CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - Buy 2 components and get 4 free cables. Free shipping on all orders over $700.

    0

    Your Cart is Empty

    Products
  • AHB2 Power Amplifier Black

    Power Amplifier

  • HPA4 Headphone Amplifier Silver

    Headphone Amplifier

  • LA4 Line Amplifier Silver

    Line Amplifier

  • Digital to Analog Converters

  • HPA4 and AHB2 Review - Fidelity Online

    HPA4 and AHB2 Review - Fidelity Online

    Benchmark HPA4 and AHB2 in bookshelf

    HPA4, AHB2 - "No Ifs or Buts"

    "The benchmark combination offers a full range of equipment that can hardly be topped, leaves nothing to be desired in terms of sound, and meets professional requirements without any ifs or buts."

    Benchmark HPA4 Black

    HPA4 - "Has the HiFiMan 100% Under Control"

    "Two very different headphones were used to check the capabilities of the corresponding output on the benchmark pre: my ultra-light, electrically undemanding Grado SR80, which regularly has a sound that is far too good for the price range, and a HIFIMan Sundara, an officially high-end magnetostat."

    "The benchmark shows what it's capable of..."

    "The HPA4 has the HIFIMan one hundred percent under control, eliciting neutral timbres, tons of spatial information and crisp dynamics."

    "My current favorite record, Origami Harvest by the American jazz trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, whose mix of hard rap, classic string quartet and eruptive jazz combo is not for beginners, flows so neatly into the ear that it is a pleasure."

    "If the design goal was to construct a reinforcing piece of wire, then it has been achieved."

    "Operation via the touchscreen and the level control that switches a record-breaking resistor network is fun and at the same time gives you a pleasant studio feeling - at least if you mean the same thing as I do by “studio”, namely precision, control, perfect reproducibility and absolute reliability."

     

    Benchmark AHB2 Black

    AHB2 - "First Choice for Driving Difficult Boxes"

    "When the decision was made one day to bring the first regular power amplifier onto the market, the requirements were clear: What was needed was maximum energy efficiency, low distortion at the limit of the measurable, and no sound of its own."

    "It is indeed an achromatic enhancer, pure as a spring wind. A spring wind with power."

    "The AHB2 is a class H amplifier in which a switched-mode power supply supplies a class AB circuit and, thanks to the variable voltage supply, reduces power consumption enormously."

    "The basis of the circuit is a combination of negative feedback with the extremely efficient, but far seldom used principle of interference suppression by means of feedforward error correction. In German this is called “Mitkopplung” and means - to put it very briefly - the supply of the phase-inverted distortion component to the output signal."

    "It amplifies the signal supplied and otherwise stays out of everything."

    "I connected everything the household had to offer in terms of speakers - Spendor S3 / 5, Ayon Seagull / c, Quad ESL57. It goes without saying that the American coped with the dynamic boxes with ease. But even the quads, which have some meanness on the part of their impedance, did not pose a challenge for the amp."

    "In short, it is the best tool and therefore the first choice for everyone who wants to drive difficult boxes to maximum performance without going into personal bankruptcy."

    - Michael Vrzal, Fidelity Online

    Read the full review here →


    Also in Reviews

    AHB2 - A-Rated Recommended Power Amplifier - Stereophile

    AHB2 - A-Rated Recommended Power Amplifier - Stereophile

    by Benchmark Media Systems September 15, 2023 1 min read

    Stereophile LogoBenchmark AHB2 Power Amplifier

    AHB2 - Receives Stereophile's Highest "A" Rating for Power Amplifiers

    "Benchmark's AHB2 makes use of THX Corporation's Achromatic Audio Amplifier (AAA) technology, in which a low-power feed-forward amplifier drives a low-bias class-AB output section."

    - Stereophile, 2023

    "Much more apparent low-level detail in already-familiar recordings" - Kalman Rubinson

    "A tonal balance that sounded more 'right' than any of [the other amps on hand]." - Kalman Rubinson

    "An extraordinary amplifier." - John Atkinson

    Read Full Post
    LA4 - Class A Recommended Preamplifier - Stereophile

    LA4 - Class A Recommended Preamplifier - Stereophile

    by Benchmark Media Systems September 15, 2023 1 min read

    Stereophile Logo

    Benchmark LA4 Silver

    LA4 - Receives Stereophile's Highest "Class A" Rating for Preamplifiers

    "Benchmark's usual approach to design is to out-spec the competition, and so it is here. Like other Benchmark equipment he has tested, the affordable LA4 challenged the resolution of John Atkinson's test instruments, with 'superb' channel separation, 'extremely low noise, and virtually no power-supply-related spuriae.'"

    "Benchmark's LA4 is the widest-bandwidth, widest-dynamic-range, lowest-noise, lowest-distortion preamplifier I have encountered." - John Atkinson

    "In his listening room, Kalman Rubinson compared the LA4 to a cable—and couldn't hear any difference. He concludes, 'the LA4 is probably the most transparent and revealing audio component I've ever used. It does not seem to leave any fingerprints on the sound.'"

    - Stereophile, 2023

    Read Full Post
    Stereophile 2023 Recommended Component Badge

    DAC3 - Class A+ Recommended Processor - Stereophile

    by Benchmark Media Systems September 15, 2023 1 min read

    Stereophile Logo

    Benchmark DAC3

    DAC3 HGC, DAC3 B - Receive Stereophile's Highest "Class A+" Rating

    "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!"

    - John Atkinson

    "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."

    - Stereophile

    Read Full Post