Special - Buy one component and save 25% on up to three components of equal or lesser value. Offer ends Dec. 6 - Free shipping on USA orders over $700.
Special - Buy one component and save 25% on up to three components of equal or lesser value. Offer ends Dec. 6 - Free shipping on USA orders over $700.
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by Benchmark Media Systems November 18, 2024
"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."
"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
by Benchmark Media Systems September 15, 2023
"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
by Benchmark Media Systems January 16, 2023
- Ron, NewRecordDay.com
by Benchmark Media Systems June 30, 2022
"The HPA4 and LA4 are preamplifiers and largely identical. The HPA4 also has a built-in headphone amplifier."
"The Benchmark HPA4 and LA4 preamps deliver a very high quality neutral and transparent signal."
"Developed from a professional focus on sound reproduction, they bring the essence of the recording closer to the listener."
"The professional market often offers products that may also be of interest to the 'ordinary' consumer."
"In Japan in particular, home systems often consist of a mix of consumer equipment and (vintage) professional items."
"Benchmark was founded in 1983 and started building professional audio equipment."
"The goal, from the outset, is to build sound-transparent equipment of the highest quality. The employees are musicians, audiophiles and audio technicians. So sound quality is top notch."
- Ruud Jonker, FWD Magazine, fwd.nl
by Benchmark Media Systems April 20, 2022
"Before I dig into the sound of the LA4 it is important to know that it employs a wide bandwidth design. The LA4’s bandwidth is specified at 0.2 Hz to 500 kHz."
"Most of the wide bandwidth designs I have heard exhibit ... a purity in tone with superb timing and speed ... the LA4 proved to be no exception."
"The Benchmark LA4 yielded a change that was quickly apparent in several areas."
"Notably were; bass, upper midrange, treble, low-level listening, and the ability to distinguish the colorations of other components that were contributing to my overall sound."
"Acoustic guitar, piano, and harmonica among many other instruments are presented with speed, clarity, and coherency that made them sound more “present” in the room and less like a recording."
"The Benchmark LA4 is simply the most transparent, least colored, and most revealing component I have had in my system to date. I look forward to it joining my stable of reference components."
"Highly recommended."
- Ken Redmond, The Audio Beatnik
by Benchmark Media Systems January 27, 2022
"By far, without question this is the best volume control I have ever encountered."
"I must single out for special mention the volume control. While the whole unit is completely relay controlled, with a total of forty “precision relays switching high-precision metal-film resistors,” each channel has its own gain control with 256 steps in 0.5dB increments."
"Suffice it to say that, as with every Benchmark product I’ve used or reviewed, everything works smoothly, precisely, flawlessly."
- Paul Seydor, The Absolute Sound
by Benchmark Media Systems March 23, 2021
"Class A" is the highest level awarded in the "Two Channel Preamplifier" category.
"Like other Benchmark equipment he has tested, the affordable LA4 challenged the resolution of JA'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
"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." - Kalman Rubinson
by Benchmark Media Systems February 16, 2021
"The Benchmark 'stack' ... saw use with a wide variety of loudspeakers and other electronic equipment."
"Having the Benchmark stack here for an extended period also made me re-evaluate a few things about how and what I use to review equipment."
"I dare say that they produced as clean and noise-free a stereo playback chain as I have ever come across."
"Benchmark Media Systems is a well-regarded brand that is known for its high-quality DACs and ADCs that also find their way into professional studios."
"In 2014 they introduced the AHB2 power amplifier, using patented THX AAA amplifier technology, that brought previously unheard of low levels of distortion, and high SNR capability."
"Last year Benchmark released the LA4 preamplifier and the HPA4 headphone amplifier. Both components use an ultra-precision relay-based volume control and feature vanishingly low levels of distortion."
"The DAC3 B is an alternate version of the DAC3 DX that ... simply does away with the included volume control and headphone jacks which makes it ideal to use with the HPA4 or LA4."
"The Benchmark DAC3 B ... is a finely executed example of a modern ESS-based digital to analog converter."
"The Benchmark Media Systems HPA4 preamplifier, AHB2 power amplifier, and DAC3 B are, individually, exceptionally transparent and well-designed audio devices."
"When used as a system the resulting synergy was even more revealing."
"I liked them so much that I purchased them for my reference system. Nuff said!"
- Carlo Lo Raso, Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
by Benchmark Media Systems January 01, 2021
"Suffice it to say that, as with every Benchmark product I’ve used or reviewed, everything works smoothly, precisely, flawlessly."
"I must single out for special mention the volume control. While the whole unit is completely relay controlled, with a total of forty “precision relays switching high-precision metal-film resistors,” each channel has its own gain control with 256 steps in 0.5dB increments."
"By far, without question this is the best volume control I have ever encountered."
"The LA4 has been widely tested with results that tell the same story as those from the AHB2 power amplifier, i.e., the measurements merely confirm the manufacturer’s claims except in those instances where the limits of the test gear are reached before this or that specification can be precisely verified, almost every tester reporting that the unit beats, often handily, any other ever tested in its product category, regardless of price."
- Paul Seydor, The Absolute Sound
by Benchmark Media Systems December 25, 2020
"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."
"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."
"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."
"A compact amplifier with outstanding high performance that is compatible with AV systems."
by Benchmark Media Systems December 21, 2020
"In the areas of tonal neutrality and transparency, the B sounds like every other Benchmark I’ve heard, which is to say neutral and transparent. But the DAC3 also has new conversion processing, which is said to make for a 3.5dB increase in headroom above 0dBFS, in turn preventing the DSP intersampling overloads."
"This increase in headroom ... is said to result in subtly improved sound."
"Benchmark prefers to call the LA4 a line amplifier (which may be the more correct term because that is what preamplifiers in fact do: amplify the signal) and offers it in two versions: linestage only, and the identical linestage with an onboard headphone amplifier, called the HPA4."
"Before properly introducing the preamp, however, it is worth the while to recall that the AHB2 amplifier is a genuinely innovative design, even, if you will, revelatory, and it set new standards in having by a wide margin the lowest noise and distortion and the widest bandwidth of any amplifier on the market then or now."
"There’s a complete absence of any sort of artifacts or noise; on very clean recordings, the presentation is uncanny in its purity."
- Paul Seydor, The Absolute Sound
by Benchmark Media Systems October 24, 2020
After an extensive listening test, mastering engineer Sander van der Heide selected the Benchmark HPA4 as the master volume control in his mastering chain.
"As a headphone amplifier, the HPA4 was already a clear winner in a comparison test. More transparent, tighter, faster, quieter or less present than the HPA4 is in my opinion not possible."
"When I added a volume control and preamplifier in my mastering setup I almost forgot about it. But after I still noticed distortion on every other device, listening to the HPA4 was just a relief."
"There was no going back. The HPA4 is the only option for my mastering setup ."
- Sander van der Heide, Mastering Engineer
by Benchmark Media Systems September 30, 2020
The LA4 received Stereophile's top "Class A" rating in the preamplifier category.
"Benchmark's LA4 is the widest-bandwidth, widest-dynamic-range, lowest-noise, lowest-distortion preamplifier I have encountered."
- John Atkinson, Stereophile
"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."
- Kalman Rubinson, Stereophile
"Class A" is Stereophile's highest award for preamplifiers.
by Benchmark Media Systems September 01, 2020
"I am so floored by its performance that a Golden Ear is a forgone conclusion."
"The LA4 comes closer to measured and measurable perfection than any audio product in any category I've ever reviewed."
"It has lower distortion and noise than any electronic component known to me, and its transparency is without equal in my experience, with no sonic signature that I can identify."
"Its dynamic range is likewise at the highest state of the art. An amazing 256-step volume control maintains 0.5 dB/step resolution and flawless channel-tracking at any setting throughout its range."
"This is my new reference standard for a linestage."
- Paul Seydor, The Absolute Sound
by Benchmark Media Systems January 31, 2020
"From top to bottom, the design of the LA4 was meant to do one thing; preserve the sonic integrity of the material that passes through it."
"Two words immediately came to mind — unrestricted dynamics."
"Prior to reviewing these Benchmark components, I had heard the company’s products powering some of my favorite-sounding rooms at several audio shows. Based on what I’d heard at these shows, I was eager to hear how this equipment could perform in my own listening room."
"Listening to the Benchmark gear in my own room, I felt an immediate and gratifying emotional connection to the music I was hearing."
"The LA4 and AHB2 tear down so many of the usual walls that come between the listener and the music."
"If you value transparency and accuracy, the LA4 and AHB2 will perform beyond your highest expectations."
- Drew Gagliano, The Audio Beatnik
by Benchmark Media Systems December 24, 2019
"As soon as everything powered up, there was a big smile on my face."
"With the LA4 in control of the system, everything sounded right, and subtle differences among recordings, amplifiers, and speakers were clear."
"Compared to the other preamps on hand, the LA4 was consistently quieter, more open, and more revealing of detail."
"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. It has a useful array of inputs, outputs, and functions, and the use of sealed relays for volume and input selection assures a long and noise-free life."
- Kal Rubinson, Stereophile
by Benchmark Media Systems December 23, 2019
by Benchmark Media Systems November 21, 2019
"Thanks to the special, discrete analog circuit/relay attenuator, this may be the most transparent line-stage preamplifier in the audiophile world."
"If you got a great-sounding source, the LA4 presents the audio in its original state — with gain or attenuation to the amplifier."
"I have never heard such low-level detail from a pre."
"The better the DAC, the better you hear it through a quality amp and speakers. It is quiet as a top-notch DAC, with S/N exceeding -135 dB and, feature-wise, it comes with unbalanced/balanced I/O and a really slick user interface."
"I use the four-input LA4 for audiophile A/B testing of DACs, monitoring my Hi-Res home recording/editing/mastering projects, as well as just listening how good my vast collection of 24 bit and DSD music sounds through an accurate amp and speakers."
"A steal!"
- John Gatski, Everything Audio Network
by Benchmark Media Systems November 06, 2019
"Since the HPA4 arrived, I have rediscovered so many of my favorite works all over again with improved detail retrieval dynamics and transparency that it’s hard to pull myself away!"
"It drove my power hungry Abyss Phi TC headphones with complete authority, but it was still dead silent and nimble enough to amplify my easy to drive Focal Utopia headphones."
"Rarely have I come across such a wonderfully revealing amplifier that can drive many different types of headphones so darn well! The solid build construction and various controls make the price tag seem a bit low based on the other headphone amplifiers in this market space."
- Peter Pialis, Headphone.guruby Benchmark Media Systems October 31, 2019
"Benchmark Media Systems’ LA4 preamplifier presented an utterly realistic reproduction of what was contained on each recording I played through it -- and weak recordings stood out more than usual. The LA4’s clean, analytical abilities are unmatched by any similarly priced preamplifier I know of. The LA4’s touchscreen brings it up to date with current user interfaces, and permits functions, such as balance control and muting at the device."
"If you want a preamp that editorializes, look elsewhere."
"If, like me, you value a high-resolution, totally neutral musical performance, add a Benchmark LA4 to your system, particularly if you already own a Benchmark DAC."
- Erich Wetzel, SoundStage! Hi-Fi