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AHB2 Award - The Poor Audiophile

The Poor Audiophile - 2015 Amplifier of the Year - Benchmark AHB2
The Poor Audiophile Logo
Benchmark AHB2 Power Amplifier

Benchmark AHB2 - "A Bargain for Poor Audiophiles"

"... the only amplifier under $3,000* to be given Stereophile Class A status."



 

The Poor Audiophile - 2015 Amplifier of the Year - Benchmark AHB2
"In our review of the Benchmark AHB2, we absolutely loved what we heard. So much so, in fact, that we gave the Benchmark AHB2 our Amplifier of the Year award."

 

"It seems that the April 2016 edition of  Stereophile Magazine shares our view. Stereophile has just named the Benchmark AHB2 in its prestigious Class A category, meaning it's the best of the best from the products they have reviewed."

"We weren't at all surprised about the AHB2 receiving that prestigious classification. Rather, what surprised us was that it was the only amplifier under $3,000* to be given Class A status. The next closest was the ATC P1 ($3,999*), Arcam FMJ P49 ($4,999*) and Parasound Halo JC ($9,000*/pair). As you can imagine, the Class A designation goes into the stratosphere from there."

"When you're competing against products costing 10x, 20x or more and you're mentioned in the same breath, that's a big compliment."

"A Bargain for Poor Audiophiles"

"We wanted to extend our congratulations to Benchmark on that recognition.  In our book, we considered this $2,995* power amplifier a phenomenal performer. You can now add the relative term, "bargain" as well."

- Poor Audiophile

Read the entire post Poor Audiophile post →
Read the Poor Audiophile "Amplifier of the Year" Page 
Read the Poor Audiophile Review 
Read the Stereophile Review 
Read the Stereophile Bench-Test Report 

* 2015 Prices

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"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!"

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"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."

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