AHB2 Driving Hifiman Susvara Headphones - Sandu Vitalie, SoundNews.net
"When I’ve received the mighty Hifiman Susvara, I felt overwhelmed by…disappointment. I said to myself: “This is really it? This is how the world’s best headphones are sounding?”"
"Months later, I’ve received a special adapter cable so I could power them with all sorts of integrated and power amplifiers (speaker amplifiers) and that’s when I felt connected to the all known universe, turning them into a gemstone of a headphone."
AHB2 - As a Headphone Amplifier - "My Daily Driver V2.0"
"Holy mother of Thor, this is dynamics, speed, transient response, resolution and transparency incarnate into a single metal box. There isn’t a clearer, a more resolving or a more transparent sounding amplifier out there, this is a wire with gain amplifier that doesn’t add anything into the mix."
"You can’t get a more impactful, a faster or cleaner sounding amplifier.
Resolution/Details: 10
Transient Response: 9.5
Dynamics: 9.5
Tonality: 7.5
Power/Control: 9
Stage Size: 8
Overall Score: 8.92
AHB2 Headphone Adapter Cable (SpeakON™ NL4 to XLR4):
!Two Benchmark AHB2 Power Amplifiers in Bridged Mode!
"380 Watts in 8 Ohms or around ~55 Watts in 60 Ohms…this is the pure definition of overkill."
"Be prepared hearing the most impactful Susvara, can it ever be too much bass slam and impact? It can! Electronica could become tiresome in the long run, it’s way too impactful sounding, but oh boy… I’ve never heard such dynamics anywhere else."
"This is next level, but if you already have an AHB2, I wouldn’t get a second one only for your Susvara. I’ve got the second one for my loudspeaker setup."
Resolution/Details: 10
Transient Response: 10
Dynamics: 10
Tonality: 7.5
Power/Control: 10
Stage Size: 8
Overall Score: 9.25
- Sandu Vitalie, SoundNews.net
Also in Reviews
HPA4 Review - AP Mastering
"This is the best headphone amplifier that I have ever tested. In every conceivable metric, absolutely perfect."
"If you've got the money and you want something that is an engineering masterpiece, this is such a thing."
- AP Mastering
Benchmark System Review - Ricky Dasler, Living Sound, New Zealand
"With over 40 years as an audiophile and more than half those years as a hi-fi retailer, I feel I’ve finally put together a stereo that ticks all my sonic boxes. Those being in order of priority, dynamics, scale, tonal accuracy, fatigue free resolution and soundstage."
"For the last 25 years I’ve been fortunate to have a dedicated listening room. I use acoustic treatments from Real Traps, Vicoustic and Primeacoustic."
"My Benchmark components consist of the DAC3 B (connected to a Naim NDS streamer), LA4 line amplifier and two AHB2 power amplifiers run in bridged mono mode. All cables are Benchmark too."
"The Benchmark gear in my system has brought what I have wanted in my list of sonic priorities as listed above and then some. They have delivered way beyond what I thought could be possible in my system in my room."
"I’m delighted and stunned daily as my vast music collection comes to life on a whole new level."
- Ricky Dasler, Living Sound, Nelson New Zealand.
Benchmark Converters at Abbey Road - Geoff Pesche
"What are the Latest Advancements in Mastering?"
"Geoff Pesche weighs in on how the mastering team at Abbey Road Studios achieve first-class results." - Mix with the Masters
"The biggest sonic improvement in mastering in the last 5 or 6 years is D/A and A/D converters and that's very very important - what you have at the front and the back of the chain."
"We use fairly new Benchmark converters front and back."
"Abbey Road like a uniformity between the rooms so all of the rooms have the same A/D and D/A conversion."
- Geoff Pesche, Mastering Engineer, Abbey Road Studios
