what are you listening to?

Got to hear that new Benchmark amp driving some floor-standing Revels this evening at a party for friends - first time I'd been there, though I'd heard of his system. I was really impressed with the sound of the amp - very fast bass, excellent soundstage with great specificity of instrument placement. I definitely would not kick one out of bed. Listened to the stuff I know well at first - Johnny Cash's American recordings, Kathy Mattea's Coal, stuff that I know is recorded very well. Was highly impressed. After that we switched over to some Tool, some 70s stuff, including a bunch of Stones cuts, and on and on. The only album that taxed the amp was the Cars - we got the clipping circuitry to shut it down at a volume level we should not have been listening - or dancing - to but other than that, it was a great evening.
 
Good to get that report.

And for sure two will be required it seems like.

These are the only new amps I am considering as replacements for the Counterpoint amps unless a manly class A or two come way way…
 
Bob Boyer said:
Got to hear that new Benchmark amp driving some floor-standing Revels this evening at a party for friends - first time I'd been there, though I'd heard of his system. I was really impressed with the sound of the amp - very fast bass, excellent soundstage with great specificity of instrument placement. I definitely would not kick one out of bed. Listened to the stuff I know well at first - Johnny Cash's American recordings, Kathy Mattea's Coal, stuff that I know is recorded very well. Was highly impressed. After that we switched over to some Tool, some 70s stuff, including a bunch of Stones cuts, and on and on. The only album that taxed the amp was the Cars - we got the clipping circuitry to shut it down at a volume level we should not have been listening - or dancing - to but other than that, it was a great evening.
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I can speak first hand to the Benchmark AHB2 amp performance.

They are excellent amps and I find them very detailed, musical, and accurate.
Current system configuration for reference in above statement:
- Benchmark LA4 preamp
- Benchmark DAC3
- 2X Benchmark AHB2 amps
- Aurender N200 streamer
- B&W 802 speakers
- JL Audio Fathom F113 sub

I ran a single amp in stereo with very satisfying results in low to moderate sound levels. But, running two in mono config is necessary for active listening sessions when you also want to feel the music (as compared to other 300-500 watt/ch amps). It's astonishing performance for such a small lightweight form factor amp.
 
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Wyn Palmer is running a pair as well and he’s happy with them.

And he can afford any amp he might desire.

That says something.
 
Hexis22 said:
I can speak first hand to the Benchmark AHB2 amp performance.

They are excellent amps and I find them very detailed, musical, and accurate.
Current system configuration for reference in above statement:
- Benchmark LA4 preamp
- Benchmark DAC3
- 2X Benchmark AHB2 amps
- Aurender N200 streamer
- B&W 802 speakers
- JL Audio Fathom F113 sub

I ran a single amp in stereo with very satisfying results in low to moderate sound levels. But, running two in mono config is necessary for active listening sessions when you also want to feel the music (as compared to other 300-500 watt/ch amps). It's astonishing performance for such a small lightweight form factor amp.
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I'll be sure to pass that along. Robert texted me this morning - the amp didn't shut down for clipping - just the thermal protection circuitry doing it's thing. He was relieved. Second one is on the way - he's got thirty days to evaluate both amps. Thoughts on trying one to power woofs and one for high end or just one for each speaker? He has the LA4 preamp as well. Not sure of his subs but they are self-powered. Monsters lurking in the corners.
 
I thought the clipping shutdown sounded unusual, now thermal shutdown, done it a hundred times over the decades.

I keep reading good things about those amps.
 
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Well since I had a disc tray loaded, I swapped amps and fired up that Underworld-Beaucoup Fish I have been waiting to hear…then turned up the volume after it got started…twice.
Followed by Ultravox-Quartet, U2-Zooropa and Tina Brooks-True Blue.

Rig is without the subs, DQ-10s and amp is now the McCormack DNA-1 and the system was sounding good. Noticed more bottom end vs the 45-yr old 80wpc recapped except the big-uns Luxman M12. The Lux is dual mono using a pair of dual caps for the two power supply rails. These cans could probably stand being restuffed. But I’ll recap the other M12 and see how it sounds first before adding this project to the list, for both amps.
 
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Hexis22 said:
I recommend running one amp per speaker to start, but don’t know enough about the rest of his system or crossover options.
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His Revels are 4 ohm nominal, not sure about the floorstanding Sonus Fabers. He's worried about pushing the monoblock AHBs too hard into a 2-ohm - or less - load at volume. He's thinking bi-amping vertically as an experiment as well; I'm about to send him the links to the crossover thread and the extreme slope thread that Lee started for a little light reading.

HIs system is an LA-4, he's been running a JC-2 Parasound amp but he's trying the AHB2 in its place. We used the Revels all night Saturday and they are rated at 4 ohms. I think he has an RME DAC; couldn't see too well, the lights were down some and my eye doc appointment isn't until Tuesday. He's streaming TIDAL. Everything is balanced except the phono.

He texted me at 6:45 this morning and we got into the active crossover discussion; he's at least considering it. If I know him, there will be plenty of research behind his decision. He's the Dean of our College of Business.
 
As Carroll said: "There's no replacement for displacement." so if you're driving a difficult load, you need a big amp (or several).

Although one SA-220 can drive my speakers just fine, having two was next-level. No louder, just better. It's a staggering difference.
 
Bob Boyer said:
His Revels are 4 ohm nominal, not sure about the floorstanding Sonus Fabers. He's worried about pushing the monoblock AHBs too hard into a 2-ohm - or less - load at volume. He's thinking bi-amping vertically as an experiment as well; I'm about to send him the links to the crossover thread and the extreme slope thread that Lee started for a little light reading.

HIs system is an LA-4, he's been running a JC-2 Parasound amp but he's trying the AHB2 in its place. We used the Revels all night Saturday and they are rated at 4 ohms. I think he has an RME DAC; couldn't see too well, the lights were down some and my eye doc appointment isn't until Tuesday. He's streaming TIDAL. Everything is balanced except the phono.

He texted me at 6:45 this morning and we got into the active crossover discussion; he's at least considering it. If I know him, there will be plenty of research behind his decision. He's the Dean of our College of Business.
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Bob,

Thank you for posting this. Thought I would join the fun. Hello to everyone, new to the forum. Really enjoyed hanging with Bob the other night for a good listening session.

A couple of updates, corrections. It was the Sonus Fabers we were listening to. The are fairly efficient at 90db but are 4 ohms that dip into 2 ohm territory. The single AHB2 struggled on the Cars album at high volume shutting down due to heat. I don't listen that loud usually but do on occasion.

I have ordered a second AHB2 to experiment with bridged mode and vertical bi-amping. I am concerned that bridge mode might not be optimal. The AHB2 manual says not to bridge into under 6 ohms, although they have a white paper on the website about driving 4 ohm speakers in bridge mode.

I like the sound of the AHB2, but wonder if I should be considering other amps. Previous amp, which I still have, is an A21+. It never struggles for power but is not as good sounding as the AHB2. Have considered some Pass amps and the JC5.

Glad to meet folks.
 
Older class A Krell amps have enough horsepower to drive low efficiency speakers.

Levinson as well, but the early ones need full rebuilds at this point.

I love the counterpoints but they do color the sound a bit and are slightly fragile. No ballast resistors on the output devices so when one goes, they all go. Very tighly matched at elevated temperature When built new.
 
Bob, I would call Benchmark directly to discuss your setup and recommendations based on the AHB2 capability.

They have been very responsive and clarified all my questions with excellent level of detail.

I now run a full Benchmark stack based on my experience with this US based engineering driven company.
 
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