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Benchmark began in 1983 as the "Benchmark Sound Company", a small operation working out of a garage in Garland, Texas.
Our founder, Allen H. Burdick, began by building very high-performance audio equipment to meet the specialized needs of television broadcast facilities. The company quickly grew, and was incorporated as Benchmark Media Systems, March 5, 1985. Benchmark expanded into additional audio markets, and relocated to Allen's hometown, Syracuse, NY. To this day, all Benchmark products are designed, assembled and tested in our Syracuse facility.
Rory Rall shows a Storm Trooper the AHB2 power amplifier at the NAMM 2016 Show, and explains the new THX AAA Technology. Rory was heard to say: "These are the amplifiers that you are looking for."
Bennett is Director of 
Front End Operations for Sound Forums.
Bennett visited our booth and dropped his card in our fishbowl, never expecting to win. Yesterday was his lucky day!
Rory emailed Bennett to let him know that he had won. Here was his response:
"Hey Rory, I checked my email... holy ...! Well, that's about as exciting as email gets. I didn't forget I dropped my business card into the fish bowl, but I had no hope. Hope leads to the dark side, or something."
Rick Slater from Audio by Rick Slater
At Axpona 2015, the prize was a DAC1 HGC. Here is our winner unboxing his new DAC1 HGC!
After hooking up his new DAC1 HGC, he had the following comments:
"I was satisfied with the sound I was getting from the Sabre DAC in my Oppo 105 while playing lossless wave files, but when I played those same files through the Benchmark DAC I was surprised at how much more detail was present. The Soundstage widened and the clarity was unbelievable. This is definitely a quality product and I would not hesitate to recommend it."
Visit Benchmark Media Systems in room 322 & the lobby-level Lakeshore Ballroom B at AXPONA, North America's Premier Event for Audiophiles and Music Lovers, April 24 - 26, 2015. We can't wait to see you there!
The Lakeshore B Ballroom will feature a very special multi-vendor high-resolution surround-sound demonstration featuring Benchmark conversion and amplification.
Room 322 is an all-Benchmark room featuring the DAC2 HGC preamplifier, the AHB2 power amplifier, and SMS1 speakers. Visitors to room 322 are eligible to win a Benchmark DAC1 HDR.
Stop by our booth and listen to our new AHB2 and SMS1. The Benchmark Pre-Engineered System High-Resolution Audio Music System is something you can't miss. Make sure to tell your friends too!
The AHB2 and SMS1 will be demonstrated at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest October 10-12, 2014. Come experience this stunning combination in person. Meet Sales Manager Rory Rall and Speaker Designer Dave MacPherson. Enter to win a Benchmark DAC (1 winner per show). We will be accepting orders for the AHB2 at the show.
The AHB2 and SMS1 will be on display at the AES Convention in LA October 9-12, 2014. Stop by booth 1421 to meet John Siau and other members of the engineering team. Enter to win a Benchmark DAC (1 winner per show). We will be accepting orders for the AHB2 at the show.
"I originally owned a standard BM1 when I flipped to the MDAC-I ran them together for weeks and soundwise there wasn't much in it tbh so my decision was based upon the extra facilities of the MDAC. The BM Dac2 and (tbh this is such a tired old cliche) has had me listening to my music collection all over again-very enjoyable sound, an observation last evening 'fun like vinyl'."
Pink Fish Media Member, cooky1257
"The Benchmark DAC1 does sound a bit lean and analytical, but I want to emphasize "a bit." It's very clean-sounding, with very good imaging but no exaggeration of depth. I used one happily for years, recently sold it to a friend who's a pretty critical listener, and he likes it a lot. The Benchmark DAC2 does not sound at all lean and analytical, and I chose it over the Bel Canto DAC 3.3VB for the main system here (Bel Canto relegated to system #2). I've heard a bunch of pricey DACs, and the DAC2 is my choice."
Audiokarma Member, RichPA
In case you hadn't seen it, it's worth a quick read for those trying to stay up with some of the bit-rate/sample-rate discussions we've had here: Audio Myth - "24-bit Audio Has More Resolution Than 16-bit Audio" - sdolezalek
What’s the value of HD video without accompanying high-resolution sound?
Home theater screens continue to get bigger and the pixels multiply; it was only yesterday that 1080p was the standard and now 4K is gaining prominence. However, home audio sound technology hasn’t kept pace.
Garry Gill, Capital Audiofest with Matthew Wong
"I have built my own music server and loaded it with FLACs and connected it to the Benchmark. Works great!"
