HPA4 Review - Chris, DC Hi-Fi Group
"The Sound of Silence"
"Benchmark Audio is an engineering focused company with a deep heritage in the recording studio world."
"With the release of the DAC1, they also grabbed the attention of the Audiophile world and things have never been the same."
"The HPA4 is a Headphone Amplifier and Preamp that incorporates the THX-888(AAA) achromatic audio amplifier circuit that was first introduced to the world in the Benchmark AHB2 amplifier."
"To this day the AHB2 remains the lowest distortion and highest SNR amplifier on the market."
"The Direct Opposite of Typical Tube-Based Technology"
"From a listening stance it is the cleanest and most accurate delivery of sound you are likely to get with any Hi-Fi component."
"This is the direct opposite of the typical sound of tube-based technology that is awash in second harmonic distortion and noise."
Power
"The HPA4 …offers 6 watts into 16 ohm and a whopping 11.5 Vrms into 300 Ohm headphones. You will not be running out of power with this device."
HiFiMan HE6se
"I started my listening tests using the HiFiMan HE6se headphones. These headphones are a bit of tough load for many headphone amps. The HPA4 had no trouble driving them and only required a slight increase in gain that was easily available through the touchscreen."
Meize 109 Pro
"I followed up with …the Meize 109 Pro. I used the track "Slink" from the brand-new Artemis album on Blue Note."
"It is a very dynamic driving track and the Artemis ensemble makes the most of it. The 109 Pro's sounded excellent being driven by the HPA4 and revealed all the sonic details of this track."
Conclusions
"I give the HPA4 my highest recommendation. Using the common Audiophile cliché - this is an end game component. Of course, that is until Benchmark Audio one ups itself with a new improved version which they have a remarkable habit of doing."
- Chris, Forum Administrator - DC Hi-Fi Group
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