DAC3, HPA4, AHB2 System Review - HiFiTest.de

DAC3 B - "Wonderfully Transparent"

"With DAC, preamplifier and power amplifier, Benchmark knows how to build a bridge between the professional sector and home hi-fi. Very beautiful."

"After just a few seconds, 16-bit material shows how wonderfully transparent the DAC is to convert the signal."

"An enormous variety of details were extracted from the signal and transported to the listener."

HPA4 - "A Whopping Six Watts into 16 Ohms"

"The HPA4 offers a whopping six watts at 16 ohms impedance. Even with 300 ohm headphones, 440 mW is still present."

"The rotary control for adjusting the volume has a very professional feel."

"The capacitive touchscreen is primarily used to set the appropriate source, but also allows the connections to be renamed, allows the display brightness and switch-off timing to be set, and switches the outputs to mute if necessary. It all works according to clear schemes and works quite intuitively."

AHB2 - "A High Degree of Precision"

"In addition to the low distortion and good performance, the amplifier also impressed with its wonderful signal-to-noise ratio."

"It quickly turned out that our equipment was rather tested with the AHB2, because the power amplifier worked with distortion values ​​that required us to extend our usual scale downwards in order to make the curve fully visible."

Conclusion

"If you value transparent, precise sound, but at the same time want a certain level of comfort and at least a little elegance, you are in good hands with the Americans. The high demands were therefore met."

"Benchmark offers professional sound for domestic systems.

"The DAC3 B, HPA4 and AHB2 are all characterized by their wonderfully transparent sound and their high degree of precision. At the same time, sufficient amenities are offered to offer adequate comfort. A successful mix."

- HiFiTest.de

Read the entire review (German) →