it on your AGs and how did it compare with your other amps? Peter
Click to expand...

Like you, I purchased the Benchmark amp before a lot of the reviews were out. I have to disagree with your impression that the reviewers have reservations about the amp. The majority of the reviews that I have read have made the Benchmark their reference amp.
 
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