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AHB2 Tri-Amp Setup - Ellery Coffman

by Benchmark Media Systems July 27, 2017 2 min read

AHB2 Tri-Amp Setup - Ellery Coffman

The following photos and system descriptions were provided to us by one of our customers, Ellery Coffman. He has put together an amazing system and has carefully treated his room with acoustic absorbers. Nicely done!

Home Theater Featuring Benchmark AHB2 Power Amplifiers

Home Theater Featuring 10 Benchmark AHB2 Power Amplifiers

Hi Rory,

Thanks again for your help.  For two speakers, it is truly unbelievable how real this tri-amp system sounds; it is nothing short of jaw dropping! It truly sounds better than the $200k+ setups I've heard in some of the high-end audio shops I've been to.

It took an entire weekend, but I built a rack by repurposing some shelves I made, rack mounted four of the AHB2's you sent, soldered custom length Canare star quad cables (after seeing John Siau's YouTube video), and also added the Neutrik speakon connectors you recommended.  I can't wait until I move to hear this in surround; it is going to be truly jaw dropping with the AIX tracks I have.  For each speaker: one AHB2 is used to drive the midrange and tweeter and one AHB2 drives the woofer.

System Details

The custom Windows 10 PC uses JRiver and RME's ASIO hammerfall driver.  It sends AES out from an RME HDSPe AES-32 sound card to the Xilica XD4080's AES input.  The Xilica does FIR filtering for the WF/MR/TW filters and the DAC that feeds the AHB2 amps.

Of course the passive crossovers were removed from the speakers as I am striving for best at any price sound...  and I think I'm there.  The only thing that might be better is using software based FIR filtering and buying a bunch of DAC3's!

Update October 2020

Updated Home Theater System - 2020

Since the original 2017 post, Ellery has made a number of upgrades to his already outstanding system:

  • Tri-amped center speaker
  • Five level-matched and time-aligned subwoofers
  • Water-cooled PC in custom chassis to match the AHB2 amplifiers.

His home theater now features 10 AHB2 power amplifiers.

In Ellery's words:

"I'm still very impressed with the amps. In fact, even three years later I still get goosebumps when listening to certain tracks."

Photos

All photos courtesy of Ellery Coffman

Room Treatments

Front, Side and Ceiling Room Treatments 

Rear Wall and Ceiling Room Treatments

 Home Theater Room Treatments

Rear of Room Showing Earthworks Measurement Mic at Listening Position

Rack Details

Home Theater Equipment Rack

Front Rack with Custom Water-Cooled PC (Upper Left Corner)

Custom Water-Cooled PC

Custom Water-Cooled PC

Heat Sinks on Water-Cooled PC

Heat Sinks on Water-Cooled PC

Home Theater Rack with 6 Benchmark AHB2 Power Amplifiers

Front Equipment Rack Featuring 6 AHB2 Power Amplifiers

Home Theater Equipment Rack with 4 AHB2 Amplifiers

Rear Equipment Rack Featuring 4 AHB2 Power Amplifiers

 

 

Rear of Main Equipment Rack

 

Front Equipment Rack (Before Adding Water-Cooled PC)

 



Also in Audio Application Notes

ChatGPT Reviews the AHB2 and Includes Listening Impressions!
ChatGPT Reviews the AHB2 and Includes Listening Impressions!

by John Siau June 02, 2023 2 min read

What happens when you ask ChatGPT to write a review?

I asked ChatGPT to review the Benchmark AHB2, and I was shocked at the results!

It turns out that ChatGPT wrote a review by gleaning information from the many publicly available reviews of the AHB2. I recognized phases and sequences of words that had appeared in prior reviews, and yet the text was new, original, and well written. The ChatGPT review seemed to summarize the collective impressions of the reviewers without directly quoting any particular reviewer.

It should be possible to ask ChatGPT to write a review on any well-known product and the results may be an AI-generated review that reflects the collective opinions of many human reviewers.

Try this the next time you a planning to make a purchase online. These AI-generated reviews may be more useful than traditional search results. In essence, the search results are combined into a single well-written review.

It is also possible that ChatGPT is biased to give glowing reviews, so use caution! Try it out and have some fun experimenting with this new technology!

Here is my dialog with ChatGPT:

John Siau:

Write a review of the Benchmark AHB2 complete with listening impressions.

ChatGPT:

Title: Unleashing Sonic Purity: A Review of the Benchmark AHB2 Amplifier

Introduction: The Benchmark AHB2 amplifier has gained a reputation for its exceptional audio performance and unwavering dedication to sonic purity. In this review, we delve into the heart of this powerhouse amplifier, exploring its features, design, and most importantly, the listening impressions it evokes...

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ChatGPT and John Siau Discuss Star-Quad Cables
ChatGPT and John Siau Discuss Star-Quad Cables

by John Siau May 30, 2023 7 min read

Today, Benchmark's John Siau and OpenAI's ChatGPT had a conversation about star-quad cables. It turns out that ChatGPT got quite a few things wrong, but learned quickly when these errors were pointed out by John Siau.

ChatGPT is quick to recognize mistakes, and quick to provide detailed corrections. In each of the first few corrections, additional errors were made. As each of these were pointed out, ChatGPT began to provide accurate information.

 

John Siau:

How do star-quad cables reject interference?

ChatGPT:

Star-quad cables are designed to provide improved rejection of ...

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System Performance Calculations
System Performance Calculations

by John Siau March 02, 2023 13 min read

If an audio system is composed of multiple components, we may have detailed specifications for each component, but we will not know the performance of the combined system without doing some calculations. You may have questions such as these:

  • Will my audio system produce audible noise?
  • Will my audio system produce audible distortion?
  • How will my audio components work together as a system?
  • How loud will my audio system play?

Use Benchmark's online audio calculators to find answers!

For example, if we know the output power of an amplifier, as well as the sensitivity and impedance of our loudspeakers, we can calculate the maximum sound pressure level that our system can produce.

PEAK SPL CALCULATOR
Speaker Sensitivity: dB SPL (2.83 V, 1 M)
Amplifier Power Per Channel into 8 Ohms: Watts
RESULTS
Peak Output Level (at typical listening position): dB SPL

 

This application note provides interactive examples that help to answer the questions listed above.

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