Thoughts on Benchmark AHB2 sound ...

joeinid

joeinid

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I think the amp has warmed up sufficiently. I'm using it with the Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE Stage 2 pre and an Audio Mirror Tubador SE dac. The Benchmark gain is set to its lowest setting and I am using it on my Avantgarde Duo XD.

The benchmark AHB2 amp has some awesome qualities to it butis not sweet and warm. It’s very, very smooth, totally not aggressive, extremely articulate and it has powerful bass. It's absolutely and amazingly dead quiet with spooky details popping out of nowhere. Everything can be clearly heard and late night in the dark listening is a whole new experience. Itreally is a great amp but vocals could be a little fleshier and meatier. It's absolutely wonderful at low/medium volume like I love. Clear asa bell yet with zero fatigue. I have the tendency to crank it up too much when I love the song that's playing. Of course better quality music or high res is excellent. Lower res streaming, while good, is not ideal. Some songs sound better than others.

I think adding a tube dac and sweet balanced tube preamp with balanced outputs, for my taste, would be a killer system.

The jury is still out for it to be a long term only solid state amp for me but is in the top 2-3 so far.
 
Nice, sounds like it is a good match for you.

I would think it sounds considerably different from many European brands, such as Goldmund/Job, T+A, etc. I think Benchmark gear is very dependent on your other gear.

I know you love your Stage 2. I think taking the transformer out of the picture with the Hattor would really surprise you. I would love to know how it works with the Benchmark.
 
Would be interesting to hear with the Chardonnay or even the upgrade model the Cabernet with a NOS set of 40's RCA VT-231's. That would give that meatier character you are looking for. Have you tried the combo with the Linton's yet?
 
Interesting thought.

Randy Myers said:
Nice, sounds like it is a good match for you.

I would think it sounds considerably different from many European brands, such as Goldmund/Job, T+A, etc. I think Benchmark gear is very dependent on your other gear.

I know you love your Stage 2. I think taking the transformer out of the picture with the Hattor would really surprise you. I would love to know how it works with the Benchmark.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Jack,

That was my thought with regard to the Supratek as well. I bet it would be stellar.

Not yet on the Linton, but I did on my brother's pair of Harbeth C7 40th and it's superb. Absolutely amazing.

Jack said:
Would be interesting to hear with the Chardonnay or even the upgrade model the Cabernet with a NOS set of 40's RCA VT-231's. That would give that meatier character you are looking for. Have you tried the combo with the Linton's yet?
Click to expand...
 
Well that should translate. The Chardonnay and the Van Alstine SET 400 has turned out to be a good combo as well.
 
Great on the combo. I've always had respect for Van Alstine.

I have a few combos that I'm thinking of trying before settling down for a while.

Jack said:
Well that should translate. The Chardonnay and the Van Alstine SET 400 has turned out to be a good combo as well.
Click to expand...
 
Joe,

Thanks for the wonderful description. Try it with your CJ Gat 2 and tell us what you are hearing. What are you waiting for?!! You have such a wonderful valve preamp in your stable.
I have the Benchmark LA4 preamp. It is scary how close it comes to the Ayre KXR 20 in performance.
Anshul

joeinid said:
I think the amp has warmed up sufficiently. I'm using it with the Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE Stage 2 pre and an Audio Mirror Tubador SE dac. The Benchmark gain is set to its lowest setting and I am using it on my Avantgarde Duo XD.

The benchmark AHB2 amp has some awesome qualities to it butis not sweet and warm. It’s very, very smooth, totally not aggressive, extremely articulate and it has powerful bass. It's absolutely and amazingly dead quiet with spooky details popping out of nowhere. Everything can be clearly heard and late night in the dark listening is a whole new experience. Itreally is a great amp but vocals could be a little fleshier and meatier. It's absolutely wonderful at low/medium volume like I love. Clear asa bell yet with zero fatigue. I have the tendency to crank it up too much when I love the song that's playing. Of course better quality music or high res is excellent. Lower res streaming, while good, is not ideal. Some songs sound better than others.

I think adding a tube dac and sweet balanced tube preamp with balanced outputs, for my taste, would be a killer system.

The jury is still out for it to be a long term only solid state amp for me but is in the top 2-3 so far.
Click to expand...
 
Congrats on the AHB2. I was a favorite of mine but sold it a few years ago. I will buy that again very soon. Would have been today if not for some unexpected car repairs.

Yesterday, I bought the Benchmark HPA4 and the DAC3B. The HPA4 has the same sounding amp as the AHB2 but for headphones. I was planning on buying a DAC from an different manufacturer but learned of a synergy issue that would result in the HPA4 not running to it's max ability. That was related to the the type of interconnects used between the HPA4 (preamp + headphone amp) and the AHB2. It seems the Benchmark products run best when used with professional-grade XLR interconnects that run at 24 dBu. The other DAC I was considering, AudioByte VOX, of Rockna fame, ran at 12 dBu and was also noisier (SNR). Since I am picky about getting things wanting to run at there best, I went with the Benchmark DAC3B (not saying it is the better DAC, but better synergy). I will also use the very low priced Benchmark XLR's between all the Benchmark products since they are professional-grade (not consumer-grade).

Just thought I would post as an FYI.
 
Thank you so much for your recommendation and congratulations on both the dac and the hpa4.

There’s definitely a wonderful quality about the amp. I’m sure the other pieces are just as good.
 
apdoc2004 said:
Joe,

...
I have the Benchmark LA4 preamp. It is scary how close it comes to the Ayre KXR 20 in performance.

Anshul
Click to expand...

Interesting I have the LA4 too.

Two others have similarly compared it to the mbl 6010d & Robert Koda (K10, I believe). The owners of the mbl and the RK own the LA4 too. It is not embarrassed in such company.
 
The GAT2 with the Benchmark could be great. Gain on the GAT2 is pretty high but but with the selector on the amp, should be manageable.

apdoc2004 said:
Joe,

Thanks for the wonderful description. Try it with your CJ Gat 2 and tell us what you are hearing. What are you waiting for?!! You have such a wonderful valve preamp in your stable.
I have the Benchmark LA4 preamp. It is scary how close it comes to the Ayre KXR 20 in performance.
Anshul
Click to expand...
 
So glad you are enjoying the Benchmark Joe. It is always good finding a new piece of gear that you really like. I have been tempted by the Benchmark amp in the past and may try one at some point. I'd really love to compare it to the T+A which is similar in both size and pricing.
 
apdoc2004 said:
I have the Benchmark LA4 preamp. It is scary how close it comes to the Ayre KXR 20 in performance.
Anshul
Click to expand...

Would like to try the LA4. When I had my AHB2 it was paired with with an Ayre KX-5 Twenty. I liked that combo except for the mechanical noise of the Ayre's volume control.
 
I didn’t mind the Ayre clunking sound even though I often change volume a lot. I’m can get a little tiring.
 
joeinid said:
Great on the combo. I've always had respect for Van Alstine.

I have a few combos that I'm thinking of trying before settling down for a while.
Click to expand...

Joe>?>?>? We know you're lying :congrats::popcorn: heh!
 
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