Benchmark at CAF2016 - Art Dudley, Stereophile
DAC2 and AHB2 - "Open, Colorful, Well-Balanced, and Immediate"
"I loved the open, colorful, well-balanced, and immediate sound of this system."
"The courage to play banjo music: that's something the lucky showgoer encounters only in those rooms whose sponsors know—really, really know—that their systems won't make a horrid, clattery, barbed-wire-on-glass mess of it. The people representing Benchmark Media Systems electronics and Studio Electric loudspeakers had such confidence, and it was not misplaced: I loved the open, colorful, well-balanced, and immediate sound of this system—and I was happy to have finally heard the Benchmark AHB2 power amp that Kal Rubinson and so many others have raved about. Also in the system was the Benchmark DAC2 HGC DAC/preamp."
"Special mention is due the Studio Two loudspeaker ($7500/pair with stands) from Studio Electric, a company I wasn't familiar with before CAF 2016. This deep-boxed speaker combines an 8" woofer with a 1" compression driver that's loaded with a MacPherson horn. The manufacturer's specs include a 6-ohm impedance and a sensitivity of 93dB. I was very impressed."
- Art Dudley, Stereophile
Also in Reviews
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
AHB2 Review - Mike Prager, Future Audiophile
"For years, the audio world acknowledged one main contender (at least at sub-five-figure pricing) for the quietest, cleanest, most neutral power amplifier around. That was the Benchmark AHB2, whose specifications are still, for all practical purposes, unsurpassed, even by today’s excellent Class-D amps."
"10 years after its release, the Benchmark Media Systems AHB2 stereo power amp is still a standard-bearer in clean, neutral sound in the audiophile world."
"I greatly enjoyed having a pair of AHB2s in my system – their purity, neutrality, and seemingly unlimited power provided a clear window on the music and a lot of joy."
"I especially appreciated the AHB2’s smooth, well-integrated treble, free of splashiness or grain, and its natural reproduction of the human voice."
- Mike Prager, Future Audiophile