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AHB2 Review - Jason Kennedy, Hi-Fi+
AHB2 - "An Immediacy that Makes for Uncanny Realism"
"Listening started with PCM fact.8 speakers and the Melco N1-A as a digital source straight into the USB input of the DAC2. This combination was very revealing and rhythmically secure... Orchestral dynamics were also well served, as the amp has considerable speed and an ability to deliver serious power with alacrity, and there's no sense of overhang in the bass."
"I moved on to a rather different option in the form of Bowers & Wilkins CM10 S2 floorstanders. This ported design has a warmer balance than the PCM and as I've discovered tends to prefer different amplifiers. This speaker allowed the Benchmark to reveal just how much power it can muster."
"Dr. Feelgood's 'Roxette' [Down By The Jetty, United Artists] raised the hairs on the back of my neck. The Benchmark has an immediacy that makes for uncanny realism, so a track like this is more intense and vital, more powerful in fact."
"The Benchmark SMS1 had been supplied with the amps with a view of doing a whole system eview, a state of affairs that came to pass with gusto when I discovered just how well the combination gelled."
"The Benchmark pairing proved analytical (in typical studio style) but not dry - just very revealing of recording style and balance."
Also in Reviews
AHB2 - A-Rated Recommended Power Amplifier - Stereophile
AHB2 - Receives Stereophile's Highest "A" Rating for Power Amplifiers
"Benchmark's AHB2 makes use of THX Corporation's Achromatic Audio Amplifier (AAA) technology, in which a low-power feed-forward amplifier drives a low-bias class-AB output section."
- Stereophile, 2023
"Much more apparent low-level detail in already-familiar recordings" - Kalman Rubinson
"A tonal balance that sounded more 'right' than any of [the other amps on hand]." - Kalman Rubinson
"An extraordinary amplifier." - John Atkinson
LA4 - Class A Recommended Preamplifier - Stereophile
LA4 - Receives Stereophile's Highest "Class A" Rating for Preamplifiers
"Benchmark's usual approach to design is to out-spec the competition, and so it is here. Like other Benchmark equipment he has tested, the affordable LA4 challenged the resolution of John Atkinson's test instruments, with 'superb' channel separation, 'extremely low noise, and virtually no power-supply-related spuriae.'"
"Benchmark's LA4 is the widest-bandwidth, widest-dynamic-range, lowest-noise, lowest-distortion preamplifier I have encountered." - John Atkinson
"In his listening room, Kalman Rubinson compared the LA4 to a cable—and couldn't hear any difference. He concludes, 'the LA4 is probably the most transparent and revealing audio component I've ever used. It does not seem to leave any fingerprints on the sound.'"
- Stereophile, 2023
DAC3 - Class A+ Recommended Processor - Stereophile
DAC3 HGC, DAC3 B - Receive Stereophile's Highest "Class A+" Rating
"The DAC3 B is a stripped- down, lower-priced version of the DAC3 HGC, which omits the headphone amplifier, balanced and unbalanced analog inputs, volume, mute, and polarity controls." - Stereophile
"The DAC3 was all about depths, in several respects...I heard deeper into the music."
"All I can say is Wow!"
- John Atkinson
"In a Follow-Up, JCA wrote of using the Benchmark processor with the same company's AHB2 power amp—a combination of high source output voltage and modest amplifier gain that he describes as 'optimal for minimizing noise and distortion' —and reported hearing 'richer and more interesting' reproduction of very subtle details."
- Stereophile