AHB2 & Martin Logan ESL 11A - Axpona 2018, PartTimeAudiophile.com
DAC3, AHB2, ESL 11A - "A Well-Curated Sound System"
"Audiophiles like smoothness. Audiophiles don’t like rough edges, bumps or dips in frequency response, falloff in off-axis listening, hot treble, or exaggerated bass. Linear playback without attention being drawn to any particular part of the bandwidth is the hallmark of well-designed components, and a well-curated sound system, one that works well together as far as I am concerned."
"That’s what Benchmark Media had put together in Chicago for AXPONA this year in room 670 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel: a smooth, curated system... to showcase their AHB2 power amplifier, running here in bridged-mono mode and being directly driven by their DAC3 HGC DAC/headamp/preamp."
DAC3 HGC
AHB2 Power Amplifier
Martin Logan ESL 11A
"At 91dB efficiency, and four ohms nominal impedance, and powered bass units, the ESL 11A presents a unique challenge for amplifiers in the way the signal is handed off, since the bulk of the work is going into making sure those big curved ‘stat panels are being given not only the watts they need to perform best, but the current as well. Here the AHB2’s linear amplification design excels, as a pair running in bridged-mono delivers 480 watts into six Ohms, and 29 A (peak) of current/channel."
"Whether there was rock, jazz, classical, or even electronic playing while I was in the room, the Benchmark DAC/Pre/Power combo had a way with digital files that seemed to never put a foot wrong, and maintained a balance between resolution, dynamics, and believable acoustic warmth in instruments, and vocals."
- Rafe Arnott, PartTimeAudiophile.com
Also in Reviews
DAC3 Review - Alan Sircom, hi-fi+
"A Damn Good, No-Frills Digital Converter"
"Benchmark Media Systems’ no-nonsense approach to all things audio is rare today."
"Uniformly Good"
"This is a DAC that’s uniformly good at everything. It resolves well, has good imaging properties."
"It makes a balanced, honest sound that allows you to sit and listen to music for hours. That is what makes Benchmark’s products consistently popular with audio engineers. You don’t want ‘bright’ if you sit at a mixing desk 10 hours a day. "
"Leave No Trace"
"It also has the latest version of Benchmark’s jitter attenuation system (UltraLock3) and doubles down on the digital demon with its multi-mode asynchronous USB system."
"Benchmark also uses the distortion compensation facilities built into the ESS chip to reduce second and third order distortion."
"The net result is a DAC that delivers lower distortion, lower noise, less passband ripple, faster signal switching and locking onto signals and a more linear frequency response."
"The Benchmark Media Systems DAC3 B is very much in the ‘leave no trace’ school of good audio."
- Alan Sircom, hi-fi+
DAC3 - Award Nominee - Best Digital Audiophile Product of 2024 (Cost No Object)
2024 Nominees
- Benchmark Media DAC3 B DAC, $1895
- Bricasti M3 DAC, $6000
- Bricasti M19 CD-SACD Player, $10,000
- T+A DAC 200, $7620
- Weiss Engineering Helios DAC, $21,995
"There was some debate about whether anybody can hear the differences above a good Chi-Fi DAC like the Topping D90. Unless you are missing most of your high-frequency hearing, you can hear where a high-end DAC makes a difference."
The Bricasti M3 is a great example of that performance in a $6,000 DAC."
"The Benchmark DAC3 B is an audiophile DAC, with pro audio roots, that punches way above its weight."
LA4 Review - Mike Prager, FutureAudiophile.com
"Benchmark Media Systems made its reputation in both pro audio and audiophile circles by designing gear with extraordinarily low noise and distortion, and selling it at reasonable prices."
"What Makes the Benchmark LA4 Preamp So Special?"
"A high-quality volume control is much of what makes a superior preamp shine, and the Benchmark’s volume control is outstanding. The Benchmark LA4 uses a bank of precision resistors switched by gold-contact relays to set volume in 256 steps of 0.5 decibels each."
"If accurate reproduction is your wish, you won’t find a preamp with meaningfully better objective performance than the Benchmark LA4, especially one made in the United States at anything near the LA4’s price."
"Very few preamps at any price reach the LA4’s level of objective performance."
"On the subjective end of things, the Benchmark LA4 preamp puts the lie to the old audiophile myth that neutrality means clinical, cold, or sterile sound. Instead, here neutrality means musical, involving sound, with precise, stable imaging, a sense of space (if one is on the recording), and exceptionally truthful timbres."
- Mike Prager, FutureAudiophile.com