That sounds correct in context with my buddy, who characterized "break-in" as the lows fleshing out better and becoming more substantial. Possibly, he was just acclimating to the high frequency change you're noting. Very interesting take, and one I can say kept me in that sort of "mesmerized state" I was in for the 36 hours I had it in my system.
I do! Honeymoon? The ahb2 isn’t new, it was released years ago. 2014-2015 ish, stereophile reviewed it in 2015
agreed but there has been a recent rush on them. i have never seen so many available used and i have been watching for a few years.
Pretty sure when you see 5 or 6 amps listed, you’re really only seeing 2 or 3 amps for sale in multiple listings. An AHB2 was sold with a buy it now of $1499 just a few days ago.
I’ve had my AHB2 for about 4-5 months now? No not at all over the honeymoon phase. I love it. I once put my rega Elex r back on in about the 2 month mark to see what it sounded like and just took it off after one listen. Put it away to lay to rest till I sell it. It’s not even fair. I think what people might be missing , although I don’t have much experience with this, is the importance of matching it with the LA4. It really makes a difference. I used the AHB2 initially with the rega as a pre, and it sounded good. But with the LA4 it’s remarkably better. Just no comparison. I was shocked on how much a pre makes a difference. As I said I don’t have much experience with this.
The on-line reviews I've read say the Benchmark performs about as well as the RME ADI-2, for twice the price. And, the RME has a nice on-board screen for setting options, and a dedicated amplifier for IEMs. The Benchmark has two regular headphone jacks, and a few more input options, but it doesn't seem like a good value at >$2,000 if it isn't blowing the doors off of everything else.
I auditioned the RME ADI-2 and it doesn’t even come close to the benchmark. I’m also assuming you are comparing it to the benchmark LA4 ? Because I can’t see a comparison to the AHB2 since that is a power amp. the RME ADI-2 is a DAc.
They do sell a ton of them. So naturally there will be more on the pre-owned market than a boutique amp. I confess the AHB2 is not an amp I believe will please everyone, but OTOH, as @Tone? mentioned, you can’t fully grasp what it’s capable of without the LA4.
D'oh you're right Everyone only talks about the headphone amps. I can't keep Benchmark's product names straight.
Ha no worries man. just a few of my observations on this gear which ‘ measures well’. I don’t know the technical aspect of it all, but most of the stuff I’ve tried that has insanely low THD, great SINAD, etc Most of it sounds sterile and cold. This isn’t the case at all with the Benchmark stuff. They actually have that ‘ audiophile ‘ sound. No it’s not euphonic really. I mean it is in some aspects, but it’s far from cold and sterile. Not at all. hard to explain all this as I said I don’t know the technical details and why things sound the way they do.
[QUOTE[/USER] mentioned, you can’t fully grasp what it’s capable of without the LA4.[/QUOTE] Well that isn't happening.......
Hi Fi Critic gave the AHB2 one of its lowest ever scores.Measured extremely well but did not sound musically convincing. I suspect that is why people are selling them.Sometimes it takes people a while to realise what is missing.They hear the good stuff like low distortion and low noise levels first but it takes them longer to recognise weak areas or inconsistency.
Who the hell is HiFi critic? Lol I’m a musician of over 40 years and if I say this amp kicks as$ it kicks As$ ! lol it’s supremely musical.
There is no doubt that people have expectation bias about this amp that plays into the "measurements first" camp. I heard the amp and was impressed enough to want to hear more but now that AXPONA is postponed again....
Sure. Whatever you say. Based upon your post, I guess I can cross "Hi Fi Critic" off my list of sites to visit.
maybe covered elsewhere, but the 3k for the Benchmark amp and the 3k for the HPA4, you're in the realm of a very nice integrated amp like Luxman, Yamaha, (Pass?), etc. Has anyone compared that stack to another similarly priced solid state integrated? I really love clean, low distortion solid state and I really love "powerful" SET amps. Pretty different camps and I like both. My plan has been to pick up a Line Magnetic 805i when my 2 year old has a couple more years under her belt, but I'd really love to hear the Benchmark stack.
Competitor for Benchmark is Parasound, and to lesser degree Bryston. LM805 is on the other end of the amplifiers spectrum. Clean sounding, true to source amplifiers are not for everyone. The only weak side of AHB2 is relatively low power. Which can be somewhat offset by using in bridged mono mode. Tube amps have their limitation. I do have LM805/508 model. It can play chamber music, but falls apart on Mahler symphonies.
what kind of speakers? (i'll check profile after submit) The HINT is about half the price, no? I had a 518i and with my Snell J's, i thought it was absolutely fantastic. It never ran out of steam with fast electronic music, cranked live Grateful Dead, or anything. I also had a moderate sized and very lively room, so that might have amplified things more.
IMO the NAD C298 and other amps based on the Hypex and Purifi modules are also competitors to Benchmark, admittedly at a lower price point.
The AHB2 comes very close to doubling power as impedance halves though, which cannot be said of 95% of amps. Instead, most brands significantly underrate their 8ohm rating so that on the spec sheet the amplifier appears to double power into 4ohms.
I agree, no one approaches the excellence of Benchmark from a measured performance standpoint until you get into very rarefied audio equipment, and perhaps not even then. But I doubt that the measured differences between the AHB2 and my C298 would be audible to me.
Class D amplifiers are not in the same league until designers will manage to increase oscillation frequency at least to DSD level (3MHz). We are not yet close now, even with latest generation of GaN transistors. Probably 2-3 more generation are needed to get there.
Hi-Fi Critic is run by Martin Colloms who has written books on Loudspeakers, was the technical editor for Stereophile, is a recording Engineer, formed Monitor Audio Loudspeakers, came up with the often coined term PRaT (Pace, Rhythm and Timing). But it is not the magazine. Magazines hire reviewers and it's not like reviewers agree with each other. Otherwise they'd all own the same system. You can't appeal to authority - I'm a musician so I am right - plenty of musicians and composers own tube amps and hate SS amps. And then what do we do? Appeal the musician who plays a "harder" instrument or is more world renown. Steve Hoffman is a famous Mastering engineer - worked with pro gear all his life and he did not buy a SS amp but an Audio Note 211 tube amp and a higher version of my speakers - even though he worked with ATC and SS all his life. I am sure there are RE's out there that feel they have the best ears and yet none of the artists they have recorded are known outside of the street they live on. I do not know which Hi-Fi Critic reviewer reviewed the Benchmark but if they gave it to one of the ones who happen to prefer Single Ended Tube amplifiers then pretty much all class A/B SS amps will not be "it" for them. Most outfits give amps to people favourable of the technology which is why Art Dudley tended to get the tube and SET amps and MF gets the 1000 watt per channel SS. Everything gets a great review if you send the item to the right reviewers.
