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LA4 and AHB2 Award - HiVi Grand Prize 2020

LA4 and AHB2 Award - HiVi Grand Prize 2020

HiVi Logo

Benchmark AHB2 Power Amplifier

Benchmark AHB2 - "A compact amplifier with outstanding performance - compatible with AV systems."

Benchmark LA4 Line Amplifier

Benchmark LA4 - Part of the Award-Wining Combination

HiVi Grand Prize 2020 - Benchmark LA4 and AHB2

About Benchmark

"Benchmark is an audio brand that started in Texas in 1983. The company then moved to the founder's hometown of Syracuse, New York, and all products are still designed, assembled, and tested at the Syracuse factory. This benchmark has officially arrived in Japan. In addition to preamplifier LA4 and power amplifier AHB2, the lineup includes D/A converters DAC3 B, DAC3 HGC, and headphone amplifier HPA4."

Benchmark DAC3 B Black front

Benchmark DAC3 B - The First Component in the Benchmark Chain

Listening Tests

"I had the opportunity to listen to all the products of the American audio brand Benchmark Media Systems, and I was very impressed by how well they matched my idea of ​​reference sound."

We Listened to 4 System Configurations

Benchmark System Configurations

Conclusions

"The biggest appeal that all the five models we tested have in common is their sound quality, which you can absolutely trust as a reference. Although you can't judge the sound quality of an audio device based on its specs alone, the reference sound produced by benchmark products is a perfect fit for many audiophiles and people like me who are looking for a reference sound."

Benchmark Product Family

Read the entire review


Also in Reviews

Future Audiophile Logo

AHB2 Review - Mike Prager, Future Audiophile

by Benchmark Media Systems September 23, 2024

AHB2 Power Amplifier with Silver Faceplate

"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

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AHB2 Review - Constantine Soo, Dagogo

AHB2 Review - Constantine Soo, Dagogo

by Benchmark Media Systems April 02, 2024

 

Benchmark AHB2 - Black

 

"The AHB2 bridgeable stereo amplifier ... was the topic of a recent discussion between American electrostatic panel speaker manufacturer Sound Lab’s president, Dr. Roger West, and me."

"In our discussion, he related his highly positive experience in driving even his largest, $55k Majestic 945 panels with the $7,000 pair of Benchmark Media AHB2 monoblocks, along with the $3,050 LA4 Preamplifier and factory XLR cables."

"Dr. West described the AHB2 as a class AB design using “feed-forward distortion reduction [thus removing] any possibility of pushing the margin of safety of a standard feedback loop, used in most amplifiers, into an unstable oscillatory mode.”"

"He further shared with me that “this is of most concern on powerful musical transients. The distortion of the amplifier in the balanced mode is astonishingly low even at just below the clipping level of 380 watts.”"

"The prospect of the AHB2’s specified distortion level of 0.00015% or lower when at full volume is comical at first glance, but upon actual audition the impact of the achievement is very audible from medium-high listening levels and upward."

"It was unlike any other sub-$20,000 amplifier I have auditioned."

"My audition of the Benchmark Media AHB2 amplifiers underscores the reason Dr. West is so taken by it, and confirms the design is best described as a watershed moment in the high-end audio industry."

- Constantine Soo, Dagogo

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DAC3 Review - Jerry Del  Colliano

DAC3 Review - Jerry Del Colliano

by Benchmark Media Systems April 02, 2024

Benchmark DAC3 B with Silver Faceplate

"Benchmark is a stalwart brand in pro audio, but has carved out a very respectable niche in the audiophile world with their diminutive but powerful components."

Benchmark DAC3 B Studio Version with Rackmount Faceplate

"The audiophile world sometimes looks to the professional audio world for enlightenment, especially on the digital side of things, and Benchmark Media is one of the companies that we put high on a pedestal."

"They are hardcore digital engineers freezing their asses off in upstate New York as they come up with some pretty innovative ways to get your varied digital sources sounding as much like the master tape as possible. Thank you for your service, gentlemen."

"If you really want to hear what your music sounds like in today’s streaming-driven world, this might just be the DAC that you need to test out."

- Jerry Del Colliano, Future Audiophile

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