After seeing a 42-page Instruction Manual for a power amplifier that literally has a single button on its front plate, I realized how serious Benchmark Media is about their products. There’s a heavy-duty locking type power cable in there and a 12V trigger cable - just in case you already own several Benchmark devices and you want to control them with a single remote. As HPA4 that came before it, AHB2 is protected by a thick spongy roll-cage, so it doesn’t matter if Ace Ventura or another crazy courier will be dropping it off, it will still arrive safe and sound to your front door. There’s some interesting stuff happening on the inside which I’ll mention in a minute and until that happens, let’s assess it in a very customary (read: in-depth) way.Ī box in a box is exactly how AHB2 arrived at my front door, a usual sight that should well protect the unit during shipping. At a price point of €2999 / $2999 it will be exchanging punches with upper echelon amplifiers, but does it worth its asking price? You’ll need to read until the end to find that out. AHB2 wasn’t designed as another power amplifier to hit the market, but as a statement and no-compromise power amp from multiple points of view. For the craziest folks out there, you can even bridge two pieces together for ~580 Watts in 4 Ohms and 380W in 8 ohms. How could I say ‘no’ to their best shot at high-end audio that challenges the best performing power amps ever made? AHB2 might look small and lightweight, but thanks to its clever engineering and power supply implementation, this little fellow could still deliver 190 Watts in 4 Ohms and 100 Watts in 8 Ohms, while maintaining an undetectable noise floor and distortion. Give me a low power, but pure sounding unit anytime of the day in detriment of a monster amp that would add fog and noise in my setup.Ī year and a half later, I was kindly asked if I’d want to review their AHB2 that follows the same path paved by the HPA4, but instead on punching headphones, it was made to drive and control passive loudspeakers with an iron fist. I’m holding transparency above brute force and sheer muscles. My closest friends already know my insatiable obsession with transparency, as when I’m closing my eyes, a hunting game will undergo, where I would prey on the smallest nuances, on feet movements in the auditorium, on thin layers of air passing by or on nasty mastering errors. It was both technical & linear sounding…and between you and me, this is exactly what I’m searching with all amplifiers that are passing though my hands: a metal box that will preserve the soul of the music, without adding or subtracting anything from there. It grown on me with its clean and ultra-revealing nature and although HPA4 isn’t a heavy lifter and wouldn’t drive the hardest loads out there (as Hifiman’s Susvara), it moved away from my music to a point of becoming invisible, letting my DACs shine and my headphones reveal their true identities. Immediately after placing it in my headphone setup, all other amps felt muddy, raw, unpolished or slow sounding. You can see it everywhere around here, it was put in at least ~40 reviews as all my headphones, DACs and power amp reviews were made with its help.
BENCHMARK AHB2 DRIVER
I was given the privilege of reviewing the world-class Benchmark HPA4 preamp and headphone amp some time ago, that in time became my daily driver work horse. This strong philosophy behind their products is surely not for everybody…but if you care for honesty and absolute transparency, then all Benchmarks products will be providing you exactly that. When you see the Benchmark logo on an audio component, you can be sure that it was designed to be acoustically transparent and as neutral as possible, without inducing coloration or deviations from linearity. I had at my disposal three Benchmark products and years later, they still looked as good as when I’ve received them.
Besides being passionate for all things audio, they’re also serious about durability and build quality of their products. Luckily, Benchmark’s crew isn’t formed only by nerdy engineers, as you’ll find musicians, audiophiles and audio professionals throughout their ranks that don’t care only for the numbers (measurements), but for the end result as well, as no matter how good or bad a component is looking on a screen, the final verdict is still delivered by our hearing apparatuses. Besides bestowing world-class specifications, everything they make is backed-up by measurements produced by the world’s best audio analyzers. Benchmark Media doesn’t need an introduction whatsoever, as their name implies - they’re committed to excellence.
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