Reviews

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."

"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."

"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

"I began with the DAC3 HGC and AHB2 powering the glorious Morel Avyra 633 three-way floorstanders."

"This pairing created a full-bodied sound which brought the recording to life."

"Notable from the off was the bass from the DAC3 HGC and AHB2."

"Wow! It was deep, tight and conveyed a real feeling that the electronics were in charge of the transducers."

"Involuntary foot-tapping confirmed the timing ability and the overall presentation was spot-on, the Benchmark electronics created a fluent sound across a vivid soundstage; performers evident both tonally and spatially in an easy-to-believe presentation that brought the performance close."

"The Benchmark’s ability to retrieve deep-down detail and display it so well across the soundstage, with accurate positioning and convincing layering, made for a glorious re-creation of the recordings."

"To my mind the AHB2 is an amplifier with no obvious characteristics of its own: the level of transparency is sublime."

"Above all, the improved transient response performance stood out in a presentation that was not only lively but incredibly fast and revealing. The attack and decay displayed was awesome and not something I expect at this price point."

"The Benchmark DAC3 HGC and AHB2 are cracking products, sonically superior to a lot that’s available and well priced."

"They are superbly designed and built to an extremely high standard."

- Trevor Butler, the-ear.net

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

DAC3 HGC - "Does Not Color the Sound of Your Audio"

"The DAC3 HGC is a professional audio component used to make, monitor, and engineer the very recordings we love. All of what is prioritized in the DAC3 HGC has been developed with laser-like focus for this purpose."

"If the space is engineered into the recording, it’s there, if it is not engineered in, it is not there with the DAC3 HGC."

"The Benchmark DAC3 HGC is a pro audio DAC with audiophile appeal that allows a look into your music as a recording/mastering engineer would hear it."

"In the audiophile world, utilizing the DAC3 HGC properly can bring realistic texture, voice, and integrity to instruments that would normally take a DAC well over five-figures to do."

- Michael Zisserson, FutureAudiophile.com

DAC3, AHB2 - Driving Note Line Array

"The afternoon before the start of the show I ran into John Siau of Benchmark Media Systems. He says to me quietly, “make sure you stop in our room, we have a surprise!” With curiosity suitably piqued, Co-Editor Jim Clements and I paid a visit ..."

"The results were pretty astonishing. A stable, enveloping stereo image that was devoid of any distortion whatsoever."

- Carlo Lo Raso, Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity

DAC3 B and AHB2 - Driving Laufer Teknik Note Line Array

Two AHB2 bridged-mono amplifiers were driving the 4-Ohm line arrays (48 drivers per side).

"Sound was extremely well-integrated and controlled, and the bass memorable."

"The Note received signal through Benchmark Media's AHB2 power amps, DAC3 B D/A processor, and interconnects."

Two DAC3 B Converters - One for the Array, and One for the Subs

Two AHB2 Power Amplifiers - Bridged Mono Mode - One per Array

"The system sounded super on a 16/44.1 file of the famed rendition of Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, recorded by Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra for Reference Recordings."

- Jason Victor Serinus, Stereophile Magazine

DAC3 B - Receives Stereophile's Highest "Class A+" Rating

"I never auditioned the DAC3 HGC in my own system, so when I got an opportunity to borrow a sample of the DAC3 B, I eagerly agreed."

"I had been using MBL's network-connected N31 CD player/DAC ($18,680 with Roon Ready module) before installing the DAC3 B."

"The MBL offers an excellent sense of drive and low-frequency impact, but when I replaced it with the Benchmark, both these aspects of the music seemed enhanced."

"Whether it was an orchestral bass drum or a kickdrum, electric bass guitar or acoustic double bass, the MoFi speakers seemed to acquire more low-frequency weight without losing definition."

- John Atkinson

DAC2, HPA4, AHB2 - "The Benchmark Hi-Fi Stack ..."

"Find a Better Hi-Fi Stack! Double-Dog-Dare you!"

- Ron, NewRecordDay.com

DAC3 HGC - "A+ Rated Digital Processor"

"A+" is the highest level awarded in the "Digital Processor" category.

"The DAC3 was all about depths, in several respects . . . I heard deeper into the music." - Jim Austin

"Benchmark's DAC3 HGC offers state-of-the-art measured performance. All I can say is 'Wow!'" - John Atkinson

DAC3 B, HPA4, AHB2 - "Purchased Them for My Reference System - Nuff Said!"

"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."

AHB2 Power Amplifier

"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."

LA4 and HPA4

"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."

DAC3 B

"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 'Stack'

"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

HPA4 - "Cleanest, Quietest, Most Neutral, Dynamic and Precise"

"Allow me to rave about the HPA4’s built-in headphone amp. Designed using similar technology as the AHB2 and licensed from THX (Benchmark calls it the THX-888 Amplifier), this is the cleanest, quietest, most neutral headphone amp I’ve ever heard."

"The HPA4 has no trouble playing music dynamically and precisely through any headphones I own."

"When the folks at Benchmark suggested a review of their HPA4 for Tape Op, my first reaction was, “Isn’t this aimed more at the audiophile market?” Benchmark’s Rory Rall replied that I should consider its use as a reference-grade monitor controller, with a world-class headphone amp built-in. He recommended I pair it with my Benchmark DAC3 B digital-analog converter and use it to drive my Benchmark AHB2 power amp."

AHB2 - "A Silent Transmitter of Musical Energy"

"When I previously reviewed the Benchmark AHB2, I described it as being as close to a straight wire with gain as I’ve ever heard – “a silent transmitter of musical energy.”

I stand by that description after four years of living and listening to it."

DAC3 B - "The HPA4 Allows the DAC to Run Wide Open"

"The HPA4 is built on the idea of avoiding any sort of bit-stripping volume control in the digital realm. So a full-output DAC sends it line-level audio."

"The volume knob is a 256-step precision encoder, driving relays that engage resistors, in 0.5 dB steps."

Conclusions

"I can’t think of anything else that will get you closer to the sound coming out of your sources."

"Combined with Benchmark’s DAC and power amp with excellent speakers and headphones plugged in, this is quite the monitoring chain."

"When playing music you love, it will fire all the pleasure synapses."

- Tom Fine, Tape Op

DAC3, LA4, AHB2 - "Matched My Idea of Reference Sound"

"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."

LA4/AHB2 System - "HiVi 2020 Grand Prize" - Amplifier Category

"A compact amplifier with outstanding high performance that is compatible with AV systems."

DAC3 B - "Neutral and Transparent"

"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."

LA4 - "Line Amplifier"

"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."

AHB2 - "A Genuinely Innovative Design"

"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."

DAC3 B, LA4, AHB2 - "The Presentation is Uncanny in its Purity"

"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

DAC3 HGC - "A+ Recommended Digital Processor"

The DAC3 HGC received Stereophile's top "A+" rating.

Jim Austin wrote, "The DAC3 was all about depths, in several respects . . . I heard deeper into the music."

The concise conclusion to John Atkinson's Measurements sidebar: "All I can say is 'Wow!'"

In a Follow-Up, Jim Austin 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 Magazine

"Class A+" is Stereophile's highest award for Digital Processors

DAC3 B, HPA4, AHB2 - "Benchmark ... the Measure of Excellence!"

"There are many things that come into play when putting together a hi-fi system, one of which is synergy."

"After the arrival of the Benchmark Media Systems AHB2, I immediately thought of the matching HPA4 that colleagues Jaap and Yung were very pleased with."

"The key question, of course, was whether the HPA4 would really provide an audible improvement."

"Well you bet! The synergy between preamp and power amplifier is nothing short of magical, not to mention the DAC3 B that I got from importer Helios for the occasion."

"Not only a few curtains disappear, the whole window is gone."

"The slogan of Benchmark Media Systems actually sums it all up nicely: “Benchmark ... the measure of excellence!”"

- Geoffrey Vanhouwaert, Alpha-Audio

DAC3 B - 10 DACS, 10 Judges, 1 Winner

Alpha-Audio.net tested 10 DACs side-by-side. Only one received the "Alpha-Audio Approved" award. That DAC was the Benchmark DAC3.

DAC3 B - "Alpha-Audio Approved!"

"Are you looking for the best DAC (d/a converter) in the price range from 1500 euro to 2500 euro? That’s great! Because we’ve put ten beauties side by side. And we tested it live on camera for you."

"It was incredibly instructive to put so many converters side by side. We clearly hear differences - and the viewers could as well."

"One of the models we all agreed on is the benchmark DAC3. This is a delicious musical product. Virtually no coloring, nice stereo image and plenty of inputs."

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."

HPA4 - "A Whopping Six Watts into 16 Ohms"

"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."

AHB2 - "A High Degree of Precision"

"The DAC3, 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

HPA4 - "The One to rule them All!"

"Today, is a very special day for me, since I believe I am hearing the best overall performance out of my headphones."

"The distance performance-wise between HPA4 and my second-best headphone amp is Night and Day!"

"This headphone amplifier and line pre-amplifier receives my highest recommendation and scores the highest rank in my book."

"It spoiled me so much, that for the past 3 days I’m waking up at 5 A.M. so I can listen, tap my feet and head-bang just a little bit more. I for one, started saving for one, I’m sorry but I can’t go back to regular amps."

"Without a doubt Benchmark HPA4 is an end-game, top of the line headphone amp – it’s The One to rule them All."

- Sandu Vitalie, SoundNews.net

DAC3 B, LA4, AHB2 - Driving Martin Logan ESL 11A Electrostatic Speakers

197 Rooms - Benchmark Room Makes the Audio Beatnik "Top 3"

"The overall sonic signature of this room had a remarkable sense of ease and purity. Minute details such as a breathy initial saxophone note or a solo vocalist parting her lips and taking a breath before singing were easily discernable. At the same time, they presented all of the musical energy and rhythm contained within the source material. The effortless and free-flowing nature of the Martin Logans paired up nicely with the transparent AHB2 amplifiers."

"The tonality and realism of the instruments were spectacular. An alto saxophone sounded as if it was in the room with me, and the pitch and timbre of both male and female vocals were absolutely spot-on. It was clear that nothing in this system was getting in the way of the music."

"Their room had a remarkable degree of transparency that made every listener feel closer to the music."

- Drew Gagliano, TheAudioBeatnik.com